Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS: Destiny Gears
by Diabolic Tracer
Summary: Roxana Petit was a normal student, nothing really stood out about her. However, due to a rather unexpected and weird twist of fate including a car incident, she woke up in a place she knows nothing about. Now on a journery to find a way back to her home, join her as she crosses paths with Yusaku Fujiki and tries to learn how to duel.
1. Chapter 1

The day has finally came! The last day of school! I know that being existed about the end of school when I was ninth grade was insignificant and petty, but during the summer all of the classrooms were hot like in a stove. Although I was also a bit sad from the inside, all of my friends had made their summers plans and most of them were leaving on a vacation. Only exception was me because my mother had bad health, so my family couldn't afford to go on an exotic vacation like others.

No! Of course I'm not criticizing my mother! She gave me so much, I couldn't… I, uh, she is a great mother, ok? I just…

Ah, sorry! I have no idea how to start! You know, let's ignore that and, um, move to introduction? Sorry, I got carried away and forgot that those come first.

"Next, Roxana Petit." the teacher said holding my diploma.

Yes, my name is Roxana, but my friends call me Roxy. I think it's an embarrassing nickname, but it kind of got stuck, so I learned to live with it. So, description. Um, other than my name I'm fourteen years old, with long brown hair and brown eyes. Nothing about my appearance really stands out, I look like every other girl you could encounter. Well, not every because some people have blonde hair and different eyes.

But you get what I mean, right?

Anyway, I took my diploma and thanked the teacher then sat back on my seat, looking at my marks. Yes! I was able to finish the year with a 'B'! Again, I know that this isn't such a huge achievement, in fact some of the more strict parents would say that it's shameful. Since I'm not the smartest kid, however, that's a huge personal achievement for me and what makes me happier is that it's all thanks to the help of my tutor. She would be happy when I tell her about it!

So, I'm sure none of you want to keep on listening about my school live, so I will skip the rest of this segment and move to the more important part.

Once the teacher gave everyone their diplomas he let us go and I practically dashed out of the school, just like everyone else did, but shut up! This is my story! S-sorry, didn't mean to be rude, or anything.

To throw in a small explanation of my actions, the reason why I left the building so fast was because of my tutor. You see, she was a twelfth grader in my school and finished school a few days before me, because that's how school works at my country.

I walked inside a small, recently opened restaurant that was at the corner of the street. I tried to look around the crowd of people and saw her waving at me from across the restaurant. I walked past the waitress and made my way over to the table she was sitting at, careful not to push anyway in my way. Anyway, I think it's time to introduce you to my tutor, her name is Elizabeth Greyson. She was nineteen years old with short brown hair and eyes, just like mine. She was my school's ace, the smartest and most athletic student. Every teacher praised her and she was very popular among us, the students, as well. In fact, she was so popular that when my mother told me that she was going to tutor me, I thought she was lying to me and couldn't believe my ears.

Ah, I got overhyped again! I'm so, so sorry!

"So how was it?" Elizabeth asked.

"I got 'B'!" I told her excited and pulled out the paper to show her. "It's all thanks to your help!"

"You are giving me too much credits. I only showed you your problems and gave you a way to fix them. If it wasn't for your hard studying that wouldn't have been possible."

"Oh, well," I looked away a bit embarrassed, she was right after all. "Still, thank you for your help. I, um, I haven't asked my parents if it's okay, but I'm sure that they won't mind, so could you be my tutor for the next year as well?"

"You are a very hardworking young woman." She told me with a bright smile. "But I'm afraid that with college and my other responsibilities I won't have the time for that. But, I already told you everything I know, I'm just a few years older than you. I'm sure that you will keep making your parents and yourself proud even without me around to help you."

"Of course! Sorry, now that you are going to college your schedule must be very busy."

I apologized, but her response really stung me. I came to know Elizabeth just a few months prior, but I felt her as a dear friend. You know, the type of person you want to be always by your side and help you when things turn into a mess. I was able to share with her things that I couldn't entrust to friends of my age and she always met my problems with understand and empathy. In return she shared a few things about herself as well. I learned that her hobby was to play Yugioh, which was a card game that some boys I knew used to play back in the day.

In fact, I was a bit of a player myself, although I wasn't a very good one. Like, I had never beat anyone in a game, that's how bad I was at it. Every time that I was going for a good combo I would always end messing something up and embarrass myself.

So, Elizabeth ordered drinks to celebrate my good grades and we spent the next twenty or so minutes drinking cold tea, while having small chat on various topics, until I gathered the courage to ask her a question.

"So, um," Okay, okay, I was embarrassed, but I still asked her so that counts! "Would you like to hang around tomorrow? But it's okay if you are busy tomorrow. I completely understand."

"I would love to hang with you. Problem is that tomorrow there's a Yugioh tournament and I'm going to participate in it. Sorry for that, but I will be free at Monday. If it's ok for you we could meet then."

"A tournament? Could I come with you then? I mean, I used to play the game when I was young too, so if it isn't a problem for you. I will ask my parents too, but since I'm going to be with you they definitely won't be against it."

"It's not a problem at all."

"Thanks."

"There is nothing to thank me for. After all, you will be the one sitting at the side and watching people playing an overcomplicated children game."

"Yes but that was a part of my childhood too. I'm used to it."

"Then its settled. Let's meet at nine in front of the train station."

"I won't make you wait."

"I'm sure you won't." she told me with a small giggle. "So, let's keep going then. Let me drive you home."

"Thanks, but I'm good on foot."

"If you say so." Elizabeth paused for a moment then took something from her handbag. "I know that this is an unusual gift. In fact I can imagine how weird it would be to get such a gift, but I want you to have it."

After she said that Elizabeth placed a Yugioh card in front of me. I looked up at her almost as if I was trying to tell her 'what the actual fuck'. I mean, I understand that she loves the game and all, but this was a really weird present and I had no idea how to react. Taking a quick look around to make sure that no one was watching, I reached out and took the card. It was green – a Spell Card – its name was Monster Reincarnation… and I'm not sure what else to say since I'm not someone who understand the game all that well.

"I don't know why, but this cards means a lot for me." Elizabeth took a deep breath. "When it's with me I feel like someone is watching over me. You could say that I believe the card is bringing me good luck. But now that I have grown, I no longer need it to look after me. Who knows, maybe this card really does bring good luck to its owner."

"Is that so?" I looked at the card. "Then, I will make sure to treasure it."

Another smile flashed on Elizabeth's face, she walked past me and left the restaurant. I remained, staring at the card for a bit longer, I sighed and put it in one of my pockets. I had just witnessed a side of my tutor that I had never seen before and there just weren't words that could describe my thoughts about it. Correcting; I had no idea what to think. She didn't seem like the type of person that would believe in such silly things like luck.

After a bit I left the restaurant as well. I walked down the street and played with my phone, with all of my friends gone I couldn't imagine how I'm going to spent this summer vacation. It already felt lonely. I didn't have any hobbies to keep me occupied and I'm too shy to speak with someone or make new friends.

Ah, I'm so pathetic!

Suddenly, my phone began ringing, it was my father. Strange, normally it would be my mother who calls, but not him. I noted that and answered the call, putting the phone close to my ear, I walked away from the other people to avoid hitting someone and dropping my phone.

"Yes dad?" I said.

"Roxana, where are you right now?" from his voice, he seemed in a hurry.

"I was with Elizabeth, but now I'm going home." I answered honestly. "Why are you asking? Did something happen?"

"No, but you remember what next Thursday is, right?" Ah yes, it was my mother's birthday. "Could you help me choose a present for her?"

Yeah, my father isn't all that good when it comes to birthday presents, or any presents for that matter, so as by an old family tradition, when my mother's birthday closed in, he took me to help him choose a present. His gifts for her always include a bouquet of yellow roses and something handy, like home slippers, coffee cup and other things of that sorts. And since my mother preferred practical things over attractive, she would be far happier to get gloves for cooking than an expensive necklace or a ring.

I heard a car horn right behind me and turned around. My heart skipped a beat. I realized that while talking with my father I had stepped on the street, a car was coming toward me at full speed, there was no time for it to stop or for me to just out of the way. I felt a sharp pain through my whole body and everything turned black.

* * *

 **And that was the introduction chapter folks! Despite that we have only 7 episodes of VRAINS, the new YGO anime did more than an amazing job at helping me pass the writing block I got after Arc-V's ending. Thank you for reading, please, follow/favorite/review. Till next time!**

 **Diabolic Tracer, out!**


	2. Chapter 2

Into the… Vrains?

Senses returned slowly as I heard the faint beeping of something next to my head, along with voices. My eyelids slowly fluttered, my body felt like it had woken up from a dream, which is strange because I don't remember to have fallen asleep. In fact, I don't remember anything about the last week or so, weird. As I opened my eyes I found myself inside a white room, lying on a bed with a heart monitor at my left side and a man with spiky gray hair wearing a doctor uniform standing a few meters away, speaking with a nurse. Though, why was the color of her hair lemon green? That's weird.

"That's a relief, you are awake." The man told me. "How are you feeling?"

That's when I noticed that he looked like he was draw. Like a character from an, um… what was it again? Ah yes, anime! They looked like characters from one of those cartoons.

"Are you ok?" the doctor asked me and made a concerned face.

"Yes, uh, I'm ok." I nodded. "But my head feels a bit light and all. Sorry for the question but why exactly am I in a hospital?"

"Hm, your memories must be fuzzy from the medicine." The doctor put a hand under his chin in thought. "You were found lying unconscious on the street, a good woman called the hospital. We made all sorts of tests, you aren't ill. You must have fainted from exhaustion, or extreme stress."

"I'm sorry I don't remember anything."

In fact, that's what creeped me out, to wake up in a hospital with no memories of how or why I was there. Whenever I tried to think back about the time before I got here, all that I remembered was heading out for school and-! Wait, things didn't look like this before, the world and people that I remember weren't cartoonish at all! Oh god, was that some sort of a dream? Yes, as embarrassing as it sounded, there were more than a few times when my dreams were super realistic and I couldn't recall how I got in such strange situations. Although, all of them ended up as nightmares…

"We couldn't find an ID card on you." The Doctor told me. "I will need your name, address, just the basic information needed for the paperwork."

"Of course." I nodded. "My name is Roxana Nova Petit. Um, I can't give you an address..."

"Yes, I understand. You had just woken up after all, I may have pushed you too far with those questions. Well, now that I have your name I should be able to get the rest of the information from the hospital's database."

"Thanks!" I bowed nervously and jumped on my feet.

For a moment I lost balance fell forward, but quickly regained control before my face had the chance to slam into the white wall before me. The doctor ran to help me, I apologized and said that everything was fine, then I turned to leave, but before I could the doctor put a hand on my shoulder and stopped me.

"If you don't mind Ms. Petit, but I would suggest you to stay here for a few days." The doctor told me. "We need to make sure that your fainting isn't a regular occurrence."

"I understand." I nodded.

Not that I had anywhere to go. I was in a hospital at a place I didn't know, I would have to ask for directions in order to get home. Talking about that I should probably call my parents and tell them what happened.

"Good." The doctor nodded and turned to leave but quickly looked back at me. "Last question: Have you logged into LINK Vrains lately?"

"Link Brains?" I tilted my head in confusion.

"Vrains. The online network where everyone duels. Don't you know about it?"

"No… Should I?"

"No, I just thought you were a player since we found this with you." The doctor said as he pointed at some round object with cards in it.

This entire conversation began to shift to some really awkward grounds for me and I had no idea how to reply. Instead I reached to take the object and pulled out the deck, I fanned the cards and believe it or not they all had some super weird looking artwork and names. I realized that the color of some cards was the same as the one Elizabeth had showed me and one of them was even the very card she gave me: Monster Reincarnation.

"I don't duel." I told the doctor. "But a friend of mine is a huge fan of the game, so maybe I could give it a try."

I wanted to understand what exactly Elizabeth liked about the card game so much. I wasn't particularly interested in those kind of games because they all had too many rules to remember which were extremely confusing at times. However, for Elizabeth I could make an exception, she was really awesome, a good person and the best role model. She had helped me with a lot more than studying that in turn I wanted to get to know her better as well, but I always failed to do so. However I feel that this time around, this game would help me to strengthen my friendship with her.

"I see." The doctor said; he seemed to be thinking about something. "Recently, there were a fairy high number of cases in which people stay for too long in Vrains and not enough in the real world which causes their bodies to become weaker, sometimes leading to fainting, so I had to ask. But if you have never entered Vrains then perhaps it's safe."

"Thanks." I smiled kindly, then looked around for a computer or some sort of device to connect this circular thing onto. "Then, how exactly do I log in?"

"Your Duel Disk will do it through a voice command." The doctor explained. "Just put your deck inside and said 'Into the Vrains'."

Whoa, that was pretty simple actually. One would expect such technology to be much harder to work with, but it seems that I'm wrong about it. Still, how exactly would this, um, Duel Disk? Yes, this Duel Disk get me into Vrains? Is it going to magically teleport me there or something?

"But before that you must put this into the small slot of your Duel Disk." The doctor told me, holding a black chip. "Some of our patients insisted of login into Vrains while they were under medical care and, so a contributor of the hospital provided us with those chips which allows us to keep an eye on your vital signs."

"Thanks." I replied and put the chip into my Duel Disk.

"For nothing that is my job." The doctor said and felt the room; closing the door after himself.

The doctor's job was to give his patients access to high tech games? Never knew that. I smiled a bit to myself and turned toward the strange circular device that the doctor called a Duel Disk. To give a more precise description, the lower portion was white with a red circle over it, an orb on top and a blue part located at the side. I took a deep breath and put my Deck into the device; time to see what that Link Vrains thing is.

"Into the Vrains!"

A circle made from some sort of data surrounded me and a bright flash blinded me as I felt myself suddenly changing. No, it wasn't changing. It felt like my mind was being separated from my body and pulled into a space where it could exist all on its own. Next thing I knew, I was in a blue space surrounded by data with a white screen in front of me. I looked at it, the screen said that I needed to register in order to go further.

Well, ok.

Normally, I don't like giving information to others about such private things, but since I tell the story, I will let you know what sort of information I had to give.

Username: Proxy

Password: ******** (You thought that I will tell you my password?)

Date of Birth: 18. 11. 2002

Gender: Female

Afterward, the screen turned into a huge mirror that showed a reflection of a girl, however that wasn't me. She was the same size as me and her skin was tanned as well, but her hair was extremely pale shade of blue, maybe Alice blue with two Amber locks which ran through the middle of her hair and her eyes were amethyst. For that, the outfit was toned down (thankfully) as it consisted of a simple white dress shirt, a black shirt, knee-high black socks and brown loafers.

When I moved around, the girl did the same actions so she must have been some sort of reflection of me, or maybe she was just a template for my avatar since beside her I found another screen with multiple opinions on it about eyes, hair, skin, even species and gender! Whoa, that's a lot of customization available.

I chose to stick with the basics and first changed that ugly hair. I made it pink with light blue highlights that covered the sides of the head and pointed backward, thought I kept the usual neck length. I made the eyes pale blue and added earing in the form of music notes. After that was time to the most hard thing; the outfit. I mean, there was nothing back with the current one, but it just seemed out of place with the rest of the avatar.

The new outfit I choose consisted of a white choker with a pink heart on the neck, a black shoulder cape with pink borders and inside over a white long-sleeved shirt with open collar and pink borders. Underneath the avatar wore black shorts with blue patterns, thigh high black boots with golden rings around the ankles. Oh, I also added black gloves with white palms and triangular headphones because I liked how they looked on my avatar.

After that I clicked done and my body was engulfed by another bright light. Seriously are those added in just to blind the players before they reach the game itself? But I digress from the topic. When the lights died down and I could see again I was now standing in the street of a city with all sorts of avatars, both humans and non-humans, walking around me. It was so awesome!

I walked around for a bit, wondering where to start from. Should I ask someone to duel with me or were there tutorials for that. Though if they were, the designers must have worked very hard to hide them from sight. What the heck was I supposed to do now? And more important, where is the exit button since I don't see anything around me. Did logging out happened by thinking about it or did I have to said 'Exit the Vrains'?

I'M SO CONFUSED!

I sat down and sighed, looking around, the city seemed awesome. Since I grew up in a small town I had never seen skyscrapers and all other things that made this place look so alive. There were a few huge screens attached onto buildings that showed ongoing duels and information about duels scheduled for later today. Most people around me were talking about either Blue Angel of Go Onizuka so I guessed that those were the big stars of the server, due to how excited everyone seemed when they were mentioning those names.

I leaned back onto the bench and began to pick the Duel Disk on my hand. I had no idea what I expected to happen, but it was better than to just way for a miracle to happen, right? I tapped the orb on top and a screen with options and settings popped up. Finally!

Let's see…

I checked what options I had when I stumbled upon exactly what I needed: A Duel Tutorial! I pressed it eager to check what Elizabeth liked about that game so much and in a moment everything around me disappeared. After that a field appeared underneath my feet as I gently landed onto it. After a few moments the space at the other end of the field began to twist with sparks coming out, a slender robot with pointy legs and shoulders appeared and levitated over the ground, its glowing blue eyes looking directly at me.

"Welcome into LINK Vrains." The machine told me. "My name is Masou. I'm going to be your opponent today, Proxy."

"Cool! You know my name!" I exclaimed a little surprised.

"My program is made so that every player to be able to hear its own username during the tutorial." The robot explained.

"Still cool!" I told it. "So how will the tutorial work?"

"It's simple." The robot said. "We will duel."

"Doesn't the duel come after covering the basics?" I asked since that's how most games did it.

"Duel!"

 **『Proxy LP: 4000 Hand: 5 (VS) Masou LP: 4000 Hand: 5』**

A huge screen appeared over my head showing me and the robot with our names, a huge 'VS' between us and the number 4000 underneath each of our names. Momentary my Duel Disk came to live, producing a straight pink energy blade with a small screen over it telling me to draw 5 cards. I did so and got three monsters with a single spell card and trap. After that the screen changed to another one that showed me about information about 'Normal Summon/Set'.

"I get it now." I shook my head. "I summon **_BrioGear Wave Crusade_**!"

On my field appeared a warrior in silver armor with a blue cape and a huge broadsword with blue symbols glowing on the blade. It wore a golden mask that covered its face expect its green eyes which glowed as it stared ahead.

* * *

 **BrioGear Wave Crusade**

 **Level: 4/Attribute: WATER/Type: Warrior/Effect**

 **ATK: 1700/DEF: 100**

 **Effect: Once per turn: You can discard 1 WATER monster from your hand; this card gains 300 ATK.**

* * *

Afterward the screen changed again to show me information about monsters, which monsters had effects, what kind of effects there are and how to activate them. I took my time to read everything the screen showed me, the AI probably wouldn't mind since it was in its programming.

"Let's give this a shot." I muttered. "I activate my monster's effect and discard **_BrioGear Cryo Raptor_** to gain 300 attack points!"

 **BrioGear Wave Crusade, ATK: 1700 + 300 = 2000**

Afterward the screen showed me information about effects in the Graveyard as I got a notification that there was an effect I could activate. I checked it and found that I could activate Cryo Raptor's effect since it was discarded.

"I activate BrioGear Cryo Raptor's effect!" I declared as a card materialized in my hand. "If its discarded I can Special Summon a level 3 or lower BrioGear from my Deck! I choose **_BrioGear Pale Crawfish_**!"

A white, humanoid Crawfish wearing chest armor appeared on my field and puts its claws in front of its face in a defensive manner, probably because I put it in defense position.

* * *

 **BrioGear Pale Crawfish**

 **Level: 2/Attribute: WATER/Type: Aqua/Effect**

 **ATK: 700/DEF: 600**

 **Effect: If this card is Normal or Special Summoned: You can add 1 "BrioGear Pale Crawfish" from your Deck to your hand. During either player's Battle Phase: You can discard this card; all face-up "BrioGear" monsters you control gain 600 ATK until the End Phase.**

* * *

"Then Crawfish lets me add another copy of itself from my Deck." I continued, without reading the instructions anymore. "Turn end."

"Affirmative." The AI nodded. "Beginning Turn Two."

Well, that was pretty good for a first turn in my first game if you ask me. The instructions helped a lot too, but I was starting to get the hang of- I looked at the screen next to me that showed instructions about setting Spells and Traps and I realized that there was one in my hand.

"Hey, um, can I get a redo for a bit?" I asked, hoping the robot to let me set my card.

"Draw!" the AI said, as it drew its sixth card; guess no redoes are allowed.

 **『Turn 2 [Masou] LP: 4000 Hand: 6』**

"I summon _Marauding Captain (Lv. 3, ATK: 1200)_." A knight with two swords appeared in front of the AI. "Marauding Captain's effect activates, I Special Summon _Key Man the Key Warrior (LV. 2, ATK: 1000)_!"

I sighed in relief. Of course if that AI was on tutorial level, then it should be easy to beat, this time I was able to get by for not setting my trap.

"Come circuit of Link!" the AI shouted as a portal opened in the sky and it jumped inside along with its two monsters. "Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are two EARTH monsters! I set _Marauding Captain_ and _Key Man the Key Warrior_ in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Appear, _Missus Radiant (ATK: 1400, LINK-2)_!"

The two arrows at the bottoms ends of the portal glowed as a dog wearing a blue scarf and all kinds of expensive jewelry appeared on the field. The screen before me then showed me information about Extra Deck monsters, how to summon them and what they can do.

" _Missus Radiant_ 's effect raises the attack of all EARTH monsters by 500!" The AI exclaimed.

 **Missus Radiant, ATK: 1400 + 500 = 1900**

"Battle Phase!" The Ai continued.

"Hey, I'm trying to read here!" I shouted back at the machine; what kind of tutorial is this!?

" _Missus Radiant_ attack _BrioGear Pale Crawfish_! Radiant Claw!"

I noticed the dog's eyes grow, it charged forward and jumped into the air before slashing my monster with its claws. The power of the impact hit me, I lost balance and fell onto my butt. Ouch.

"I set a card, turn end." The AI finished.

"That was unnecessary violent." I said, rubbing my butt. "Can't we slow down since it's a tutorial?"

"Negative, this is all part of learning." The AI told me. "A duelist must be ready to act fast in any situation. If you can't kept up, it's your fault not mine."

"That's pretty rude coming from a tutorial AI." I told it.

I'm not much of a gamer, but I had played a few games when I was at my friends' houses and there the tutorial NPCs were much kinder that this one. Although, this isn't s game, but more of a virtual social media, the point about having kind AIs still stands.

"That's how I was programmed." The AI replied and somehow I didn't believe it.

"Ok then." I took a deep breath and stepped back before running forward. "My turn, draw!"

 **『Turn 3 [Proxy] LP: 4000 Hand: 6』**

I looked at the card that I drew and smiled. I still had no idea what I was doing, but after I saw this card, I knew that I had to immediately play it.

"I play Monster Reincarnation!" I shouted and looked at the screen for information. "I discard **_BrioGear Hydro Acid_** from my hand to add _BrioGear Cryo Raptor_ from the Graveyard to my hand! And when it's discarded, Hydro Acid's effect forces you to discard a card from your hand as well!"

"That's certainly something else." The AI said as it discarded the card.

"Then I activate Cryo Raptor's effect, Special Summoning itself and one Level two or lower monster from my Graveyard!" I continued.

Two small portals appeared at each side of me as Pale Crawfish appeared alongside a pale blue lizard that stood on two legs with white smoke that came from its mouth.

* * *

 **BrioGear Cryo Raptor**

 **Level: 1/Attribute: WATER/Type: Reptile/Effect/Tuner**

 **ATK: 400/DEF: 100**

 **Effect: You can target 1 Level 2 or lower "oGear" monster in your GY; Special Summon this card and that target on your side of the field in face-up Defense Position. If this card is discarded to the GY by a card effect: Special Summon 1 Level 2 or lower "BrioGear" monster from your Deck.**

* * *

"Next, Pale Crawfish's effect lets me add another copy of it to my hand!" I explained. "How is that?"

"Beginner's level." The Ai replied.

"Are… are you for serious?" I asked it. "I think this is at least somewhat amazing."

"You are incorrect."

Damn, what kind of tricks must be able to pull out to be a really good duelist if this is a beginner level? If Elizabeth is so good that to participate in tournaments, then I should learn as well. I looked at my Duel Disk and saw a screen with a message.

"Check this out!" I shouted out and threw my hand forward opening a portal. "Come forth, circuit of life!"

As the portal opened I jumped inside and found myself in another blue space with Cryo Raptor and Pale Crawfish, looking down on a circuit with eight points.

"Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two Level 3 or lower monsters! I set _BrioGear Cryo Raptor_ and _BrioGear Pale Crawfish_ in the Link Markers!" My monsters flew at the top middle and bottom middle arrow of the circuit. "Link Summon! The dancing spirit of storms! **_Grand Ranger Serene_**!"

I jumped out of the portal followed by my monster. It was a covered in white armor with blue accents. The head was protected by a helmet that was shaped like a beast or dragon of some sort with a mouth guard and huge blue hair that reached the ankle. The monster's armor also had huge shoulder plates with golden bottoms connecting them to the rest of the armor. Its gauntlets looked like claws but had a few differences from one another, with the right being white while the left was green and a bit larger with a small shield and two blades underneath. Finally there were the legs which were covered by armored boots with wings attached to each one. Serene raised its head and its eyes glow yellow as it landed in front of me.

* * *

 **Grand Ranger Serene**

 **Attribute: WATER/Type: Beast-Warrior/Link/Effect**

 **L-Markers: T, B**

 **ATK: 2100/Link-2**

 **2 Level 3 or lower Effect monsters**

 **Effect: (This card is always treated as a "BrioGear" card.) When this card inflicts battle damage to your opponent: You can send 1 monster linked to this card to the GY; inflict damage to your opponent equal to the original ATK of the monster send to the GY by this effect.**

* * *

"That was so cool!" I shouted and looked at the AI. "This card game looks awesome!"

* * *

 **A/N: After 3000 years chapter two is out! Yay! Now, I have a lot of things to explain here so lets get them one at a time. Since there seems to be a tradition in this sort of stories with the character's appearance changing when they enter the Yu-Gi-Oh world, Roxy's appearance in this world is different as well. Since this story is from her POV and she doesn't know it yet, the template that she was given when she started making her Avatar was her real appearance.**

 **Next thing I want to explain is that this chapter takes place somewhere during episode 1 but before the Hanoi's attack which is why the duel between Proxy and the AI isn't a Speed Duel. Since Yusaku's AI hasn't unclocked the Cyverse data yet.**

 **Last thing, I want to explain how grateful I'm to all of you for the reviews, the favorite and follows and even for the views. Thank you all and until next time.**

 **Diabolic Tracer out!**


	3. Chapter 3

First Contact

"Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two Level 3 or lower monsters! I set _BrioGear Cryo Raptor_ and _BrioGear Pale Crawfish_ in the Link Markers!" My monsters flew at the top middle and bottom middle arrow of the circuit. "Link Summon! The dancing spirit of storms! _Grand Ranger Serene (ATK: 2100, Link-2)_!"

I jumped out of the portal followed by my monster. Serene raised its head and its eyes glow yellow as it landed in front of me.

"That was so cool!" I shouted and pointed at the AI. "This card game looks awesome!"

Even though there was no chance for anyone to put real money into a card game like this one, the idea looked awesome in this weird dream I have. The monsters looked so real and alive, you couldn't guess that they were just holograms.

I glanced toward the AI which didn't seem to have any particular expression about this, perhaps because it was a machine and all. I don't know why, but its call expression made me nervous to attack. What if it had set a trap and waited for me to make the wrong move and get screwed? It was possible.

Either way I had to do something now! If I got rid of his monster the rest would be easy… I hope.

"I enter my Battle Phase and use the effect of BrioGear Pale Crawfish in my hand!" I said, showing the two copies in my hand. "I can discard it to raise the attack of my BrioGear by 600 for each!"

 _ **BrioGear Wave Crusade, ATK: 2000 + 1200 - 3200**_

 _ **Grand Ranger Serene, ATK: 2100 + 1200 - 3300**_

"Why did Grand Ranger gain a boost as well?" I tilted my head to the side a bit confused. Serene wasn't a BrioGear monster so it shouldn't get its attack points increased, though this made things easier for me so it was cool on my side.

"The first text in the effect of Grand Ranger Serene threats it as a BrioGear monster." The AI explained. "Therefore it gets a power boost as well."

"Oh! Then I attack _Missus Radiant_ with _Grand Ranger Serene_!" I declared.

Serene turned its left hand into a fist and pushed it forward. The shield opened and a small blue orb came out as the blades underneath were drawn out and obtained glowing writings which matched the orb. Afterward Serene jumped into the air with a feminine battle cry and brought its blades down onto the AI's own monster.

"Trap Open!" I gritted my teeth as the AI's set card flipped face-up. "Safe Zone! I equip it to a monster that I control and as long as this card is equipped to it, the target cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects! Or said in the words that an amateur like would understand, despite the rules stating that the weaker monster gets destroyed, this card prevents it."

A bubble formed around the AI's monster and took the hit instead. As Serene's blades hit, they unleashed a huge amount of blue energy which were reflected to the sides and raised into the form of wings before chasing onto the field. I feel on my knees and had to cover myself from the power of the attack which created some huge cracks onto the ground we were standing onto and sent a bit of debris my way. I was just lucky not to be on the receiving end of this attack because it managed to launch the AI I dueled backward and knocked it off its feet.

 **『** **Masou LP: 4000** **–** **1400 - 2600 Hand: 2** **』**

"Second attack!" I gestured toward Wave Crusader. "Attack Missus Radiant!"

Just like with my previous monster, this one unsheathed its sword and charged ahead, swinging it toward the dog's head. And like before the attack was blocked by a bubble, though this time the strength of the impact was far weaker than before. In fact, I didn't even feel it.

But the AI did.

I noticed that some sort of distortion appeared on the AI's body for a few moments before it disappeared again. Was that mean to show where exactly the attack hit our bodies? Because I saw no other use for that, even though that would be pretty pointless.

 **『** **Masou LP: 2600** **–** **1300 - 1300 Hand: 2** **』**

"You made a mistake." The AI suddenly said as it stood back up. "If you have summoned Wave Crusader on the zone underneath the Extra Zone you used and then attacked with it first you would have been able to use Grand Ranger Serene's effect to tribute your monster and inflict 1700 points of damage to me."

My eyes widened at that and I looked down at the field. Indeed Wave Crusader was in the middle zone while Serene was in the right 'Extra Zone' and one of its arrows pointed downward. Ah damn!

"You should have told me about that sooner!" I said, though I didn't want to sound angry or anything. "I set a Trap Card and end my turn."

At this point the power boosts of my monsters ran out and two screens appeared beside each of them to show me their stats.

 _ **BrioGear Wave Crusade, ATK: 3200 - 1200 - 2000**_

 _ **Grand Ranger Serene, ATK: 3300 - 1200 - 2100**_

"You made a mistake." The AI spoke again and I looked at the field again. "Both Spell and Trap Cards can be set, therefor telling what card you set worked into my advantage!"

"I didn't know that!" I protested.

"My turn." And I got ignored…

 **『** **Turn 4 [Masou] LP: 1300 Hand: 3** **』**

"I activate _Bait Doll_." The AI said as a card that showed a doll and a hammer appeared on their field. "I target a set card the opponent controls and if it's a Trap Card they must activate it immediately."

The single set card I had begun to glow and I knew what that meant. I watched as my Trap was revealed. Its artwork showed a vicious blue serpent with wings fighting a blue and white dragon of ice which had three heads, in the middle of an ocean.

 **Titans of Disaster (Trap) Normal**

 **During the Damage Step: If a "BrioGear" monster you control is attacked, discard 1 card; the ATK of all face-up non-WATER monsters is halved until the End Phase of this turn.**

"Thanks for activating it." I told the AI with a smirk.

"I don't understand your gratitude." The AI tilted its head to the side. "Since the activation conditions of your Trap aren't met the effect of Bait Doll will shuffle it into the Deck."

"Say what?" The trap disappeared from my field and that was it.

"I summon _Cosmic Compass (Lv. 1, ATK: 100)_." The AI continued and a weird-looking machine appeared on its field. "When Cosmic Compass is Normal Summoned I Special Summon a number of Compass Tokens up to the number of monsters the opponent controls."

In an instant two portals appeared at each side of the machine as two more copies showed up but those were in Defense Position and with 0 defense. I could only guess what it was planning to do with those monsters.

"I calculate that player Proxy will lose this turn." The AI told me and from my respective it sounded too happy about it. "Come circuit of Link!"

The AI threw its hand upward and show a spark of electricity which opened a portal with eight arrows in the sky. The robot then jumped inside the gateway along with it's the three compass monsters which it had just summoned. "Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are at least two monsters! I set Cosmic Compass and the two Compass Tokens in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Appear, Gaia Saber, the Lightning Shadow Knight (ATK: 2600, LINK-3)!"

The three compasses flew into the arrows at the left, bottom and right sides of the portal which then glowed as a black horse with light blue circuit lines trotted out of the portal with a knight in white armor that ridded on its back, holding two spears.

"And not to forget Missus Radiant's effect increases the attack of all EARTH monster by 500!" The dog barked and a golden aura covered the knight, its stats suddenly raised.

 **Gaia Saber, the Lightning Shadow Knight, ATK: 2600 + 500 - 3100**

Ok, let's see how the math works here. My opponent controls two monsters, only once of which is strong enough to defeat mine and even then that monster's ATK was too low to reduce my Life Points to 0. Was there something that I missed?

"I activate Pot of Desires!" _Oh yes, there was._ "I banish the top ten cards of my Deck and draw 2 cards." The AI explained and two cards appeared in its hands. "Then I activate United We Stand, equipping it to Missus Radiant. This strengthens my monster's attack with 800 for each face-up monster on my field."

 **Missus Radiant, ATK: 1900 + 800*2 - 3500**

"Then I activate Back-up Rider to increase Missus Radiant's attack further by 1500 points!" The dog barked louder, its body began to grow bigger as it did.

 **Missus Radiant, ATK: 3500 + 1500 - 5000**

"Whoa" I said in amazement as the monster's attack reached a height that I didn't believe was possible with just two cards.

Actually, what were the chances for the AI to draw the exact two cards needed to boost its monster and beat me? That was one super lucky machine I had to say.

"Entering Battle Phase." The AI declared. "Missus Radiant attack BrioGear Wave Crusader! _Radiant Claw_!"

The dog jumped on top of my monster, smashing it, then turned to look at me and howled with so much power that it knocked me back.

 **『** **Proxy LP: 4000** **–** **3000 - 1000 Hand: 1** **』**

"Ouch." I winced, feeling the pain running through my body. "This hurt…"

"Dueling isn't for namby-pambies." The AI said, following with a robotic laugh.

"What did you say?" I couldn't believe that an AI was making fun of me! It was so embarrassing!

"Gaia Saber, the Lightning Shadow Knight attack Grand Ranger Selene! _Spiral Saber_!"

The knight raised its spears and pointed them forward as the horse trotted toward my monster. Selene activated its blades, but before it could do anything else the weapons stabbed it in the chest. My monster let out a groan before shattering and I felt something hitting my body as well.

 **『** **Proxy LP: 1000** **–** **1000 - 0 Hand: 1** **』**

 **『** **Winner: Masou** **』**

"I think I got a bump." I muttered, rubbing the back of my head, even though this was cyberspace and my real body was probably completely unharmed.

Getting utterly destroyed in the tutorial was so embarrassing and shameful. Though why the tutorial – which is made to introduce new players to the game – was so bad at explaining the rules and how everything works? I think that it just made the entire card game, even harder for me to understand. I grumped as the AI began to laugh and call me mean things, which to an extent made me feel even worst for losing.

"Let's duel again." I said and activated my Duel Disk. "I wasn't ready last time, but I will get you this time around."

I wasn't sure why I challenged the robot again, but I just couldn't accept that it managed to beat me like this. I just wanted to prove that I can be good at something as well, so, despite that I had mostly no idea how most of the rules work nor did I have any sort of strategy, I believed that I will manage to pull out an awesome win. I wasn't going to be a newbie, I was going to be an epic newbie! I would show Elizabeth that I can play her favorite game as well.

"This is quite the illogical decision." The AI told me and readied its Duel Disk for another duel. "But who am I to let a chance to completely embarrass someone pass by?"

"I'm not going to lose again!" I shouted back.

"DUEL!"

* * *

After what I guess was an hour or so I finally teleported back to the usual Link VRAINS and leaned against the wall of a building, sighing to myself. Would you guys believe me if I say that I completely owned the AI the second time we dueled? No? As embarrassing as it can be for me to admit it, but you would be right. I had fifteen duels with the machine and all of them were me losing and challenging it again while the AI kept taunting me. It wasn't a pleasant experience, believe me.

I looked up, strangely, the sky looked darker than when I logged in, the whole atmosphere of the place seemed to have changed as well, it was, colder and there was no living being around. I felt that the ground below me began to tremble and then heard screams coming from the distance followed by an explosion. I looked around and saw a tail of flames raising over the buildings, then out of a corner came a few players which ran toward me. At first I couldn't understand what happened, but after a bit, everything came together as a stream of fire fell on top of them, completely incinerating everyone. Oh God!

A mechanical dragon without limbs flew over the flames and toward me. Oh god! No! I took a step back and turned around to run, but something tripped me and I fell on the ground. I turned around and then saw it.

There was a hooded man on top of the dragon overseeing the slaughter.

This wasn't just a game anymore, I felt fear and dread. My mind was shouting, telling me to run for dear live. The flames that came out of the dragon's mouth gave me chills and I felt that my heart was beating so fast that it was probably going to explode.

As the beast came closer to me, I could tell that the man was looking at me. Directly at me. He had a smile, a wicked one that made me feel sick just from a glance. I couldn't get up. I wanted to run away, but my body wouldn't move, a chill ran down my spine and the robot opened its mouth, released a stream of fire toward me and all I could do was close my eyes and wait for my end.

"Link Summon!"

Hearing someone's cry I opened my eyes and saw a humanoid in black clothes slashing the flames in two with a scythe. My savior swung their weapon and I saw a large purple scar appearing on the mechanical dragon's head as it stopped to fire at us. The warrior in black clothes rest their scythe on their shoulder and turned toward me as the machine exploded and I heard the masked man screams being muffed by the flames that engulfed him.

"Thanks." I told the warrior.

My savior simply nodded to me and then flew away. As they did so I managed to see a small screen by their side reading some sort of attack stat. I didn't have time to pay much attention to this as suddenly my entire body began to glow and I had to close my eyes from the light.

I felt only the weight of my own body after that. I slowly opened my eyes and for the first time in my life help happy to see the white ceiling of a hospital room. It didn't matter how I got there, as long as it wasn't inside that virtual hell. Though I felt extremely tired for some reason and could barely move a muscle. My entire body felt like I had just ran fifteen miles and I had to fight desperately to keep my eyes open for a little longer. Was it even worth the effort?

My mind was empty, I couldn't think about anything. How did I get into all of this? Where is my family? Why did I woke up in a hospital? I don't know if those questions were in my mind before, but right now I couldn't get myself to try and answer, nor care about any of them. With much difficulty I managed to turn onto my side and closed my eyes. I will just… sleep today and do the rest tomorrow…

* * *

 **3** **rd** **P.O.V**

A few hours later the lights in Roxy's room were off and the girl lied completely still in her bed. Her chest raised and fell gently and she breathed slowly, she was still sleeping and deeply on top of that. She would never know that someone opened her room, nor that they took her Duel Disk and left.

Outside of the room where Roxy slept was the doctor that helped her earlier, holding the girl's Duel Disk inside his hand. Before him stood another figure with a black hoodie that covered their face from view, but was decidedly a male. He took the Disk from the doctor and raised his head a bit to look at it, giving a good view to his crimson eyes which seemed to glow into the darkness.

"That's good." He mumbled, taking the cards. "It uses a physical deck, that's good."

"What are you going to do with her?" the doctor asked. "I can't keep her in the hospital for long, the higher-ups will start to get suspicious."

"Give me two days to arrange things." The hooded man said. "She must have many questions and being taken in by some unknown people wouldn't help her. I want to do it more… naturally."

"I can do that much for you." The doctor said. "And I don't say it only because you are supporting my hospital."

"I know, Doctor Souma." The hooded man sighed and looked at the cards again. "But to think that a girl with no idea of how to duel would be the one to get this deck… It's just too ridiculous for my taste."

"That means that you will have to look carefully after her." Dr. Souma leaned against the door frame.

"Or lock her into the tutorial and not let her leave until she manages to defeat Masou." The hooded man said.

The man took the black chip that was attached to the back of Roxy's Duel Disk, then pulled out his own, it was the same type, but with a black, purple and red color scheme instead of the usual white, red and blue one. He input the chip and a screen with the words 'Downloading in progress…' appeared on the screen.

"Let the kid be." Dr. Souma replied.

"I was just joking. But I will be busy the next days, fixing the mess that SOL Technologies made inside Link VRAINS." The hooded man said. "And on top of that, this, vigilante hero called Playmaker showed up as well."

"I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about."

"I'm saying that I'm going to be extremely busy those days and I hate being busy." The hooded man put the chip back on Roxy's Duel Disk. "So, if anything happen and you lose the girl you know who to call instead of me."

Dr. Souma nodded and took the Duel Disk. The hooded man smiled and patted him on the shoulder, he turned and walked down the corridor, disappearing into the darkness. Souma sighed and looked into the room, seeing Roxy sleeping peacefully onto the bed. He smiled and put the Duel Disk on the nightstand. He grabbed the blanket that Roxy hadn't noticed and put it on her before leaving the room.

* * *

 **A/N: After a thousand years, I'm finally back!**

 **So yeah, I guess this isn't as exciting as it should be given the time it took me to write it, but right now I have a bit of a problem with following the summary which says that Proxy will have to learn how to Duel from Yusaku... I mean that guy is so anti-social and unwilling to even ally with pro-duelists that it would be hard to make him work with a newbie. I just hope that the idea I have for that won't make him look** **too OOC or stupid.**

 **On another note, I** **was planning to put a chase scene between Proxy and the Knight of Hanoi, but I didn't write it because I'm bad with chase scenes. Yeah, I'm probably going to revisit those first few chapters later down the road.**

 **Well, that's for today. See ya next time!**

 **Diabolic Tracer out!**


	4. Chapter 4

Queen of Flames – Blaze Rose

It was just another day in Den City.

I was sitting in the park next to the hospital, relaxing and trying not to think about the horrible things that I saw last night when I logged into LINK VRAINS. Doctor Souma has told me the servers were under attack by some sort of cyber terrorist group called the Knights of Hanoi who went on a rampage and deleted the accounts of many users. Thankfully due to the chip in my Duel Disk I was forcefully logged out of the serve when my heartbeat became too quick.

From the doctor's words there was someone called Playmaker who had defeated the Knights of Hanoi so there shouldn't be any dangers to log inside LINK VRAINS for the time being, but I'm not sure if I want to go back there ever again. The experience this game gave me last time was enough for a whole lifetime. The only time I felt so much fear was when that car was about to hit me and…Now that I think about it, I woke up in this strange world right after the incident.

Could it be that this isn't really happening and I'm just having a dream? It was highly unlikely because trading card games are the last thing I would dream. Before coming here I didn't even knew any of the rules or types of cards in order to be able to create such a realistic dream. But why did I woke up with a Duel Disk and an already built Deck?

I'm not sure how to explain it, but there is a feeling. I feel that there is some sort of higher purpose for me here, but I can't for the love of God think what it could be. I could keep wondering and wondering for all of this, but that won't help me with anything. I need answers and in order to get them I would need to learn a few skills, including (as much as I don't want to) the skill to duel well and win. But for that I will need someone to teach me, as I surely as hell won't go back to training with that mean AI.

"What should I do?" I leaned back and looked into the sky, hoping for an answer. Dueling seemed to stand in the center of most things here, I also had to find myself a place to live. I would be able to stay at the hospital for a day, two at most. What after that?

I know no one here and I don't like living in other people's' houses for nothing so I had to find a lodging, preferably cheap as well as a job to pay for it. Ugh! The more I think about all of this the more my head starts to hurt! Why couldn't mom or dad be here? I don't know anything about how to find a job or to survive on my own, I never expected to be separated from my family so soon.

I pulled out my phone and began to check out the web and sites that could help me find a good yet cheap place to stay. Not much luck there unfortunately, but all social networks were filled with people talking about Playmaker and his identity. Even I was starting to get curious about that mysterious hacker.

"No! Get yourself together!" I shook my head, now wasn't the time to think about guys, any less some virtual avatar that fights cyber terrorists.

"Playmaker is totally my type! He's super cool and makes my heart flutter!"

But then again, how was I supposed to think about anything else if the whole social media was talking only about Playmaker and how cool he is! Even the big screens around the city showed nothing more than avatars from LINK VRAINS talking and speculating about him/or her. I mean-

"Really? He's just an avatar. He can look like anyone in real world."

Exactly! Thank you TV avatar lady for the vote of support. It would be a little better for me if I at least knew how to duel good, but who is going to teach me?

"There is no point in just standing here." I told myself out loud and stood up. I had to start working out my issues not just speak them out.

Thankfully, Doctor Souma allowed me to leave the hospital and go around, so I didn't have to worry about making the staff freak out because one of the patients has disappeared or ran off.

I looked around the city, it was big with huge buildings and skyscrapers, and everything was technologized. The place was far more advanced that the little town I came from. One of the small amount of advantages that this new life of mine has, at least until my internet gets stopped because I couldn't pay for it.

I stopped at the center of the city, and noticed that everyone around me was looking somewhere high so I turned around as well. A large building was before me with multiple screens on it, showcasing some duels happening inside of LINK VRAINS. One of them showed a girl with blue hair and a mostly blue and white outfit with wings winking at the camera. I liked her outfit, it reminded me a little of an angel.

"That's all for today!" The blue-haired girl waved causing the crowd to burns in cheers. "Sit tight and behave 'till next time! Bye bye!"

I smiled a little at the girl's cheerful personality, it just had that effect that made me feel somewhat better despite my problems. Shame that I came just when she was about to leave though, maybe I would have better luck next time.

After the duel ended most of the crowd began to disperse and return to whatever they were doing before. I looked around, seeing a hotdog truck parked nearby and since I haven't had breakfast yet I went to check it. Of course now you will probably say that hotdogs for breakfast is a bad idea and I agree, but my choices were limited, so I had to work with what I got.

"Hello." I greeted the owner, trying to be polite.

"Welcome." He returned my greeting.

"How much would a normal hotdog cost?" I asked, wanting to make sure that I would have the money to pay.

"That would be two hundred yens." My eyes widened as I heard the price.

"Two hundred!?" I asked for confirmation. Back at my town a hotdog would cost two dollars, not two hundred. "That's a lot for a hotdog! Do you think a kid could have two hun-!"

I paused as I looked into my wallet and saw that I had multiple banknotes of 500 yens. Which was strange because the last time I cheeked I was carrying only like 10 dollars with me. I looked at my money and then back to the hotdog truck owner. The man smiled a little and continued to cook.

"You aren't from around here, are you?" He asked me.

"No." I shook my head in embarrassment. "I'm not."

The owner nodded and began to make my hotdog as I stood next to the truck and waited for my breakfast. I turned toward the big screens again and they showed a hologram of a man in a green suit talking on a microphone. What he said wasn't of much importance and I didn't remember most of it, though it was about the duel and so on.

"Here you go." I turned my head to the owner who held the hotdog. I hand him the money and he looked up at the screen as well. "Are you a fan?" He asked me.

"N-no." I shook my head. "I just had nothing else to do."

"Ah, I thought that since you are a duelist, you were interested in the duels."

As the owner said that I glanced down at my hand and saw the Duel Disk attached to my arm. I quickly looked back to the owner and waved my hands defensively in front of me. "No, no." I told him and took a step back, for some reason the idea of being mistaken for a duelist made me feel bad for not being a good one.

"No, actually I just got this Duel Disk, actually, I don't remember much about how I got it, but yeah, I'm not a duelist."

The owner's expression turned even more confused as I mentioned that. He was probably going to ask me how I don't remember and all that stuff now.

"What's that?" Thankfully the announcer's sudden shout turned the man's attention off me. I turned to look at the screen which showed a match that was just about to begin.

"It's Blaze Rose!" the announcer, well, announced. "It seems that she has finally returned after her last duel two weeks ago."

I had no idea who the announcer was talking about and there probably wasn't a way for me to know anyway. There wasn't anything for me to do right now, so I figured that I could sit down and watch for a bit. It was pretty early as well. Maybe I would get something useful out of this.

* * *

 **3** **rd** **POV**

In a server that looked like the Grand Canyon, the bright sun shined upon the wasteland as a pathway made of purple energy and static followed the canyon. Two people were surfing through the Data Storm on their D-Boards as they prepared to begin a Speed Duel.

The first duelists was a guy in a yellow and blue leather outfit with a pair of futuristic looking green shades on his head and spiky blonde hair. He was surfing ahead of his opponent with a smirk of someone who was sure in his victory.

The second duelist was a girl and her expression showed that she was far from being interested in the duel, in fact she seemed annoyed to be here, wasting her time. She had long black hair with red edges that reached down her waist with the sides raised slightly like horns. Her eyes were grey with red marks underneath them. The girl was wearing a short, sleeveless red vest with green flames over a black shoulderless top. She had a red belt tied around her waist, holding her skirt which was red with green borders. Her appearance was finished with a pair of black thigh highs and dark red combat boots.

"You are going down today, Blaze Rose!" the boy shouted back as he speeded further.

"Yeah, yeah." Blaze Rose rolled her eyes. "I have heard that before, can we skip the trash talk this time?"

"Don't get over yourself!" the boy shouted back then his smirk returned. "Or could it be that you are scared of losing before so many people?"

"Please, there are like two people who could defeat me and you are neither of them." Blaze Rose narrowed her eyes.

"That again?" the boy laughed. "The Demon and Angel duelists are an urban legend!"

Blaze Rose lower her eyes and gritted her teeth in anger. How could that little punk dare to speak to her like that. Her D-Board suddenly shot forward like a bullet, going past the boy as if he was standing still. Blaze Rose turned her head to look back and raised her Duel Disk.

"Speed Duel!"

 **『** **Blaze Rose LP: 4000 Hand: 4 (VS) Koriking LP: 4000 Hand: 4** **』**

"I will start first!" Koriking declared as he pressed a card in his hand and it disappeared before reappearing before him. "I summon _Snow Weathery Ciel (LV. 3, ATK: 0)_!"

A small human in blue clothes and with blue hair appeared on the field. Blaze Rose didn't say anything but she narrowed her eyes a little. Most people would just set a monster with 0 attack to avoid damage so that would mean that her opponent's turn wasn't over yet. What a pain.

"When _Snow Weathery Ciel_ is Normal Summoned I can activate _Snowy Weathery Pattern_ from my Deck!" a new card formed in Koriking's hand as he put it on his field, activating it. "When a Weathery monster is in the same column as a Weathery Spell or Trap Card they gain additional effects! I banish _Snow Weathery Ciel_ to add _Thunder Weathery Pattern_ to my hand."

Blaze Rose didn't say anything and just looked at her opponent, waiting for his next move.

"I set a card, turn end!" Koriking finished. "Your move Blaze Rose!"

 **『** **Turn 2 [Blaze Rose] LP: 4000 Hand: 5** **』**

"About time." Blaze Rose sighed and put a hand on her Duel Disk, drawing a card. "Now, activate Snow Weathery Ciel's effect."

"You know?" Koriking asked shocked by that, then gritted his teeth in anger. "How?!"

"I read the card text, duh!" Blaze Rose responded with a mocking tone as she looked back. "Come on, do it."

Koriking didn't like that his opponent wanted him to call out a monster when his field was wide open, but he knew that if he did then Blaze Rose would be able to land a direct attack or even One Turn Kill him. There wasn't really a choice in the matter.

"During the Standby Phase I Special Summon the _Snow Weathery Ciel_ that was banished to activate a Weathery card's effect!" Koriking declared as the blue monster appeared on his field with 2200 DEF.

"Defense Position? How sad." Blaze Rose took a card and put it on her Duel Disk. "When my opponent controls a Defense Position monster I can Special Summon this card from my hand! Come, _**NitroGear Veteranion**_!"

A large muscular monster with red skin and flames coming from its shoulders and head appeared on the field. He had a mouth piece covering him lower face with several metal spikes coming from the back of his arms, large metal gloves and a single piece of animal skin wrapped around his torso.

 **NitroGear Veteranion**

 **Level: 5/Attribute: FIRE/Type: Warrior/Effect**

 **ATK: 2300/DEF: 1300**

 **Effect: If your opponent controls a Defense Position monster, you can Special Summon this card (from your hand). If the battle position of a monster is changed, you can Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower FIRE monster from your hand.**

"Following that I Normal Summon _**NitroGear Acid Lancer**_!"

A slender green humanoid with black rocky hands and a nitro tank strapped to its back. Its face resembled that of an insect, it had two large spikes on its hips and three more on its back. The monster held a single spear made of a broken horn with a green cable connecting the weapon to the back of the monster's head.

 **NitroGear Acid Lancer**

 **Level: 4/Attribute: FIRE/Type: Warrior/Effect**

 **ATK: 1700/DEF: 700**

 **Effect: Once per turn, you can change the battle position of a monster. You must control another "oGear" monster to activate and resolve this effect. If a monster is changed to Defense-Position: Draw 1 card.**

"I activate _NitroGear Acid Lancer_ 's effect!" Blaze Rose declared. "I change the battle position of _Snow Weathery Ciel_!"

Acid Lancer fired a stream of acid from its spear, causing Ciel to jump back in order to avoid it, while also changing its own position with a hologram showing its attack power of 0. Attacking it now was going to be just like attacking directly.

"My monsters total attack is exactly four thousand, but I'm not done!" Blaze Rose shouted back at her opponent then gestured toward Veteranion. "When a monster's battle position changes Veteranion calls out another monster from my hand! Come, _Nitro Synchro (Lv. 2, ATK: 300)_!"

"What is this?" The announcer grasped his mic tighter. "Blaze Rose has one of her signature tuner monsters on the field! We are about to witness the legendary Synchro Summon!"

"I can feel a soul burning for battle!" Blaze Rose shouted and threw her hand upward. "I tune my Level 5 _NitroGear Veteranion_ into my Level 2 _Nitro Synchron_!"

The pressure gauge on Nitro Synctron's head went to the red as it turned into two rights. NitroGear Veteranion gained a bright yellow outline as it moved through the rings before turning into five orbs. A blast of light passed the rings as the silhouette of a bulky monster appeared inside it.

"Synchro Summon! Level 7, _**NitroGear Warrior**_!"

A large green humanoid flew out of the beam and roared. His skin was green with black armor on his shoulder, arms and legs along with several red plates on his chest and waist. Two large horns were coming from the side of its head with several smaller ones on his knuckles. He had a bee-like abdomen with the lower area being modified into a mechanical string.

 **NitroGear Warrior**

 **Level: 7/Attribute: FIRE/Type: Warrior/Synchro/Effect**

 **ATK: 2800/DEF: 1800**

 **1 "Nitro" Tuner monster + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters**

 **Effect: If this attacking card destroys an opponent's monster by battle, after damage calculation: You can target 1 monster your opponent controls; change that target's battle positon, then this card can make a second attack in a row, on that monster.** **If this card attacks a Defense Position monster, inflict double piercing battle damage to your opponent.**

* * *

Roxy stared at the screen in awe. Synchro Summoning, she had read about it in the tutorial, but other than it was about summoning an Extra Deck Monster she didn't know much about it, let's not talk about actually seeing it.

"That's not something you see often." The hotdog truck owner commented as he leaned forward and look at the screen as well. "I thought that no one was using Synchro anymore, but it seems that I was wrong."

"Why is nobody using them anymore?" Roxy asked curiously.

"Because of the Extra Monster Zone. You cannot control more than one Extra Deck monster unless you have Link Monster pointing toward one of your zones and since Synchro Decks most often rely on swarming the field that made using them a disadvantage."

"I see…" Roxy sighed. She too had a Synchro in her deck for some reason, but now she wasn't sure if she should keep it or remove it to not waste space.

* * *

"When _Nitro Synchro_ is used as material for the Synchro Summon of a Nitro monster I get to draw a card!" Blaze Rose added another card to her hand, raising it to three. "I set a card then I attack _Snow Weathery Ciel_ with _NitroGear Acid Lancer_!"

"I activate _Thunder Weathery Pattern_!" a Trap Card appeared on Koriking's field, right behind Ciel. "I banish _Snow Weathery Ciel_ and return _NitroGear Acid Lancer_ to the hand!" Ciel turned into snow while Acid Lancer's body was covered in statistic as it was forced to leave the field.

"I expected so much!" Blaze Rose pointed forward. "I attack you directly with _NitroGear Warrior_! _**Nitro One-Hit**_!" _NitroGear Warrior_ hit his fists into one another and roared as the jets on his back activated and sent him straight toward Koriking.

"I activate my Skill! _**Pattern Recolor**_!" Koriking raised his hand upward and his body began to glow with white aura. "I discard a Weathery card from my hand and Special Summon one of my banished Weathery monsters!" The white aura flew out of his body and gained a humanoid shape as it transformed into Ciel who was kneeling in Defense Position.

"Then _NitroGear Warrior_ will attack _Snow Weathery Ciel_! And when _NitroGear Warrior_ battles a Defense Position monster you take double piercing damage!" _NitroGear Warrior_ didn't slow down his charge and slammed right into the smaller monster, causing an explosion to engulf both of them.

 **『** **Koriking LP: 4000 - 2800 Hand: 2** **』**

"What the?" Blaze Rose titled her head in confusion as the smoke disappeared and Ciel was still standing on her opponent's side of the field. Clearly there was some sort of effect in play here however she had no idea what it was.

"Confused Blaze Rose?" Koriking asked smugly. "Let me explain then. The first time that the monster Special Summoned by my skill would be destroyed it isn't destroyed! Furthermore since you no longer have any monster to attack me with I activate _Snowy Weathery Pattern_ effect to banish _Snow Weathery Ciel_ and add _Cloudy Weathery Pattern_ to my hand." A new card materialized in Koriking's hand.

"How convenient." Blaze Rose muttered annoyed. "Fine, I end my turn." She then said loud enough for her opponent to hear.

"Ran out of options, didn't you?" Koriking laughed. "Fine then. My turn, draw!"

 **『** **Turn 3 [Koriking] LP: 2800 Hand: 4** **』**

"During the Standby Phase _Snow Weathery Ciel_ returns to my field!" Koriking declared as his monster flew in through a portal and rested in defense position. "At this moment I also activate _Inferno Reckless Summon_ to Special Summon two more _Snow Weathery Ciel_ from my deck!" Two more copies of the monster appeared, filling Koriking's field.

'He has three monsters on the field, is he going to Link Summon now?' Blaze Rose wondered.

"Appear! The circuit of colors!" Koriking pushed his hand forward as a circuit appeared before him. "Arrowhead confirmed. The summoning condition is 3 Weathery monsters. I set the three _Snow Weathery Ciel_ in the Link Arrow!" The Ciels all turned into a blue, pale blue and green twisters that crashed in the bottom arrows of the square. "Link Summon! Appear, Link 3! _Rainbow Weathery Arciel (ATK: 2400, LINK-3)_!"

"A fine monster you got there." Blaze Rose commented crossing her arms. "But its attack is far too inferior compared to my _NitroGear Warrior_."

"I already know that." Koriking pressed a card in his hand. "I Normal Summon _Cloudy Weathery Sleet (Lv. 3, ATK: 1500)_." A boy with white hair in a blue suit with a white shirt appeared on Koriking's field. "But that's nothing yet, next, I activate the effect of _Sunny Weathery Bengala_ from my Graveyard to send _Snowy Weathery Pattern_ from my field to the Graveyard and Special Summon it."

Snowy Weathery disappeared as a man with a beard, wearing a red outfit appeared in its place with 1600 attack points. Now not only did Koriking had a Link monster but also two monsters linked to it. Despite that Blaze Rose was calm, knowing that those monsters couldn't do much harm to her.

"Since _Sunny Weathery Bengala_ was summon by its own effect I can activate _Cloudy Weathery Pattern_ from my hand!" Koriking continued as a new Spell was activated. "Furthermore, since a Weathery card is sent to the Graveyard while _Cloudy Weathery Sleet_ is on the field I can activate up to two Weathery Spell or Trap Cards from my Graveyard." The boy smiled as Snowy Weathery Pattern reappeared on the field.

A screen with the card text of _Cloudy Weathery Pattern_ appeared before Blaze Rose. She give it a single glance then turned it off, a small smirk formed on her face as she awaited her opponent's next move.

"Amazing!" The announcer yelled in enthusiasm. "Koriking has not only been able to do a Link Summon, but also refiled his entire field!"

"Let's see what you are made of!" Blaze Rose challenged her opponent and dashed forward.

"You will regret saying that!" Koriking exclaimed and followed after her alongside his monsters. "I activate _Cloudy Weathery Pattern_ effect to banish _Cloudy Weathery Sleet_ and halve your monster's attack points!"

Blaze Rose looked at her monster. _NitroGear Warrior_ leaned forward, dropping his shoulders and panting a little as his power dropped from 2800 to just 1400, far under Koriking's monsters. Blaze Rose said nothing to that and returned her attention to the path before her.

"Battle Phase!" Koriking threw his hand forward. " _Rainbow Weathery Arciel_ attack _NitroGear Warrior_! _Rainbow Brush_!" Rainbow Weathery Arciel raised her brush and draw a red circle which suddenly ignited and shot toward _NitroGear Warrior_.

"I activate the Continuous Trap, _**NitroGear**_ _ **Suppression**_!" A card that depicted Nitro Warrior unleashing a wave of fire that caused various types of goblin monsters to fly away appeared on the field.

 **NitroGear** **Suppression** **(Trap) Continuous**

 **Once per Battle Phase, during either player's turn, if you control a face-up "Nitro" monster; you can target 1 face-up monster on the field: Change that target's battle position. You can banish this card from your GY, then target 1 "Nitro" monster in your GY; Special Summon it on either player's side of the field.**

"Once per Battle Phase, if I control a Nitro monster I can change the battle position of a monster on the field! I choose _Sunny Weathery Bengala_!" Blaze Rose exclaimed as her monster roared, causing the target to slowly kneel.

"Pointless!" Koriking gestured toward his Link monster. "When you activate a card or effect I can banish one Weathery monster that _Rainbow Weathery Arciel_ points toward and destroy it!" _Sunny Weathery Bengala_ disappeared as _Rainbow Weathery Arciel_ drew a phoenix who burned Blaze Rose's card.

"Just as I wanted!" Blaze Rose exclaimed and suddenly out of the flames came a nitro tank with armored body that had a red cross at the front and two yellow eyes. "When a card I control is destroyed during the Battle Phase I can Special Summon _**NitroGear Laughing Doc**_ from my hand and negate your attack!"

 **NitroGear Laughing Doc**

 **Level: 1/Attribute: FIRE/Type: Machine/Tuner/Effect**

 **ATK: 200/DEF: 0**

 **Effect: (Quick effect): When a card(s) you control is destroyed during the Battle Phase, you can Special Summon this card (from your hand), and if you do, negate the next attack this turn from a monster your opponent controls. Once per turn, you can tribute 1 Defense Position monster on your field; negate the effects of all cards in the same column until the End Phase.**

"Damn it!" Koriking gritted his teeth in anger. There was no Main Phase 2 in Speed Duels and even if there was, he had nothing else to play. "I end my turn."

"As I thought, you weren't worth the effort." Blaze Rose commented bluntly and turned to face her opponent.

"Why you…" Koriking clutched his fist.

"Don't beat yourself over this." Rose put a hand on her hips and raised three fingers of his other hand, showing them to her opponent. "There are only three people in Vrains who are strong enough to beat me in a duel."

"And who would that be?"

Rose smiled a little at the question before answering. "Just a few urban legends." This caused her opponent's eyes to widen as she turned her back to him. "My turn, draw!"

 **『** **Turn 4 [Blaze Rose] LP: 4000 Hand: 2** **』**

"During your Standby Phase _Sunny Weathery Bengala_ and _Cloudy Weathery Sleet_ return to my field." Koriking pointed out as two portals opened and his monsters flew back into the field with 1600 and 1500 attack respectively.

"Whatever, I activate the Field Spell, _**NitroGear Junkyard**_!" A card that depicted _NitroGear Acid Lancer_ , _Veteranion_ , _Warrior_ and _Nitro Synchron_ training and fighting in a junkyard appeared next to Blaze Rose.

 **NitroGear Junkyard (Spell) Field**

 **When this card is activated, you can add 1 "Nitro" card from your Deck to the hand. If a monster's battle position is changed due to card effect, you can destroy 1 card on the field. If a "Nitro" Synchro Monster is used as Link Material you can apply one of the appropriate effects, depending on the original Level of the monster:**

· **5 or higher: Treat that monster as 2 Link Materials for that Link Summon.**

· **7 or higher: Treat that monster as 3 Link Materials for that Link Summon.**

"I activate _NitroGear Junkyard_ 's effect to add a NitroGear card from my Deck to the hand." Blaze Rose declared.

"I banish _Cloudy Weathery Sleet_ from my field to negate and destroy your Field Spell!" Koriking countered as his monster disappeared. A large black storm appeared over Blaze Rose, dropped a lighting onto her card and destroyed it.

"Then I will Normal Summon an old friend." Blaze Rose replied. "Come, _NitroGear Acid Lancer (Lv.4, ATK: 1700)_!" the familiar monster appeared on Rose's field.

"And what are you going to do with that monster?" Koriking asked.

"For starters I will use its effect to change _NitroGear Laughing Doc_ to Defense Position and draw a card." Blaze Rose ran a hand through her hair as her monster was surrounded by a circle of acid.

"I won't let you! I banish _Sunny Weathery Bengala_ to negate _NitroGear Acid Lancer_ 's effect and destroy it!" Koriking countered once again. His monster disappeared and the phoenix flew through Blaze Rose's field, destroying her monster.

"What is this?!" The announcer said in disbelieve. "Koriking countered every try for Blaze Rose to make a comeback. She has no more cards in her hand either, is this the end?"

"You have no idea." Blaze Rose muttered to herself then looked back to her opponent. "You did pretty good, but this is the end for real! I change _Laughing Doc_ to Defense Position and activate its effect! I tribute it to negate the effect of all cards in the same column as it."

"What?" Koriking's exclaimed. Right now _Rainbow Weathery Arciel_ and _Thunder Weathery Pattern_ were in the same column as _Laughing Doc_ which meant that their effects were now negated.

"And with that done I activate _NitroGear_ _Suppression_ 's effect from the Graveyard." The card appeared on the field before turning into statistic. "I banish it to Special Summon _Nitro Synchron_ on your side of the field!" a black portal appeared on Koriking's field and _Nitro Synchron_ revived in Defense Position with 100 defense.

"Battle! _NitroGear Warrior_ attack _Rainbow Weathery Arciel_ with _Nitro One-Hit_!" The warrior roared and flew toward the fairy, throwing his fist forward.

"But my monster has more attack!?" Koriking looked forward dumbfounded as his monster created a white circle and shot a ray of light right through the warrior's chest.

 **『** **Blaze Rose LP: 4000 - 3000 Hand: 0** **』**

"Now that a Nitro Synchro monster has been destroyed I can activate my Skill. _**Burning Spirit**_!" The green edges of her outfit began to glow and then ignited with green flames forming in her right hand. "I Special Summon the Synchro monster destroyed this turn!" Blaze Rose threw the flame and it turned into _NitroGear Warrior_.

"It returned!" the announcer gasped and rubbed his eyes to make sure that what he saw was real. "Blaze Rose used her skill to revive her ace!"

"And that's not all." Blaze Rose pointed out. "Now _NitroGear Warrior_ is no longer affected by your card's effect so his attack power returns to normal! Let's try this again! Destroy _Rainbow Weathery Arciel_! _Nitro One-Hit_!"

 _Rainbow Weathery Arciel_ drew several more circles and fired them at _NitroGear Warrior_ , but to no avail. The large warrior used his jets to avoid all of them and then launched himself over the fairy, brought both of his fists down and smashed her.

 **『** **Koriking LP: 2800 - 2400 Hand: 1** **』**

"Next I activate _NitroGear Warrior_ 's effect! When he destroys a monster by battle I can change the battle position of a monster you control and battle it! _**Dynamic Impact**_!" _NitroGear Warrior_ pointed at _Nitro Synchro_ , forcing the little monster to turn to attack position.

"No way!" Koriking yelled.

"Yes way!" Blaze Rose responded. _NitroGear Warrior_ fled in and hit _Nitro Synchro_ , destroying his smaller counterpart as well. Koriking cried out as he was knocked off his D-Board by the explosion that followed after the attack.

 **『** **Koriking LP: 2400 - 0 Hand: 1** **』**

 **『** **Winner: Blaze Rose** **』**

Koriking fell and smashed into the ground below him, but Blaze Rose ignored the duelist and continued to surf through the data. She then turned toward the screen that was broadcasting her duel and pointed at it.

"This was just a preview of how strong I'm now." She said to those watching her, although it seemed like there was a special someone who she was trying to pass this message to. "The title of strongest duelist in LINK VRAINS is going to be mine and not even legends will stand a chance!"

* * *

 **Roxy's POV**

I finished my hotdog just before the duel has ended. There were many things on my mind about what I saw, the duelists in VRAINS seemed pretty competitive and Blaze Rose, well, let's just say that she isn't someone I would want to duel or meet. Her expression was just… She was so full of herself, I could feel it and that thing she said at the end, it almost feel like a threat.

There was also her Deck which is the thing that took most of my attention. Her monsters were called NitroGear, similar to my BrioGear.

Though I needed someone to teach me how to duel, I definitely wouldn't want my teacher to be someone like her, nor would I want to become like her either. Blue Angel on the other side seemed pretty nice, but, come on, she is an idol! I couldn't expect someone so famous to even care about me, let alone accept being my teacher. They also had to defend their place as strong duelists so the less competition the less headaches for them.

"Kusanagi!"

A boy in a black uniform, probably from a school suddenly came and the owner of the hotdog truck turned toward him. This was probably what the hotdog man's name was. I looked the new arrival from head to toes, his hair was blue with pink accents and there was a Duel Disk on his left hand. It seemed almost identical to my own, but there was something like a large yellow eye on it, giving the device a creepier look.

There was something about the boy as well, something familiar that I'm sure I have seen before. But I couldn't put my finger on what it was or where I could have seen him.

"One hot dog." The boy said.

"Coming." Kusanagi nodded and turned to make the order.

I stood a feet behind the boy and slowly moved to the side to get a better look at his face. The eye seemed to be following my moves and that gave me the chills. I just hope that the boy won't take me for a creep or something.

"What are you doing?" the boy suddenly turned toward me and I could see his face. Oh my god!

"It can't be!" I leaned forward to get a better look. I just couldn't have such luck, but the resemblance was too big to be 'just my imagination'. "You… You are Playmaker!"

The boy and the hotdog truck owner just stared at me and from the looks they were giving me, I could tell that I was right.

"I told you to add a bat mask to your avatar." The boy's Duel Disk spoke, just giving further evidence to prove my theory.

* * *

 **Skills:**

 _ **Pattern Recolor**_ **: During your opponent's turn, discard 1 "Weathery" card to Special Summon 1 of your banished "Weathery" monsters. For the rest of this turn, the first time the monster Special Summoned by this effect would be destroyed by battle or effect, it is not destroyed**

 _ **Burning Spirit**_ **: When a "Nitro" Synchro monster is destroyed by battle or effect: Special Summon 1 of your "Nitro" Synchro monsters that was destroyed this turn. Then destroy all non-FIRE monsters in the Main Monster Zone, and if you do, each players takes 500 damage for each of their monster destroyed this way.**

* * *

 **And introducing to you our secondar character, Blaze Rose! Ever since I picked up the Synchron Deck, it was** **baffling me how Nitro Synchron's effect works for any-"Nitro" Synchro Monster, yet there are only three "Nitro" cards one of which is a Synchro Monster... Like, were they planing to make "Nitro" into an archetype like "Junk" but then gave up? I guess we will never know.**

 **As for our lovely hacker duo, they seem to have finaly met with Roxy and she figured out who is Yusaku by a single look at him... Yeah, its somewhat funny how in Arc-V I never saw the four Yu-boys being similiar yet everyone kept mistaking them in-universe and here they changed only the hair color and no one noticed it in-universe. Expect for Aoi probably... And Go...Maybe its not that they don't notice it, but more like they don't believe it.**

 **Well, leave your thoughts about this chapter in the reviews, I always respond to them, if they containt something to respond to, and until next time!**

 **Diabolic Tracer out!**


	5. Chapter 5

VRAINS Hero V.S. Little Newbye!

Inside SOL Technologies' HQ were at least a dozen workers everyday, checking the system, fixing, and overall, working tirelessly to ensure that the users of LINK VRAINS could have as safe and pleasant experience as possible. Today however, the scenery was a lot different from the usual. None of the operatives was working and all of them just stared in awe at a single person. A young man with long white hair tied into a ponytail and wearing an elegant black suit was working on the main computer, his fingers moving across the keyboard faster than a naked eye could process, his crimson orbs completely focused on the large walls of data that quickly rolled before him.

"What is going on here?"

Suddenly all workers turned around to meet the strict expression of their boss - Akira Zaizen. The security manager moved pass his subordinates, all of which returned back to their work at the sight of the young man, and stepped beside the white haired guy, who despite everything continued to work on the code, completely ignoring the new presence.

"Who allowed you to enter this room?" Akira asked suspicious of the white haired man's motives.

"The higher-up asked me to come and make a diagnostic of the system after your big failure yesterday." The man replied, his eyes still remained on the screen. "I have to give it to you, it must take a lot of skill to make such a big mess of the servers' security that the Knights of Hanoi to organize a massive attack."

"Are you questioning my loyalty toward SOL Technologies?" Akira narrowed his eyes as the man's words sounded just like that.

"No, I know that you are going to win the award for most loyal dog of the year." The man sighed and stepped away from the screen to look at the security manager. "I'm just saying that you are utterly incompetent for the job they gave you and that if I were in your shoes, I would start to lick my butt because your future in this company doesn't look so bright anymore, Zaizen."

"Mind your words, if you weren't making security softwares for SOL Technologies, I would have ordered security to kick you out a long time ago." Akira warned him.

"Uh, scary!" The man trembled saw a way to mock Akira even more. "Whatever you say mate." He waved it off and leaned against the computer that he was working on. "I managed to restore some of the accounts before it was too late, but a lot of them were already permanently removed from the system. You were just lucky that Playmaker showed up to stop the Knights of Hanoi before more damage was done."

"Playmaker's as much of a cyber-terrorist as the knights. I'm going to be the one to catch him, and bring him before justice."

"Oh really?" the man narrowed his eyes and looked around. "I would love to continue this conversation, but in a place with less ears."

Akira looked around and nodded. Even though everyone here was a SOL Technologies employer, no one knew if the person next to them was a spy or not. Plus that this was information that only the highest in the company should possess, which is what bothered the Zaizen the most. This man, he wasn't even an employ of their, and yet, he knew everything that was going on around in SOL, their goals, their targets, literally everything.

Akira led the white haired man inside his office and then sat behind his desk, putting his hands on the table over one another. There were so many questions that he needed answers to and as ironic as it was, there was just one person in the entire city better informed than Ghost Girl.

"So, won't you offer me something to drink?" the man asked and sat on the free chair at the other side of the table. "That's just rude."

"Enough fooling around. What do you know?" Akira cut him off.

"Let's see. First, I know that the reason you did the stupid scan was because you wanted to catch an Ignis that hides in LINK Vrains." The man raised one finger and Zaizen already found himself unable to believe his ears.

Someone outside of SOL and the Knights of Hanoi knew about the Ignis, and more, possible about the Cyberse and all the information that was lost after its disappearance. So far he thought that the higher-ups were keeping this man around just to fix the system when things got too bad, but now he understand that there was more around it.

"Second, I know that the reason you are pursuing Playmaker is because he managed to catch the Ignis before your stupid scan could get to it. How ironic." The man raised a second finger and Zaizen had a hard time fighting the natural instinct that would result in his chin dropping.

What's more surprising the man's voice and facial expressions suggested that he wasn't interested in the whole deal with Playmaker and the AI. No, it there was more than disinterest. The man looked as if this chase between Playmaker, SOL, and the Knights was a game of tag played by little children.

"And third, I know that you are searching for information about Playmaker, as well as duelists strong enough to duel him." The man raised a third finger. "Is there anything I missed?"

"How do you know all of this?" Akira demanded.

"Oh please, the security software you currently use is made by me. Didn't you bosses tell you about the small text in the contract when they bought it from me?" the man asked with a smirk. "Or maybe this is why they didn't accept any of the updates that I suggested to them, who knows. Listen, even if I'm not part of SOL, my influence in VRAINS is big enough on its own, after all, who is in charge of the card data bank there?"

"You are spying on us!"

"Oh, come on Zaizen! Everything I have done is completely legal, plus I have nearly as much money as your company, and we both know that Emma sells her info to the person willing to dig deeper into his pocket."

"I expected so much from her." Akira sighed. "Do you know where Playmaker is?"

"I know who he is." The man replied, crossing his arms behind his head.

"But you won't tell me, because?" Akira asked, already getting annoyed with that man.

"Because unlike you, I have use from his actions." The man stood up and turned to leave. "Oh also, if you aren't too busy, send my regards to Aoi, and tell her that she has turned into a splendid duelist."

With those words, the door close, leaving Akira alone with his thoughts. The security manager of SOL remained sitting in his chair, looking at the area where the white haired man stood just a moment ago. The emotions that he felt after the conversation were mixed, there was the anger that someone knew what was going around, and then there was worry because that man also knew about Aoi, his dear sister and possible her carrier as Blue Angel…

"You must be the devil reincarnated." Akira finally muttered out, long after the man left.

* * *

 **Roxy's POV**

"Excuse me?"

"I-I was just wondering where I could find someone a-and then the hero of LINK VRAINS himself appeared before me!" I exclaimed, unable to believe how lucky and convenient this meeting was. "This is the luckiest day in my li- Mhhh!"

My eyes widened as the boy suddenly put his hand over my mouth, muffling me while he turned his head around cautiously. I tried to fight back, but my body was too weak to resist and no matter how much I tried to scream, no sound came out due to his hand. But then again, there weren't any people around right now so no matter how much I screamed probably no one was going to hear me, expect Kusanagi. Wait, mentioning him, why was he just standing there and not trying to help me!?

"Calm down!" I looked up at the boy as he stared back at me, those green eyes of his looked so cold and menacing up close that I had no choice, but to comply. "Now, how did you find out that I was Playmaker?"

The boy removed his hand and I quickly took a step back to get some distance between us. I mean, that guy almost tried to assault me in public, so there was no saying what he would try next.

"I mean, it was pretty obvious, both of you look almost the same. Identical face, same body build, only your hairstyle is different and even then, it's close enough." If that guy was really trying to keep his identity a secret, then he really should try to make his avatar look less like him.

"Eheheh~ it must be really embarrassing to get recognized so easily, Playma-!" suddenly the boy before me turned around and slammed his Duel Disk against the side of the hot dog stand causing the strange voice to die down.

"There is no point in trying to cover it now Yusaku, we have been found out." Both I and the boy - who apparently was named Yusaku – turned toward Kusanagi when he said that. So those two were allies?!

"Kusanagi…" Yusaku muttered and then turned back to me. I jumped back a little frightened when the boy looked at me with those cold green eyes of this. "Fine then. Now that you have found out my identity this… easily… what are you planning to do next?"

"I, um-! Ah! I'm going to ask you to teach me how to duel!" I declared. Since most of the things in this world were focused around the card game, it would be great to have a mentor as skilled as the hero of VRAINS to teach me. Even more after that embarrassing lost against the tutorial AI.

"Eh? That's a pretty strange reque-!" When the strange voice spoke again Yusaku quickly slapped his Duel Disk against the truck, silencing it again.

"I decline." I don't know why, but it felt like a small part of my heart broke when he declined, even if it was just about teaching me how to duel. I really don't take easy a no when it comes from a boy.

"B-but why!?"

"There are three reasons why I declined your request." I narrowed my eyes at Yusaku as he raised his hand. "First, training you how to duel isn't my mission and I don't have times to follow around with something unrelated to the Knights of Hanoi. Second, if the Knights of Hanoi learn that I'm training you, they might go after you and put your life in danger. Third, I don't even know what your motives to ask me that are, so I can't trust you, for not being a spy."

My head dropped, his three reasons made sense from a certain perspective, he was probably too busy being a hero to help strangers with such unimportant tasks. No, I shouldn't give up because of that, I should try to be more persistent if I want things to go my way!

"Wait!" I exclaimed and then pointed a finger at myself. "W-what if I become your side-kick? Fighting against the Knights of Hanoi must be hard for a single person alone, but if we are two your chances against them will improve! Plus that, every cool superhero has a sidekick, that's like an unwritten rule."

"She is right about the hero part, Playmaker!" the strange voice exclaimed once again and this time Yusaku glared down at his Duel Disk annoyed.

"Be quiet." He ordered it before turning back to me. "Again, I will decline your request."

"Why this time?" I asked him.

"I have to give it to her, fighting against Hanoi on your own is hard." Kusanagi nodded in agreement with my idea. "We could use a few extra hands to help us."

"I still have three reasons why this is a bad idea." We both rolled our eyes as Yusaku raised another three fingers before me, is that like a tic or something? "First, if she is asking to be taught how to duel, she must be a bad duelists, so she won't be useful in the fight against Hanoi." Now, that was a rude way for him to say it… "Second, unlike me and you, she doesn't have a reason to fight against the Knights of Hanoi so how much she would help is questionable. And third, the fight against Hanoi is one of life-or-death, I don't want to involve someone unrelated to the conflict."

"T-then I'm not going to duel them!" I tried to desperately come up with something. He wasn't going to accept, I could feel it, but I couldn't just give up like this, I had a true reason why I want his help! "If you say that it's too dangerous, then I will just patrol for Hanoi activity. If I find something I will tell you and Kusanagi to take care of it and then run away before anyone finds me! I promise!"

My begging seemed to have some effect on Yusaku. No, I don't mean that he became more compassionate, but his stoic expression, slowly turned to one of confusion as he looked at me, probably wondering if I was crazy… Uh, even though I thought about all of my words, after saying all of this, I felt so embarrassed of myself.

"Why are you so persistent? If you want to learn, you could just ask a friend to teach you or something."

"I… I don't have friends anymore." I dropped my head in defeat. "Not a long time ago, I had a completely normal life with my parents and my best friend, when I got hit by a car or something. Yesterday, when I woke up, I found myself in this city's hospital with this Duel Disk and a deck. My family, my friends, my home, I lost all of this in just a moment! You probably don't understand what that means, I want to get everything back! To find a way back, but I can't do it on my own…"

I felt something warm against my cheeks so I raised a hand and pressed it against my face. Those were tears. I didn't mean to cry, I didn't want to because I felt just that much more embarrassed for crying in front of a guy, but they just wouldn't stop! The stupid tears would continue to run down my cheeks and there was nothing I could do about it. My heart felt like it was shrinking just from the thought that I might have lost my parents forever.

"Great job! You just made a girl cry!" the voice exclaimed again, but this time Yusaku didn't respond to it.

"If you leave her, on her own and the Hanoi learned that she knows your identity, they might target her." Kusanagi pointed out.

"How far are you ready to reach in order to return the things that you lost?" Even filled with tears, my eyes widened and I looked up at the boy as he asked me that.

"I don't care!" I shook my head violently. "I don't care how much I will have to go through, if that means returning back to my parents and Elizabeth!"

"If that's true…" Yusaku paused for a moment and looked over at Kusanagi, the latter of which nodded. "Then, I'm willing to give you a few tips."

My eyes widened at those words. I was so sure that he would turn me down for the third time, but instead Playmaker actually accepted to train me!

"T-thanks! I won't disappoint you!" I exclaimed.

"W-what are you doing?!" My eyes slowly widened as Yusaku suddenly shouted at me.

Then I felt my face going hot as I realized that without controlling myself, I had jumped actually on him and was hugging him tightly. Oh, no, no, no! What am I doing!? And more importantly why did I do it, what if he thought that I was crazy and choose not to train me! I quickly moved away from him and looked at the ground, trying to find my voice to apologize, as well as words that would make up for this great embarrassment.

"I-I-I'm really s-sorry!" I bowed as tears began to fall from my eyes again. "I d-don't know why… I just… b-because you… Please don't change your mind! I-I won't do that again! I promise!"

"It seems we got ourselves a weird one, right Playmaker?" Yusaku's Duel Disk spoke again and he brought it closer to his face.

"I told you to be quiet, don't make me mute you again." Yusaku told his… Duel Disk.

"Welcome aboard then, um…" Kusanagi paused, he probably wanted to call me by name, but I remembered that unlike them, I still hadn't introduced myself.

"I'm Roxana." Well, better late than never, right? "But my friends call me Roxy, so I won't mind if you call me that."

"Then welcome aboard, Roxy." Kusanagi said to me with a warm smile that I returned.

Yusaku moved to the back of the truck and opened it. He gestured for me to follow and we both entered. As we did Kusanagi closed his stand and the back that was filled with hotdogs and ingredients suddenly turned into a table with multiple computer screens.

"A fancy hide-out." I commented, who would expect a hotdog truck to be the secret base of the LINK VRAINS hero and his ally.

"Before we start, what do you know about dueling?" Yusaku asked me and sat down on a chair along with Kusanagi.

"I know the basics." That was pretty much what I was taught by the tutorial. "I just aren't very good at using what I know."

"Then what you need is practice." I nodded in agreement with Yusaku on this one, though there wasn't anyone to practice with. Of course, I would use the tutorial but I would rather not duel that mean A.I. again.

"As I said, I don't have friends to ask for help…" I repeated.

"So, I will have to duel you after all." Yusaku sighed.

Judging by his expression and tone, I could tell that he wasn't fond of the idea. I was really giving him a hard time, it made me feel bad for him…

"I will have to see how much you know, before I start teaching you. Let's log in." Yusaku stood up and opened the door to a secret room, as I followed after him. "What are you doing?"

"Eh?" I titled my head to the side in confusion. "Didn't you say that we would be logging in?"

"You don't need to enter a special room in order to log in." Kusanagi explained to me, though I should already know that… "Yusaku just do it so his motionless body don't get in my way while I'm working. But this right now isn't a crisis so it's ok for you to just sit down."

"I wouldn't mind if you come in with us~" I could swear that I heard the Duel Disk on Yusaku giggling in a weird way.

"N-no. I will be ok on the chair." I waved my arms before my face and then moved to sit down next to Kurasagi as Yusaku closed the door behind himself.

"Don't worry. Yusaku might be tough, but he isn't a bad person. If he has promised to train you, he will do it." Kusanagi tried to cheer me up, and it worked in a way. "Just to know, I'm going to program the system so that when you log in, you get transported to Yusaku's location. So don't freak out."

"Ok." I nodded and took out my deck, before putting it inside my Duel Disk. "Into the Vrains!"

* * *

As I logged into LINK VRAINS I found myself in a rather dark place. I tried to look around in the dark and managed to make out that I was transported to some sort of underground or worse, the sewers. The walls and ground were all made of metal and there was a large gap in the floor where some sort of data waves floated.

"This is where we will duel."

I jumped and then turned around to see Playmaker approaching me. I had managed to see just a few pictures of him on the internet before they all got deleted (by some reason), so to see the Hero of LINK VRAINS up close was, almost weird. I put a hand over my chest and took a deep breath.

"Don't appear behind me like this." I told him softly. "You scared me."

Playmaker nodded to my request and looked down at the waves of data that were just below us. He raised his Duel Disk slightly and turned toward me again. "Are you ready?"

"Give me your best shot!" I nodded, though I was hoping that he wasn't really going to give me his best because if he did, I wouldn't last even for a turn.

"Let's go then." As Playmaker said that I noticed something coming through the data waves and my eyes widened.

There were two boards floating toward us at full speed with the first one being a flat white one with black-stripped sides. Playmaker jumped on top of it and a second one came through, which I could only guess was mine. It was a lot thicker than the previous, the top part was white and a lot winder, while the bottom was black, weirdly resembling a robot head with two blue orbs in the front like eyes. When I jumped on the board, I momently lost balance and almost felt, but someone managed to get back my balance by putting one leg behind me for support.

"That was close." I sweated and followed after Playmaker who rode ahead without turning back to look if I followed him. "Let's do this! Playmaker!"

Playmaker turned back for a bit and just nodded to me.

"Speed Duel!"

 **『** **Proxy LP: 4000 Hand: 4 (VS) Playmaker LP: 4000 Hand: 4** **』**

'A Speed Duel?' I thought after Playmaker's Duel Disk announced and looked at my hand, shouldn't there be five cards instead of four? Wait, I had no information about Speed Duels and what they are!

"You can take the first turn, if you want." I nodded to Playmaker, though I wasn't very sure about it.

"Um…" I looked down at my hand. Most of those weren't cards that I used before and I had only one familiar monster in my hand. Well better than none.

"I summon _BrioGear Wave Crusade (Lv.4, ATK: 1700)_!" I exclaimed as the familiar warrior appeared beside me, holding a sword.

"She is using a Gear archetype!" Playmaker looked down at his Duel Disk. Was he familiar with my deck?

"Yeah, she is…" So he knows what my deck is?! I shook my head, no, focus on the duel and ask the questions later!

"I activate _Wave Crusader_ 's effect! With this I can discard Water monsters to increase his attack by 300! I discard _**BrioGear Platosteus**_!"

 **BrioGear Wave Crusade, ATK: 1700 + 300 = 2000**

I looked at my graveyard, Platosteus' effect could be activated when I discarded him, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to do that, because its effect would require me to send cards from my Deck to the graveyard.

"I set a card and end my turn here!" I declared as a card materialized next to me.

"You don't know how to use your deck." Playmaker stated to me and I frowned. "Just by this turn, I could tell that you aren't familiar with it."

"That's why I'm asking for your help!" I reminded him.

"My turn!"

 **『** **Turn 2 [** **Playmaker** **] LP: 4000 Hand:** **5** **』**

"Since only you are controlling a monster, I can Special Summon _Linkslayer (Lv.5, ATK: 2000)_ from my hand!" a man wearing a golden lion armor with a red cape appeared on the field. "Furthermore, I discard a card to destroy your set card!"

 _Linkslayer_ activated his blades and swung them at my Trap Card, destroying it at once and I couldn't do anything to stop it from happening. Worse than that, he was able to summon a monster as strong as mine and still had a normal summon remaining!

"I Summon _Cyberse Gadget (Lv.4, ATK: 1400)_ and use its effect to revive _Stack Reviver (Lv.2, DEF: 600)_!" My eyes widened as Playmaker got three monsters out in an instant.

'If he attacks me now that would be 1400 damage to me.' I thought, but it could get worse if he choose to use an Extra Deck Summon.

"Appear, the circuit that leads to the future!" Crap! "Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are two Cyberse monsters! I set _Cyberse Gadget_ and _Stack Reviver_ in the Link Markers! Circuit combine! Link Summon! Appear, Link 2 _Code Talker (ATK: 1300, LINK-2)_! A monster that looked like a black humanoid in grey armor, carrying a large sword flew out of the circuit.

'Bad, that means 1300 damage!' It still wasn't enough to take me out, but it would hurt…

"Next, both _Cyberse Gadget_ 's and _Stack Reviver_ 's effects activate!" Playmaker continued. "First _Cyberse Gadget_ Special Summons a _Gadget Token (Lv.2, DEF: 0)_ and then _Stack Reviver_ will revive _Cyberse Gadget (Lv.4, DEF: 300)_!"

"F-four monsters!" I exclaimed in disbelieve at the amount of monsters Playmaker had on his side.

"Appear, the circuit that leads to the future!" Another one?! "Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions is one Level 4 or lower Cyberse monster! Further, when I use a Link Monster for a Link Summon, its Link Markers count as Link Materials! I set the _Gadget Token_ in the Link Marker! Circuit combine! Link Summon! Appear, Link 1 _Link Disciple (ATK: 500, LINK-1)_!"

I narrowed my eyes as a second Link Monster appeared on Playmaker's field, this time with just 500 attack.

"And for the third time! Appear, the circuit that leads to the future!" Ugh, how many Link monsters does that guy have? "Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are two or more monsters except Tokens! I set the Link 1 _Link Disciple_ , _Linkslayer_ ,and _Cyberse Gadget_ in the Link Markers! Circuit combine! Link Summon! Appear, Link 3 _Tri-Gate Wizard (ATK: 2200, LINK-3)_!

"You have a Link 3 monster?!" And the strongest one that I had was just Link 2, Playmaker was far beyond me with his dueling and while I expected it, this is beyond my imagination.

"There is more!" Of course there is… " _Code Talker_ gains 500 attack for each monster linked to it! I have the _Tri-Gate Wizard_ so its attack raises!"

 **Code Talker, ATK: 1300 + 500 = 1800**

"I set a card. Now, battle!" Playmaker exclaimed and pointed at my monster. " _Tri-Gate Wizard_ attack _BrioGear Wave Crusade_! _Triangular Circuit_!" his spellcaster-like monster looked at mine and pointed its wand toward it, deleting its body from the field

 **『** **Proxy LP: 4000 – 200 = 3800** **』**

"I'm not done yet!" Of course, there was still one monster to declare an attack. "I attack you directly with _Code Talker_!"

The monster charged at me and swung its sharp claws and tore through my skin. I yelped in pain and took a step back, not knowing that there wasn't much space on my board and found myself right on the edge. Bad, bad, bad! I fell on my knees and grabbed on my board.

 **『** **Proxy LP: 3800 – 1800 = 2000** **』**

"You almost knocked her off the D-Board!" I heard the Duel Disk on Playmaker's arm to speak again.

"I end my turn."

I stood back up and looked at my arm, the one that Linkslayer tore, there was data that slowly began to disappear as my skin reappeared on its place. It still hurt, I just hoped that it wouldn't affect me in the real world.

"My turn then. Draw!" I exclaimed as I drew a card.

 **『** **Turn** **3** **[** **Proxy** **] LP:** **20** **00 Hand:** **2** **』**

I looked at the card I just drew, it was a monster, but its stats were too weak for me to make a comeback with it. I needed something far stronger and though its effects might help, I needed to either have more monsters, or something to discard it with. Actually, I had _Monster Reincarnation_ in my hand and I could use it to…

"Thank you, Elizabeth!" I smiled and then played my cards. "I play _Monster Reincarnation_ and discard _**BrioGear Octobat**_ to return _BrioGear Wave Crusade_ back to my hand! Then when _Octobat_ is discarded I can Special Summon one _BrioGear Bat Token (Lv. 1, DEF: 100)_!"

A purple fish with small bat wings appeared on my field. Instead of a tail it had four tentacles and its belly was light blue and there was a single golden gear in the middle of its head that protected its large eye.

"Hehe~! Even if she summons her fish knight back on the field, its attack would be too low to take out either one of our monsters!" So now even Playmaker's A.I. was mocking me? That's so mean!

"Come forth, circuit of life!" I cried out and opened the portal, flying in with my monster. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements is a WATER monster! I set _BrioGear Bat Token_ in the Link Marker! Link Summon! Link 1, _**BrioGear Lotaxol**_!

Out of the glowing portal flew a combination between a fish and a lizard with white body and four small legs. Several golden clock gears were attached to its back, its belly was covered in metallic armor and six clock arms sticked out of the side of its head like horns. The really cute part of its appearance were the two small dot-like eyes at the sides of its head than made its face look like a sock puppet.

 **BrioGear Lotaxol**

 **Attribute: WATER/Type:** **Sea Serpent** **/Link/Effect**

 **L-Markers: B**

 **ATK:** **6** **00/Link-** **1**

 **1 WATER monster with a Level**

 **Effect:** **When this card is Link Summon: You can target 1 Level 2 or lower WATER monster in your GY; Special Summon it to your zone this card points to.**

"I activate Lotaxol's effect to Specical Summon _BrioGear Platosteus_ from my Graveyard!" I announced as a fish covered in armor and spinning gears appeared next to Lotaxol.

 **BrioGear Platosteus**

 **Level:** **2** **/Attribute: WATER/Type:** **Fish** **/Effect**

 **ATK:** **300** **/DEF:** **100**

 **Effect:** **If this card is discarded to the GY: You can send 1 "BrioGear" monster from your Deck to the GY; Discard 1 random card from your opponent's hand. If this card is Special Summoned, you can add 1 WATER monster with 2000 or more ATK from your Deck to the hand.**

"Next, Platosteus adds a monster with 2000 or more attack from the deck to my hand." A screen appeared beside me showing the number of cards I had with those requirements. There were several high attack monsters in my Deck, but I choose the one with the most ATK. "I summon _BrioGear Wave Crusade (Lv.4, ATK: 1700)_ , and activate its effect!"

I discarded the monster that I just added to my hand and raised Crusader's attack back to 2000. Playmaker turned his attention to me, his stoic figure was worrying me a lot, but he didn't know what I was going to do next!

"Come forth, circuit of life!" I cried out and opened the portal for a second time, flying in with my monster. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two BrioGear monsters! I set _BrioGear Lotaxol_ and _BrioGear Platosteus_ in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Link 2, _**BrioGear Enhance Mermail**_!

A little mermaid with blue skin and long pink hair appeared on my field with a wink. Her pupils were bright green and large. She had golden armor on her arms and chest with colorful pearls decorating the edges. Her shoulders and neck were mostly exposed with just a single gear put on her neck like a choker. A belt made from white pearls decorated her waist, and a blue crystal was in place of her belly button.

 **BrioGear Enhance Mermail**

 **Attribute: WATER/Type:** **Aqua** **/Link/Effect**

 **L-Markers: B** **, R**

 **ATK:** **17** **00/Link-** **2**

 **2 "BrioGear" monsters**

 **Effect:** **Once per turn (Quick Effect): You can halve the ATK of 1 monster linked to this card, and if you do, increase the ATK of 1 "BrioGear" monster you control by the same amount, except the monster whose ATK was halved. During the End Phase of the turn, you activated this effect, the ATK of all monsters you control becomes their original ATK.**

"I'm not done yet!" I exclaimed before Playmaker of his A.I. could say anything. "I banish _BrioGear Lotaxol_ and _BrioGear Platosteus_ from my Graveyard to revive _**BrioGear Leviathan**_ _ **Dragon**_!"

A blue serpent with a purple belly raised from the data we were riding. It had gears and large artificial membranes that served as wings to keep it over the data. Its forked tail was made out from two sharp metal rods. Its head was massive, with two pairs of eyes and large metal jaws with an underbite. One large, metal mandibles was protrude underneath the bottom jaw. The head and back were coated with a yellow carapace that produces large spikes which covered most of its back.

 **BrioGear Leviathan Dragon**

 **Level: 7/** **Attribute: WATER/Type:** **Sea Serpent** **/Effect**

 **ATK:** **2600/DEF: 2100**

 **Effect:** **If this card is in your GY: You can banish 2 other WATER monsters from your GY; Special Summon this card. Once per turn: You can target 1 "BrioGear" monster in your GY; Special Summon it.**

"Woah, that's one big monster Playmaker!" I smirked a little hearing the A.I. say that.

"If you think its ATK is great then wait to see its effect!" I exclaimed and turned my attention toward the dragon. "While _Leviathan Dragon_ is on the field, I can revive a BrioGear during each of my turns! Come, _BrioGear Octobat_!"

 _Leviathan Dragon_ raised its head and roared, the data around us shot upward like geysers, from which came my monster. It was purple fish with large bat wings, similar to the _Bat Token_ from before. Instead of four tentacles, it had eight and its belly was multiple clock gears connected to it, spinning and working. In the middle of its head was a large purple eye that stared at Playmaker and his monsters.

 **BrioGear** **Octobat**

 **Level:** **1** **/Attribute: WATER/Type:** **Fish** **/Effect**

 **ATK:** **0** **/DEF:** **200**

 **Effect:** **If this card is send from the hand or Deck to the GY: Special Summon 1 "BrioGear Bat Token" (Fish-Type/WATER/Level 1/ATK: 100/DEF: 100). When this card is Summoned: Reduce the ATK of all monster your opponent controls by 200 for each face-up WATER monster currently on the field, until the end of this turn.**

" _Octobat_ will now reduce the attack of all monsters you control by 200 for each of my monsters!" the pupil of its eyes widened and released several waves of purple energy at Playmaker's monsters. They all groaned and dropped their weapons to which Playmaker just narrowed his eyes.

 **Code Talker, ATK: 1300 - 800 = 1000**

 **Tri-Gate Wizard, ATK: 2200 - 800 = 1400**

I took a moment to observe the board. If I destroy Tri-Gate Wizard, Code Talker's attack would drop further and that should be win the duel. In other words, I'm going to defeat Playmaker!

"You are careless." Playmaker commented and suddenly Code Talker's attack value raised to 1500!

"But how!?" My Duel Disk doesn't show that Playmaker had activated an effect, so how did his monster's attack suddenly raised?

"Code Talker gains attack for each monster linked to it, yours as well." My eyes widened at that statement and I looked at the current board again, only to see that Octobat was right against Code Talker's Link Market. Damn it!

"Still, I will attack _Tri-Gate Wizard_ with _BrioGear Enhance Mermail_!" My monster created a bubble of water and threw it at the wizard.

"I activate _Security Block_!" Playmaker played a spell card. "I target _Tri-Gate Wizard_ so this turn it cannot be destroyed. Also, I take no damage from battles involving it!"

"That's bad." I muttered. "Then I will attack Code Talker with _Leviathan Dragon_!"

"While _Code Talker_ is linked to another monster it cannot be destroyed by battle." the A.I. pointed out, but that didn't stop the damage!

 **『** **Playmaker LP: 4000 – 1100 = 2900** **』**

"Next, an attack from _BrioGear Wave Crusade_!" I declared and gestured toward my mermaid. "At this moment I activate BrioGear Enhance Mermail's effect to halve _Leviathan Dragon_ 's attack and give that amount to _BrioGear Wave Crusade_."

 **BrioGear Wave Crusade, ATK: 2000 + 1300 = 3300**

"Those are a lot of attack points Playmaker!" the A.I. exclaimed again, but it was too late to do anything as my monster slashed at his, knocking it back.

 **『** **Playmaker LP: 2900 – 1800 = 1100** **』**

"Woah, she almost reduced our Life Points to below 1000, Playmaker!" I winked and speeded forward.

"Oh shi-!" My eyes suddenly bulged as I saw some sort of data waterfall right before me, I was surfing too fast to notice it sooner ad couldn't turn around or stop in time. All I was able to do was to scream as I went down, my speed increasing with every second as I had to control my board vertically.

"Yeeehoo!" I turned to my left, hearing the A.I. scream in joy as Playmaker speeded past me and moved in front. He was going to save me!

"My turn!" He exclaimed and drew a card. He wasn't going to save me!

 **『** **Turn** **4** **[** **Playmaker** **] LP:** **11** **00 Hand:** **2** **』**

"I Normal Summon _Balancer Lord (Lv.4, ATK: 1700)_!" a white cybernetic knight with a sword and a shield appeared on Playmaker's field. "I pay 1000 Life Points to activate _Balance Lord_ 's effect!"

 **『** **Playmaker** **LP:** **1100 - 1000** **= 100** **』**

I looked at a screen that popped from my Duel Disk. Hmmm, according to this Balance Lord lets the player Normal Summon twice per turn. Uh oh.

"I Normal Summon _Launcher Commander (Lv.4, ATK: 1700)_!" Another green humanoid armed to the teeth with rocket launchers and other guns came to Playmaker's field.

"Next, with _Launcher Commander_ 's effect, all other monsters on my field gain 300 ATK!"

 **Code Talker, ATK: 2300 + 300 = 2600**

 **Tri-Gate Wizard, ATK: 2200 + 300 = 2500**

 **Balancer Lord ATK: 1700 + 300 = 2000**

I stopped paying attention to Playmaker's moves and just fell on my knees, grabbing my board for support as we were falling down a waterfall of data. I just barely managed to collect enough courage to look in front of me and the thing that came into also made my eyes jumped out of their sockets. A giant cyclone of data was coming toward us! There was no space to avoid a collision with it, so following what my instincts told me to do I closed my eyes tightly and let my screams come out naturally as the wind slammed into my body.

"A Data Storm would tear a normal duelist apart, Playmaker!" I screamed louder and hugged my shaking board tightly.

"Stay with me, Proxy!" There was a feeling of something touching my arm and I opened my eyes, only to see Playmaker holding me.

I completely regained my sense and raised my head. We were no longer surfing down the waterfall, instead both of us were inside some blue space with data rolling around us. I couldn't believe how beautiful the place looked, with the colors running together and merging. This place made all of my previous fears disappear, drown into the abyss of my own mind. Data Storm – it looked so comforting and warm from the inside, yet it's so dangerous for whoever dares to try and look inside its beauty.

"Now! Seize the Wind Playmaker!" I looked up to the hero as he reached out with a hand into the data that surrounded us. As he did so, silhouettes of what I could only guess were different monsters flew pass us and the light that formed within Playmaker's arm.

"Storm Acess!" a glowing card formed within Playmaker's hand and projected the silhouette of a warrior-like monster which pushed the Data Storm, tearing it apart and allowing for us to jump out of it.

"T-that was awesome!" I exclaimed and looked back at the Data Storm that we just went through.

"The duel isn't over yet." Playmaker reminded me.

"Yeah." I nodded and then smiled at him. "Thanks for saving me back there."

"I was obligated to." I kept my smiles because this time around, there was no hostility or coldness in his voice.

"So, are you going to finish this duel?" I asked.

I had never really hoped to win this duel against Playmaker, the two of us were just in completely different leagues; I just wanted to show how much I was capable to do and possible learn something new that could be of use for me in the future.

"Appear, the circuit that leads to the future!" I sighed as the portal appeared on Playmaker's field once again. "Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are two or more monsters! I set _Balancer Lord_ and Link-2 _Code Talker_ in the Link Markers! Circuit combine! Link Summon! Appear, Link 3, _Cyberse Accelerator (ATK: 2000 + 300 = 2300, LINK-3)_!

"Battle! _Tri-Gate Wizard_ attack _BrioGear Enhance Mermail_! _Triangular Circuit_!" I gritted my teeth, having no cards to counter this attack with. " _Cyberse Accelerator_ 's effect activates! During the Battle Phase, I can increase the attack of a monster it's linked to by 2000!"

"Woah!" I looked at his monster as its body began to glow.

 **Tri-Gate Wizard, ATK: 2500 + 2000 = 4500**

The attack collided and all of my monsters ended up getting whipped out alongside Enhance Mermail. I screamed and covered my eyes as the power was so much that it threw me off my board, which was even worse because we were surfing vertically!

 **『** **Proxy LP: 2000 – 2800 = 0** **』**

 **『** **Winner: Playmaker** **』**

I feel face first on the ground below and groaned. Even in virtual reality, falling hurt a lot and I just felt at least two stories. I groaned and slowly stood up as Playmaker landed before me and looked down on me with a hand on his hips. Judging by his expression, I didn't do all that well, did I?

"Did I pass the test?" I asked with an innocent smile.

"I noticed three big weaknesses in your dueling." I narrowed my eyes as the three things counting came into play again. "First, you don't know what you deck does. I noticed that there were several times during the duel in which you were just lost at what to do and took a lot of time to think about your moves."

Well, in my defense I thought that I knew my deck fairly well after all those duels with the A.I. from yesterday, but I guess practice alone isn't enough then…

"Second, you don't believe in your deck." What's that supposed to mean? "You don't thrust in the capabilities that your deck has and that usually leads to you making mistakes while trying to play safer."

"Third, you don't trust in your own skills as a duelist, so even if you had the skills of a professional duelist, you wouldn't be able to go far without confidence."

My head dropped. Those words hurt me quite a bit, and even though I wanted to say something back, my mouth remained closed because there wasn't much for me to respond with. I could fix the first two points, by reading my cards more carefully and studying them, but confidence… that wasn't something I could just gain out of nowhere.

"So when are we going to start the actual teaching?" I finally asked.

"We already did." Playmaker crossed his hands. "This is all the help I had to give you."

"B-but you said…" I can't believe it, he was going to turn back on his word now!

"You must learn how to be a duelist on your own." Playmaker replied. "I don't have time to duel you every day, but I'm going to do what I can."

Right, Playmaker was the hero of VRAINS, he had a duty to uphold, I shouldn't take him away and risk people getting hurt because of my own problems. It still stings to accept that, but I could find a way to accept it.

"Then that means that I will have to duel in the LINK VRAINS' tutorial again." I sighed, within seconds Playmaker's expression turned to a confused one. "Did I say something weird again?" Please tell me that I didn't mess up something again!

"LINK VRAINS doesn't have a tutorial." What?

"Nope, I remember dueling in it yesterday." I surely wouldn't mistake a real game for its tutorial. "Maybe you just overlooked it."

Playmaker raised a hand and I shut up. He brought his Duel Disk closer and ordered it to check the network for something. After a few moments he looked back at me.

"We are logging out."

* * *

 **New Cards that appeared but went unused!**

 **BrioGear** **E** **ntranced** **(Trap) Normal**

 **If a face-up WATER monster you control is targeted for an attack: Destroy the attacking monster, then send 1 "BrioGear" monster from your Deck to the GY. If your opponent Special Summons a monster while this card is in your GY; You can discard 1 monster from your hand: Set this card, but banish it when it leaves the field.**

* * *

 **A/N: LMAO Every time I tried to have Yusaku do something emotional or good in this chaoter, I felt like I'm breaking his character. Why must you have the most** **aesthetically pleasing deck of all the protagonists, yet you are as blank in the personality department as Yusei! Also, while I'm talking about the anime, why the fuck did you do this episode 34!? WHY?! I wanted a waifu now a genderbent Akiza, or Yuri (I mean, the character Yuri... I REALLY want the other kind of Yuri...)**

 **Moving from that, Roxy has joined the hacker/hotdog-loving group this chapter (but for how long?) One thing I want to point out is that the man with the white hair is not the unknown guy from the VRAINS anime, he is my OC, telling that just to avoid confusions as to why he works with SOL. Also, if someone here wonders why Yusaku didn't use Decode Talker in the duel, it's to keep the** **continuity in check. This duel is supposed to take place before the one with Go and in the episode we see that it was Kurosaki who gave him the card before the duel, therefor it would be weird for him to use it now, but forget it against Hanoi.**

 **This time around I'm going to respond to a few reviews, because, I believe there are things that deserve to be said.**

 **First to** Envoy of Torrask **: Thanks, I'm happy that people actually like Roxanna, writting a main lead that is a noob is something completely new for me, so I was worried that she would end up sucking (as a character I mean, she obvious is a bad duelist).**

ScalchopWarrior **: No sweetie, this is karma. You use an idea** **before me, I use another one before you. Your points as to why others don't believe that Yusaku is Playmaker makes a lot of sense and I guess that this is why Roxanna manage to figure it out, because she know neither Yusaku or Playmaker, so she connected them by their look and said "This shit is legitimate!"**

Xander1996 **: Wow, you guy believe more in my shitty writings that I would ever do. Don't worry, the next chapter for my Arc-V story is already in work (as slow as it might be going).**

 **Well, that's all for today. Thanks to everyone who favorited and/or followed this story. To those who haven't, please favorite/follow/review. Constructive criticism is welcome and even if you want to swear into my face, I don't care enough to block you.**

 **Diabolic Tracer out!**


	6. Chapter 6

Descendants of the Stars! AstroGear Appear!

"What do you think about this, Kusanagi?"

"I don't find any suspicious codes or programs so far."

"If the Knights of Hanoi are involved, it will be hard to detect their codes."

As Yusaku and Kusanagi got their full attention on the computer screen I was groaning in the chair beside them. After I learned from Yusaku – apologies, Playmaker – that Vrains didn't actually have a duel tutorial I was forced to logout and wait while they dissected my Duel Disk. It's not a fun experience and in fact, it might be the worst joke that fate could play on me at the moment. Playmaker was against teaching me from the beginning and it took a huge amount of begging to get something out of him, if they begin to suspect me for being connected to a cyberterrorist organization, whatever deal I might have had with him would be over in an instant.

"I think we found something, Yusaku!" My eyes widened at this and I walked over to them. There was no way I could stay at the side at get eaten by curiosity, but even so it's not like I could understand anything that the computer screen was showing. "There appears to be an outside hard drive connected to the Duel Disk."

"You mean like a chip?"

"Oh no." I groaned and reached out to grab my Duel Disk. "Before I came here, I was put into a hospital where one of the doctors put a chip on my disk." I explained to them while also pointing at the entrance where the little device was located.

"And he did this without telling you the purpose of this chip?" I could literally feel the doubt in every single one of Yusaku's words, but still tried to shake it away.

"He told me that the purpose of this chip was to check on my vitals to make sure my situation doesn't get worse while I'm logged in. For instance, yesterday I was logged in when the Knight of Hanoi attacked and if it wasn't for the chip logging me out due to the increasing of my heartbeat, I would have most likely lost my account."

"Let's see it then." Kusanagi pulled the chip of my Duel Disk and suddenly a message appeared on the computer screen, saying that the data was no longer available. "So, the duel tutorial was part of the chip's programming."

"I'm sorry." I whispered to them and sat back down. I can't believe that I let myself be tricked, even less that the person who lied to me was, a doctor!

"Don't worry about it. I will keep the chip for now to try and decode it, but you can take your Duel Disk." Kusanagi told me.

"We shouldn't bother with a chip while the Knights of Hanoi are roaming into Link VRAINS." Yusaku protested. He did have a point, but I was more worried about the nature of the chip. Could the Hanoi influence have reached even this city's hospitals?

"Don't worry, I will keep an eye out in case the Knights of Hanoi show up." Kusanagi turned away and put my chip into his computer. "I will take care here, you two should go now, there's school tomorrow."

"Um, I don't actually go to school-! What?" I pulled myself back against the chair at the confused expressions that both Kusanagi and Yusaku were giving me.

"Nothing, it's just… surprising to hear that you don't go to school." Kusanagi pointed out.

Right, usually kids that don't go to school are either very poor, or bad kids that have a high probability to end up doing something illegal. I don't look poor, so they must be thinking that I'm a criminal!

"No, no, it's not like you think!" I shouted and crossed my arms into an 'X'. "I had graduated 8th grade and woke up in this city just yesterday, so I didn't have time to go look for school!"

And even if I had the time, there are no documents on me to prove my identity. If we also add that I'm here with no parents, place to stay, or money, I wouldn't be allowed, or be able to attend any of the schools in this town!

"I'm leaving then." Yusaku finally said and walked past me, opening the truck's door. He turned back and my eyes meet with his. Knowing that he was staring at my eyes was so embarrassing~ "Good luck Kusanagi."

…Oh, he was actually looked at Kusanagi. I sighed and pressed my head against the chair, the sound of a door closing echoed through the closed space of the truck as Yusaku left us. All that remained afterward was just the sound of Kusanagi pressing the keyboard at an incredible pace. Hmm, now that Yusaku had left, maybe I should do too, after all, I was the stranger in the group, yet I overstayed my welcome.

"That's interesting."

"What's interesting?" I asked Kusanagi and then quickly closed my mouth. He wasn't talking to you, dummy, why did you have to ask that?!

"The chip appears to be directly connected with LINK VRAINS even if it's not connected to your Duel Disk." Kusanagi pointed out, why that was interesting I had no idea, but still shook my head to make it look like I understand because why the heck not! "It appears to be sending data to something or someone within LINK VRAINS."

"Do you know who?" I turned toward the screen, if it was the Knights of Hanoi then…

"I try to track its signal, but whenever I reach a certain point, the system would close itself. It's some sort of a protective mechanism, it will take a long time to break it."

"So there's no way to know where it's transmitting to?"

"It goes to the deepest parts of LINK VRAINS, but beyond that, I'm unable to pinpoint an exact locations."

"Deepest parts of LINK VRAINS? Do you mean some sort of underground?" Because I and Playmaker dueled in the canalization…

"No… This is a mostly unused area within LINK VRAINS. Back when the Data Winds blew through the network, it was said to be an area where the monsters that resided within the data would appear. Of course, now that the Data Storms have reappeared, it's possible that someone has begun to use it again."

"Shouldn't we check it out if there's such a possibility? It might be the Knights of Hanoi's hiding place." Of course, if we did something like that, we would need Playmaker here in order to duel them…

"If monsters can truly materialize within that area, then the Knights of Hanoi would have probably been decimated." Kusanagi answered.

"Oh…"

"It's getting late, you should probably head home."

"I don't actually have a place to go back to." I answered honestly and put on my Duel Disk. "The only place I could stay at would be the hospital, but now that I know that they lied to me, I don't think it's a good idea."

"Oh… I don't know what to say about this."

"I should probably start to look for an accommodation." Not that anyone would give to a not-studying, not-working, and moneyless girl a room to live in. "Do you think anyone would give me a hotel room for one thousand and eight hundred yens?"

Kusanagi looked at me for a moment and then shook his head. Well, yeah, no one would give a hotel room for eighteen dollars that made sense, sandy. As bad as that might sounds, I will have to sleep on a bench until I'm able to find myself a place to stay. Which is convenient, because the truck is parked in a part, right next to several benches.

"Would you mind if I stay here for a bit longer?" I asked Kusanagi. "At least until the sun sets?"

This was a crazy request because I have always been taught not to stay up late, as bad people appear most often during the dark part of the day. But I couldn't ask Kusanagi to let me sleep in his truck… he and Playmaker already did too much for me by accepting to help me train even though it wasn't connected to their main task. To ask for more in this situation would be showing ungratefulness and selfishness!

"Of course, I don't mind." Even as he said that, Kusanagi didn't turn away from the screen to look at me; decoding this chip must be really important for him.

"Thanks."

I'm embarrassed to say that, but it took less than five minutes to get absolutely bored out of your mind in this truck. It was so bland and everything that Kusanagi did was to stare at the screen most of the time. I began to desperately look around for anything out of the ordinarily, even a small black down on the white wall would be enough to entertain me a bit, but nope. I had nothing on myself either, only some money and my Duel… Of course, I had my Duel Disk!

"Would it be a problem if I log into LINK VRAINS?"

This time Kusanagi stopped typing and turned toward me. Did I say something wrong or bad? Maybe they wouldn't want me to log into LINK VRAINS for the time being because they fear that I would unravel Playmaker's secret. It would make sense for them to think like that for a strange they just met a few hours ago, but then Kusanagi smiled at me and replied:

"Of course no, you are free to do as you wish."

"Thanks, Kusanagi!" I exclaimed in joy before raising my Duel Disk.

* * *

When my logging into the servers finished, I found myself in the middle of a city's street with huge crowds of avatars all over the place. There were some among them that were dueling, but most were there just to chat or watch the server news on the big screen.

"Let's finish this! TurboGear Motor Warrior, destroy _Overtex Coatls_!" I heard someone shouting and looked up, only to see as a red robot pashed over my head and slammed its claws into another black pterodactyl monster.

Everyone around me began to cheer like crazy as some riding one of those crazy boards flew around the buildings and waved at the crowd. His appearance was like that of a robot with red mechanical arms and legs. His eyes were dark purple, and his hair was blue with a huge spike-like forelock with yellow side spikes. He wore a red bodysuit with white tiger-lines at the sides and an extension at the backside which made it look like a longcoat. There were also three spikes on his shoulders and one on each knee.

I wasn't really interested, about this duelist, though. What caught my attention wasn't the avatar's look, but the name of his monster. First there was my BrioGear, then there came the NitroGear I saw online and now there is TurboGear too, and if what Kusanagi said was true, this guy might be a big deal. He jumped off his board and made a backflip, landing in the middle of a crowd, as you would expect, I went after him.

Pushing through the crowd of people – most of which were probably some fan girls - wasn't the easiest task out there. Asking them to move didn't work, since they were all yelling too loud to hear me, and if I tried to somehow push myself forward, they would all push me back. Everything I managed to achieve was learning his username from the fans' yelling. It was Rocketeer. Yeah, I'm not kidding.

My attempts to reach this guy ended up being pointless, as I spent at least ten minutes there and the crowd wasn't getting smaller. With a deep sight I turned around and left the crowd. Since the chip was now in Kusanagi's hands, I couldn't get into the tutorial either, so all I had to do was walk around and probably try to befriend someone.

"Hmm, where should I go now?" I asked myself, while looking my surroundings.

Without realizing what I was doing, while I tried to find some sort of map (Something that every game has nowadays.) I accidentally selected to be moved to a different server and was trying to get back ever since. Problem's that I didn't remember the name of the city server. I had so far visited a volcano server, a mountain server, even a server dedicated toward the Great Wall of China. My current locations was some, mostly abandoned city district. The buildings' windows were broken and the people around here didn't very friendly…

"Hey!"

I stopped and looked around, seeing someone behind a corner to wave in a different direction before walking inside an abandoned house. Of course this was none of my business, until I saw someone in a very familiar white attire, running into the abandoned house.

"A Knight of Hanoi…" I muttered to myself.

What should I do now, there were Knights of Hanoi, but I didn't have a way to call Playmaker at the moment. My instincts told me to just log out, but my mind was saying to follow the Knight and try to learn what their group was going to do next.

Following the promise I made to help Playmaker, I ran toward the abandoned house, stopping only when I reached the half open door. I hide behind the wall and peeked inside, the Knight wasn't there, but voices could be heard from the second floor.

I walked inside the house and headed up the stairs, as I did the voices became clearer, they were having a conversation about someone.

"So, when is that guy going to show up?" A voice asked.

"Be patient, after our last attack both SOL and Playmaker are on our tail, so we have to be more careful than ever." The other responded.

I hide behind the door, leading toward the room in which the Knight and the other player were chatting, pressing my ear against the surface to hear them more clearly.

The voice continued. "I heard that he had risen through the leaderboard and many users' and staff members' eyes are on him."

"I see, so thanks to him we are now having a wider reach. Revolver would be pleased to hear those news."

"I don't know, it's often very hard to tell with his constant poker face and serious voice. But back to our talk about security, I think we should get a different place to meet next time."

Strangely, while listening to them, I began to feel something hot against my ear. A strange heat seemed to be coming from that room and I had to move away from the door because of how uncomfortable it became to…

BOOM!

"Hyyyaaaa!"

* * *

 **3** **rd** **POV**

After the Knights of Hanoi realized that someone had followed them, one of them quickly hacked the coding of the wall and door behind which Proxy was hiding and turned them into explosives. The explosion itself wasn't very strong because that would surely catch someone's attention, but it was strong enough to throw Proxy away and slam her into the wall at the other end of the floor. She lied there, defenselessly, and filled with pain from the sudden attack.

"Ever since that Playmaker began to show up, everyone began to think that they could take on our group by themselves." The formally dressed Knights of Hanoi stepped forward, staring down at the fallen girl. "Pathetic."

Proxy winched and raised her hand to log out of LINK VRAINS. She pressed the button and waited for the white light to take her back to the real world. Nothing happened.

"Aww, she wants to go back home to mommy." The second Knight of Hanoi, who wasn't wearing a uniform taunted her.

"Oh, how sad. She probably wanted to be a hero like that bastard Playmaker, but instead got blow up." The first one mocked her, and turned toward his partner. "Let's have some fun with her and then bring her to Revolver."

"I heard that he had some sort of new program and needed a guinea pig to test it on."

And while the Knights of Hanoi continued to discuss their options, a sense of dread overtook Proxy's senses. She was completely at the mercy of two cyberterrorists with no way to logout, run or call for help. Her eyes were filled with despair, as she uselessly crawled back against the wall behind her.

"Sounds good enough." The knights finally reached to an agreement, and turned toward their prey.

"Come here, you little squit." The knight reached to grab Proxy, and she turned her head away, closing her eyes tightly.

"Seriously, is there anyone you bastards wouldn't hurt?" The knights of Hanoi froze on the spot, as a new female voice echoed through the corridor.

Hearing the new voice, Proxy halfway opened one of her eyes. A golden right formed on the ground below her and a body began to slowly raise from the floor. The knights gasped and took a step back, creating some distance between them and the new intruder, a female avatar in a white outfit with a hood to hide her face and a pair of glowing metal wings floating behind her back.

"Who the heck are you?" One of the Knights asked.

"I'm just a simple everyday angel guardian who is about to kick your ass for threatening this girl." The user replied.

"Angel Guardian? You look more like a complete weirdo!"

"I thought that the Knights' weakest attribute was dueling, but your insults are times worse."

"You little… If you want so much to be crushed by the noble power of Hanoi, then be my guest!" The knight exclaimed, raising his Duel Disk to indicate that he was up for a challenge.

The girl raised her left arm as well, showing her Duel Disk. It was an old model requiring physical cards, but its appearance was significantly different the usual version. The main body was still white, but now it was diamond shaped with a blue gem on the top, outlined by a green line.

"Now, now, you should refrain from using insults. You will only embarrass yourself further that way." The knight gritted his teeth at the girl's mocking attitude. "But fine, I will be generous enough to give you the first turn. Your only turn."

"We will see who's going to laugh at the end!" The knight yelled back.

"DUEL!"

 **『** **Unknown Duelists LP: 4000 Hand: 5 (VS) KoH LP: 4000 Hand: 5** **』**

"Perfect!" The knight exclaimed, looking at his cards. "With this hand, I will completely crush you! First, I play _Foolish Burial_ to send _Cracking Dragon_ from the Deck to my Graveyard!"

'Cracking Dragon…' Proxy thought, watching from the side. Wasn't that the name of the monster that almost killed her during her first visit in LINK VRAINS?

"Second, when my opponent controls no monsters, _Hack Worm (LV.1, ATK: 400)_ can be Special Summoned by its own effect. Afterward, I Normal Summon _Jack Wyvern (Lv.4, ATK: 1800)_!"

Two limbless beast covered in metal with glowing green outlines and two orbs holding their wing-like features appeared in the Knight's field.

"Next, Jack Wyvern's effect's allows me to banish my two monsters to Special Summon my _Cracking Dragon (LV.8, ATK: 3000)_ from the Graveyard!" The Knight declared.

Both monsters disappeared from the field and a giant limbless metal beast appeared in their place, its sole summoning being enough to demolish the walls and ceiling to make space for its body. Proxy's eyes widened, she recognized the monster as the one that deleted the accounts of every other avatar that it attacked.

"But I'm not done! I play _DDoS Attack_ and target _Cracking Dragon_! Then, I send two more copies of _DDoS Attack_ to inflict a combine amount of 1600 damage to you!"

The dragon opened its mouth and fired a stream of fire toward the girl, prompting her to cover her face with a hand.

 **『** **Unknown Duelist LP: 4000 -** **3200** **\- 2400** **』**

"I set a card." Knight of Hanoi pressed the last floating card, putting it on his field. "Do you see now, why the likes of you have no chance of defeating us?!"

"Because of a big dragon?" the girl titled her head to the side, then a little smirk formed on her face "I promised to beat you in a single turn, and I'm going to hold true to this promise! Draw!"

 **『** **Turn 2 [Unknown Duelist] LP: 2400 Hand: 6** **』**

The girl took her sixth card and glanced at it for a moment before putting it behind the other cards in her hand, a sign that she already had everything she needed in order to win.

"First, to take care of your cards, I play the Quick Spell - _**AstroGear Schwert Platzen**_!" The card showed a white knight slamming his sword into the ground, which exploded upon the impact. "With its effect, I banish _AstroGear Lammabschließen_ from my hand to send your set card to the Graveyard!"

* * *

 **AstroGear Schwert Platzen (Spell) Quick-Play**

 **Target 1 card your opponent controls: Banish 1 "AstroGear" card from your hand; send the target to the GY. (Quick Effect): Target 1 "AstroGear" monster you control: Shuffle this card from your banished zone into your deck; that monster gains the following effect:**

 **Your opponent can't target this card with card effects.**

* * *

A white halo came out of the girl's spell card and flew through the set card, cutting it in half. The knight took a step back and gritted his teeth in anger.

"But that's not all!" the girl exclaimed and raised her left arm, a stream of energy forming into ball around it. "The effect of _**AstroGear Lammabschließen**_ activates when banished, banish your _Cracking Dragon_ until the end of this turn!"

* * *

 **AstroGear Lammabschließen**

 **Level: 4/Attribute: LIGHT/Type: Beast/Effect**

 **ATK: 1700/DEF: 1500**

 **Effect: You can tribute this card, then target 1 LIGHT monsters in your GY; Special Summon it. If this card is banished: You can target 1 monster on the field; banish it until the End Phase.**

* * *

"My Cracking Dragon?!" The Knight couldn't do anything, but look in shook, as the girl threw the sphere toward his monster, forcing it to disappear from the field.

"A-Amazing!" Proxy exclaimed. She had no idea what effects the _Cracking Dragon_ , but she had witnessed it in action once, so she did know that it was a very strong monster.

"Next, I activate _**AstroGear Sakrosankt Zertreten**_!" The girl played another card which showed a white alien sanctuary. "When it's activated, I can Special Summon my banished _AstroGear Lammabschließen_!"

On the field appeared a large white dog with armor-tough skin that gave it a robotic appearance. The beast had no ears, nose, or tail. Its teeth were large and stick out of his mouth, which was black with blue lines. Finish its look was a single crack in the middle of its head where its glowing blue eye was located.

* * *

 **AstroGear Sakrosankt Zertreten (Spell) Continuous**

 **When this card is activated: You can Special Summon 1 of your banished "AstroGear" monsters. If a LIGHT monster you control inflicts battle damage, gain that much LP. Once per turn, while this card is banished: You can Normal Summon 1 LIGHT monster in additation to your Normal Summon this turn.**

* * *

"Now, _AstroGear Lammabschließen_ attack him directly!" The girl pointed toward the Knight. Her monster obeyed and opened its mouth, unleashing an ultrasonic blast, so strong that it send the opponent, flying backward.

 **『** **KoH LP: 4000 -** **2300** **』**

"When a Light monster I control deals you damage the effect of _AstroGear Sakrosankt Zertreten_ will give the same amount to me." The girl continued, a white halo formed over her head and showered her in light.

"Damn you!" The Knight of Hanoi hissed.

 **『** **Unknown Duelist LP: 2400 -** **4100** **』**

"Following this, will be the effect of _ **AstroGear Beistand**_ from my hand."

A small white robot with giant sword-shaped jets on its shoulders and blades for legs jumped over the girl's head. The new monster had a large head without mouth, only two glowing green eyes and a set of headphones.

* * *

 **AstroGear Beistand**

 **Level: 3/Attribute: LIGHT/Type:Machine/Effect**

 **ATK: 800/DEF: 700**

 **Effect: During your Battle Phase, if an "AstroGear" monster you control attacked this turn, you can Special Summon this card from your hand, and if you do, that monster gains ATK and DEF equal to this card's original ATK and DEF, and can attack a second time during this Battle Phase. If a LIGHT monster you control would be destroyed while this card is banished (Quick Effect): You can Special Summon this banished card, and if you do, that monster you control can't be destroyed by this battle or effect.**

* * *

"If an AstroGear monster I control battled this turn, I can Special Summon _Beistand_ from my hand and give its attack values to my attacking monster, along with a second attack!"

"W-what?!" the two Knights looked at each other, and then back toward the girl before them. She was smiling! This duel was as good as won for her, there was nothing they could do, no effect they could use to stop this final attack.

The little robot landed on _AstroGear Lammabschließen_ 's back and transformed into a jetpack. The beast threw its head forward and let out a loud cry, charging head first into the knights.

 _AstroGear Lammabschließen_ _, ATK: 1700 + 800_ _\- 2500_

"Finish them, _AstroGear Lammabschließen_!"

"Nyyyyyaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!" Proxy watched in awe as the monster hit its targeted and an explosion soon followed, destroying the rest of the hallway.

 **『** **KoH LP: 2300** **0** **』**

 **『** **Unknown Duelist LP: 4100 -** **6400** **』**

 **『** **Winner: Unknown Duelist** **』**

After the duel ended and the smoke settled down, the two Knights were both down, with the girl standing over them alongside her monsters and holding her Duel Disk's blade aimed at them.

"The two of you are under arrest." She told her with a victorious smirk and pressed a button on her Duel Disk. A ball of lightning shot onto the Knights of Hanoi, locking their bodies from moving and blocking their ability to log out. After making sure that these dangerous hackers were secured, the girl turned back toward Proxy.

"Y-you were amazing!" The girl in white jumped back in surprise as Proxy was staring at her in awe. "You defeat them in one turn, this was so cool! How did you learn to duel this way?!"

After a few moments, the girl in white put a hand under her mouth and giggled at the reaction. The comments and questions that Proxy was throwing her way were all compliments and flattered her.

"I'm sure that one day you will become a great duelist yourself." The girl in white stated, catching Proxy by surprise. "The gears of your destiny are already set in motion. Just follow them."

"Um… what?"

The girl just smiled and waved. A white circle formed around her and the Knights of Hanoi, their bodies consumed by a white light. Within moments, the hallway was all but empty, with the only person remaining there being Proxy herself.

"Gears of Destiny?" She repeated those words, trying to process what they truly meant. She didn't believe that destiny was something that could be predetermined, but she felt that the girl in white meant something else with those words. Was it an invitation? Or a warning that Proxy was already involved in something that she still had no understanding about?

She had no idea what to think anymore, who to trust, all she knew was that there were things connected to her, and it made her nervous. All those recent events made her feel like the center of attention and she never liked that feeling. She hated when everyone else's eyes were on her, it made her nervous, but most importantly; it made her scared.

Now that the building was empty and she no longer had anything to do here, Proxy moved downstairs and opened the door to leave. But she didn't expect that there could be another person at the other side, just about to walk inside.

"Rocketeer?!"

Indeed, the duelist she watched a few hours ago was now standing right in front of her, his expression showing that he was just as surprised to see her - or anyone else for that matter - as she was. Though unlike Proxy, Rocketeer was able to quickly regain his composure.

"Ha-ha! Yes, are you the one who send me the anonymous message to duel?" He asked her, but his eyes were looking somewhere else, searching for something. "I never turn down a challenge, but girl, this is a pretty weird server to choose for that."

"Ah, s-sorry." Proxy took a step back and shook her head. "I didn't call you. T-there were Knights of Hanoi hiding-! They must have targeted you!"

"Really!?" He recoiled in fear and turned his head from side to side. "I never thought that they would try to come after me!"

"Y-yeah, b-but someone defeated them before you came, so it's all fine!" Proxy reassured him.

"Someone beat the Knights of Hanoi? Do you mean Playmaker?" Rocketeer asked her curiously.

"N-no!" Proxy shook her head. "It was a girl. I didn't watch her name, but she was dressed in white, and was great! She beat them all in a single turn!"

"I see… Um, I apologize in advance for the question, but why are you here then?"

"I-I saw the Knights of Hanoi and stalked them to here, b-but they found me and…" Proxy looked down in embarrassment, she couldn't confess that they cornered her, less so to someone she didn't ever know. "A-anyways! I saw your d-duel a while ago. I wanted to say 'hi' and… well, I noticed that you have a Gear deck too, so…"

"Wait, wait, wait." He viciously shook his arms in from of Proxy, further scaring the already frightened girl. "Are you a fan of Blaze Rose?"

"Blaze Rose? No, I'm not a fan or hers and I don't know for her either, why are you asking?"

"It's a long story, but basically because both of us were given our decks by the same teacher she thinks that we are destined to be rivals and has been trying to harass me into dueling her ever since she made it as a Charisma Duelist."

"Oh…" Proxy could understand why he would be worried about such questions, to be harassed into doing something sounded awful. "I actually said that because… Um, well… I'm a beginner and I have a Gear deck as well!"

"Ha, Seriously!?" Proxy jumped as Rocketeer put his hands on her shoulders and began to laugh. "Didn't they teach you how to duel, when they gave you your deck?"

"No one gave me this deck, I obtained it on my own." That was basically a lie, she had no idea how it came into her possession nor why. "But now, I'm at a complete loss about what to do with it, I'm not a trained duelist."

"So… You came to ask to be my protégé? We don't even know each other!"

"That's not it…" Proxy had to shake her head furiously, Playmaker was her mentor, and turning away from him to get training from this guy would be like betraying someone from her point of view. "I-I just… Um, my name is Proxy, it's nice to meet you."

"And now you are getting this conversation into a completely different direction."

"S-sorry, I… I have just never spoken with someone popular before and… I-it's nervous."

"Oh, is that so?" Rocketeer smirked playfully, causing a slight blush to form on Proxy's face, despite her being a virtual avatar. "You know what? What would you say about joined me on my private server for a bit?"

"Um… why?" Proxy asked him, she was still cautions around new people.

"Well, since you and I both use the Gear series, I figured that it would be nice of me to give you a few tips, etcetera."

"Then I won't mind spending some more time online, but I have to log out soon."

"Then why don't you come visit my server tomorrow?" Rocketeer suggested. "We will be able to spend more time and I will be able to tell you more things at once."

"I don't have much to do tomorrow… Ok, we can follow this idea instead!"

"Great! See you tomorrow then."

"Bye!"

A sphere of light consumed Proxy's body and she disappeared from the server. Despite his new friend logging out Rocketeer remained at the ruined house for a few more moments. His eyes stared at the building and his warm smile dropped a little. The Charisma Duelist's right arm clutched into a fist before he logged out as well.

* * *

 **A/N: Whelp, another chapter done! To be honest, I didn't expect this one to be written for a month or two, but well, yesterday I saw the greatest thing ever and that encouraged me to write the whole chapter in a few hours. For those of you who wonder what got me into the mood (and who don't I guess) it was the reveal of** _Advent Skull Archfiend/Advent Demon_ **! A motherfucking** _Summoned Skull_ **retrain! My monster favorite monster ever was not forgoten by Konami and got support in the holy year of 2018! And it's part of the 20th Anniversary Pack!**

 **This happiness, I'm so happy! I will be building a Summoned Skull Deck once again! And I swear to the gods, Advent Skull Archfiend will appear in this story! He will appear! And he will be great like his predecessor!**

 ***DEEP BREATH***

 **Now that my fanboying is finally behind (OMG THEY REALLY MADE A SUMMONED SKULL RETRAIN!) I will address the reviews.**

ScalchopWarrior **: Ok, given that we both know who that was, I probably deserve the swears, but I believe that this chapter makes up for the last one. Other than that, thanks for pointing out my mystake, I believe that I corrected it.**

ThePLOThand **: I put you second because, well, your review has something in commont with Scal's. Well, that's why Roxy is there, to make Yusaku more, UGO-protagonistic.**

Ninjacya321 **: Don't worry, the story won't end here. There will be at least 15 chapters before we even get to Playmaker raiding the SOL Data Bank, and there is a lot more after than. Thanks for your constructive critism, I'm not an expert on Card Text writting (ironic given how long I've been making cards), so thanks for pointing that out!**

 **Thanks to everyone for reading this chapter and remember. ADVENT SKULL ARCHFIEND IS REAL AND MY BOY SUMMONED SKULL GOT SUPPORT! SUMMONED SKULL DECK 2018 IS GOING TO BE A THING!**

 **Diabolic Tracer out!**


	7. Chapter 7

Lament of the Lonely

Within a secret dark server of LINK VRAINS, was hidden the main base of operation for the Knights of Hanoi. Currently, two of them were standing in a black room with green lights, having a discussion. The first one was a man with crimson hair with a visor covering his face and featureless eyes, his name was Revolver, the leader of the Knights as well as their best duelist. Next to him was, with gray hair and light blue eyes, Specter the second-in-command of the organization.

"So, are the preparations all going according to plan?" Revolver asked his subordinate.

"Yes, everything is on schedule, but I still think that putting all of our focus on just Playmaker could be a wrong decision." Specter said. "There were other duelists who were also able to push back our attack. Even if none of them has an Ignis, they could prove to be obstacles in our grand plan."

"I disagree, there are three reasons why Playmaker is the only real threat to our plans." Revolver stated, turning around to face Specter. "One, SOL Technology is after the Ignis as well, since Playmaker doesn't work with them, it's more than likely that they will use the Charisma Duelists to try and catch him. Second, only the Ignis knows our secrets, and because of the first reason he would most likely entrust them to only Playmaker and on one else. Third, once we our plan is complete, and we exterminate the creators of the Cyberse World, LINK VRAINS will collapse and with it, all the other duelists will be gone too."

"You are completely wrong about how this is going to play out." A third voice called out.

Revolver and Specter turned to the side, as a new person came to join in their little chat. His entire face was covered by the front piece of a black knight helmet with a golden stripe going through it in a manner than made it look like a grin. Over the metal mask, was a large white hood with three green spikes coming from each side. The rest was pure white royal outfit with green accents, a short cape with a knight driving on it and heavy metal boots. His left arm was more slender and ended with sharp claws. It also had a green metal cuff with blue lines and a deck attached to it.

"Picaro…" Specter muttered the newcomer's name. "I thought you were busy, didn't expect to see you come here any time soon."

"I just got some important business here, so there is that." Picaro put his claw on Specter's shoulder, making the latter narrow his eyes. "Or do you want me to notify you in advance for my visits from now on?"

"That's enough you two." Revolver stated firmly, forcing them to break whatever argument they had. Once they did, he turned toward Picaro. "So, why do you think that the duelists of LINK VRAINS could be a bigger threat to us than Playmaker?"

"It's simple." Picaro stated, walking past the crimson haired duelist. He looked at the black wall in front of him and continued. "Playmaker isn't as simple of a target as you think. I personally know duelists who are watching over him. It will take a lot of our resources and time to track and defeat him, and if we do, they will show up to take his place. When that happens, believe me, none of us is going to be on the winning side."

"Your worries are ill-founded." Revolver stated. "Once we get the Ignis, those duelists won't have enough time to respond. But even if they do, every opposition will be crushed by the rightful power of Hanoi."

"So that's your final saying?" Picaro turned back to face the other two knights. "Two of ours were caught and banned, the same thing happened a few days ago as well. Are you just going to stand aside and do nothing as our forces decline?"

"I feel as if there is more to the reason you brought this issue." Revolver pointed out. "You have some personal agenda, don't you?"

"Wrong." Picaro waved his claw. "I do admit that I want to crush some of them by my own hand, but that's because I know what those certain people are capable of. Their influence over both SOL Technology and inside LINK VRAINS is too dangerous to turn a blind eye on."

"So you want us to turn our resources to hunt them down?" Specter asked annoyed how the duelist was trying to drag on this conversation. "It would be a huge mistake to turn our attention away from the Ignis now that we are so close! You won't really listen to this idea, right Revolver?"

"I don't suggest for the Knights of Hanoi to do anything!" Picaro gripped his claw into a fist. "All, I'm asking for is to be allowed to use my own resources in case they make a more threatening move than just hunting down our pawns."

"I might think about that." Revolver answered simply and turned away. "If that's all you have to say, then I will be going."

With those last words, the leader of Hanoi logged out, leaving Specter and Picaro as the only people left in the black room.

"Impressive, your nonsenses were able to make Revolver rethink his position." Specter stated, annoyed. "But this proves that I was right about you all along, you are too cowardly to be part of our noble cause."

"Safe your petty insults for someone who might care." Picaro turned to leave. "Compared to the kind of power that I had witnessed, you are nothing more than a second-rate duelist."

"Second rate, huh? And what are you then?"

This caused the hooded duelist to stop in his tracks. Clenching his hands into fists he thought about it, but every time, the same person popped into his head saying the same insult to him, over and over, to the point that he could no longer deny it.

"…A third rate." He finally answered through gritted teeth.

* * *

 **Roxy's POV**

"Um…" Sense returned to me slowly, as I heard the sound of someone clicking keyboard buttons. My eyelids slowly fluttered open as I began to wake up. When I did, the first thing that I saw was Kusanagi working on his computer, then looking down, I also noticed the warm green blanket that he had probably put on me while I was asleep.

At first, I was very confused to find myself in the hot dog truck, since I went to sleep on a bench last night. I know, I know, not the best or smartest idea, but I would feel bad sleeping in someone else's property when they have already don't so much for me. Kind of like how I felt right now.

"Good morning." Kusanagi greeted me and took a sip from the cup of coffee that sat on his desk.

"G-good morning." I smiled back at him, though I felt anything but happy right now. "I'm sorry if I created difficulties for you, but I did go to sleep on the bench outside… So, um…"

"I moved you." Well, that proves what I thought had happened. "It's not safe for a girl like you to sleep outside in the open like this? Many bad people might show up during the night, so I carried you back into the truck."

"I'm sorry for troubling you." I bowed to show that I was apologizing, then handled the blanket back to him.

"That's not mine."

"…Excuse me?" But he just said… What is going on here?

"Someone came and put the blanket on you last night before I came to take you." Kusanagi pointed out. "I don't know who it was, but surely it was very noble from their side to do something like this."

Some bypassers took pity on me and left a blanket? This made me feel ever worse because it wasn't just Kusanagi and Playmaker that help me, but random people on the streets too. I was only a burden for everyone.

"Since Yusaku is at school and I'm about to open soon, you can go out and have some fun."

I wasn't sure if Kusanagi was talking seriously or trying to joke with me since I had absolutely no understanding of the town, no friends, nor money, so there was absolutely nothing for me to do other than go into LINK VRAINS. Or, I could find a cheap lodging and a job to pay with. Not many options there either…

"Could I help you by working on the shop for free?" I asked Kusanagi. It would be a start and I surely couldn't demand a payment after he did so much for me.

"You don't need to do that for me." He waved it off and clicked a button that made his computers go back into the wall where they would be hidden by the public eye. "I have been able to manage the shop on my own for years."

"But I don't have anything else to do." I told him. "This way, I could at least start to pay back my debt to you and Playmaker for helping me in a moment of need, so please?"

"Ok then." Kusanagi sighed and I mentally cheered for this little victory.

He opened the attendance window and I stepped beside him, waiting for customers to show up. It didn't take long because there was a huge mass of people coming out during the morning, either because they have to go to school or work. Many of them did indeed need some fast breakfast before the start of their day.

At times, the work became too much for me to handle with many orders coming one after another, but somehow I managed to keep my cold and serve everybody. Of course, Kusanagi was the one doing all of the cooking, I knew how to make food, but my skills were nowhere near good enough to make food for others, so I acted like a waiter of some sort. My mine purpose was to make the coffee put the hotdogs and sandwiches together after Kusanagi has cooked the ingredients and so on.

"This is actually really fun." I told my 'boss'.

"I know, right?" Kusanagi smiled and turned to look at everyone who was eating on the benches or with groups of friends and such. "It's part of why I choose to work this, every day I get to see different sides of Den City and meet different people."

"This surely sounds like a good job." I replied. "But isn't it lonely to stay here alone most of the day?"

"Sometimes." He nodded. "But I often have talks with the customers, so it isn't bad."

"Does Pla- I mean Yusaku," I quickly corrected myself, how could I almost reveal his identity here?! "Doesn't he help you from time to time?"

"Yusaku isn't… very good with people." Yes, I think I got that one figured out yesterday. "But after everything he went through, I can understand. Hunting the Knights of Hanoi and getting revenge for what they did to him and my brother is his own way to cope with the trauma - to face it."

"That… sounds very sad." I admitted.

The idea to live with the sole purpose of getting revenge on a group of people that hurt you in the past, it sound so tragic, so unbelievable and hard. If it was me in his shoes, I couldn't imagine what would have happened, but one thing was sure. I wouldn't have had the courage to face her fears like how Playmaker was doing every single day of his live.

"Kusanagi, I want to help Yusaku be happy again." I turned toward the older man. "I want to help him come out of the darkness and enter the light."

"I know." Kusanagi had a bitter smile on his face. "I understand how you feel, but for now, we should leave him on his own."

I nodded to him and turned forward. Just in time as another customer came and I happily took their order.

* * *

 **3** **rd** **POV**

In another part of the city, a man with white hair and wearing a business suit was standing on the oceanside, watching the beauty that was this so called Stardust Road. The name itself brought back memories that he thought were long forgotten. It was sad that he had never came to this spot during night time when it's side that the true beauty of the ocean shows itself.

Then there was the sound of footsteps that approached him from behind. The man turned his crimson eyes to the young woman with long pink hair with lavender bangs and pink eyes that approached him. Like usually, she wore her violet motor biker outfit and had a charismatic smile on that would make any man fell for her. He however was an exception to that rule.

"I have been waiting for you, Emma." The man told her and turned back to the ocean.

"I saw that. It's not like you to choose places like this for our meetings, so it has to be very important, doesn't it?" Emma asked.

"Not really, I just haven't been able to see the ocean from up close ever since I came to this city." The man replied, crossing his arms behind his back.

Emma narrowed her eyes at the simplicity of that man's logic. "It's proven to be a bad business tactic to say things like this to your hirer, but you are can be a very weird person at times."

"Yeah, I already know that." Emma caught a small change in the man's voice. It was still very serious, but there was now that little playfulness in it, like the voice of a child trying to break past the serious figure before her.

"As much as I like talking with you, I surely hope that you called me here for a job."

"I heard that Akira and SOL Technology have hired you to get information on Playmaker. So, I will tell you now that there is nothing significant information that you could find on LINK VRAINS' servers so just don't bother with that ghost hunting."

"Aww~ I'm flattered that you think so much about me." Emma gave a mischievous giggled at the man's words. "But you know that it's my job as a treasure hunter to get to the bottom of things, so I can't give up on the job."

"Of course, all I'm telling you is to not expect finding anything special without hacking both the Knights of Hanoi and the SOL Technology's Data Bank."

This perked Emma's interested into the subject even more. So both the Knights of Hanoi and SOL Technology had very important data about Playmaker? If that's so, then why won't SOL Technology allow its employers to use the info and track the vigilantly using it? What was Playmaker's connection to the Knights of Hanoi? So many interesting things were going on around, she was going to have a lot of fun stealing all the information.

But then, a frown formed on Emma's face, making her look like a kid whose candies were taken by their parents. It was all because of that man before her, he knew everything that was going on, the information collected on his secret servers would make any data broker jealous. Emma wasn't stupid, far from it, so she was able to put on the pieces. He didn't tell her about SOL Technology's Data Bank just because, there was a bigger game there. It wasn't about him taking their information either; she knew that he had far more data about what's going on in the city than SOL could ever collect.

As a treasure hunter and hacker, it made her angry that this man had everything, yet he didn't bother with anything. All the information in his server was just lying there catching dust, while she could have sold it for a good prize. It wasn't like Emma hasn't tried to find where he hides all the data, but despite all the researches, she was never able to get anywhere near it. What's worse, this man knew about her intentions, this is why he would use any chance he got to tease her about that SINGLE failure in her whole carrier.

"Thanks for the heads up, old guy." Emma's mischievous smirk widened, as she knew that the last two words had hit a nerve.

Just like how she hated when he reminded her about that failed hacking attempt, he hated when she called him an old man. The difference between those two was that, in fact, he was younger than her by a few years. Despite that he was still able to get offended by the word 'old'. The white haired man stared at her for a few seconds before taking a deep breath.

"Now, about the job I have for you, it's going to be something a little bit harder than usual." The man said, perking Emma's interest once again; she liked challenges like those.

"What is it? You want me to hack the National Guard?" She chuckled.

"Something more important than that. I want you to spy on SOL Technology for me. I have their data, but there are many things that only the security manager and those above him know and talk about."

"Hm, you want me to spy on the organization that already hired me?" Emma put a finger on her lips in thought. "That doesn't sound morally correct, so you must make sure to give me a big compensation for the work."

"Ah, yes, you are absolutely right." The man shook his head. "How much do I need to pay you as compensation? As much as SOL did to get you to keep an eye on Akira, or less?"

"Less." Emma sighed, she knew that he wouldn't pay her more. "But how do you know about Akira?"

"I don't." the man replied, turning around to completely face her. "It was just obvious that SOL would so something like this, but thanks for proving me right."

A hallow chuckle escaped Emma's mouth as she stared at the person before her. She failed to one of the oldest tricks in the book. The white haired man returned his hands into the pockets of his pants and walked off, leaving the young woman on her own. He got into a red car and drove off.

* * *

 **Roxy's POV**

"Your hotdog." I put the food on the table in front of Yusaku, who was working on his tablet.

"The cutie got you some food, you should at least thank her." The A.I. told him, making me blush at the word 'cutie'.

"Be quiet." Yusaku stated firmly before grabbing the hotdog and taking a bite from it.

"Sheesh, you are so mean." The A.I. pouted.

Yusaku didn't answer and just kept on working – probably on something related with the Knights of Hanoi – while the eye on his Duel Disk was staring at me. It gave me a creepy feeling to know that a machine of all things was watching you. But then again, this A.I. acted different from most other artificial intelligences, almost like there was something alive inside of it.

"Playmaker is so stiff, he doesn't even know how to talk with a cute girl." The A.I. words took me aback, I felt my cheeks getting warm from the sudden compliment. "You are blushing, did I embarrass you?"

"N-no." I turned my eyes away from the A.I., its words along with the playful voice were a bit too much for me to handle.

"Eh? But your face turned all red, you are definitely embarrassed." The A.I.'s eyes turned into a mischievous look.

"Y-you really like playing with others, don't you?" I asked back, maybe a little too rude, but I didn't want an A.I. of all things to talk down on me. At least not again.

"Hey, I'm just trying to have a normal conversation. Mister stiff here, is no fun. All he does is either telling me to shut up or muting me himself. It's so cruel~!"

This time I giggled a bit at the A.I., not because it was making fun of Yusaku, but because of how he expressed it. Ok, maybe also because it was billions times better at expressing itself than Yusaku, and we have known each other for just a few hours! That alone spoke a lot about Playmaker's character, although his cold personality was something that was obvious for everyone.

"You are supposed to hold a low profile." This time Yusaku spoke, addressing the A.I.

"Well, maybe if you actually talked with me, I wouldn't have a reason to try and speak with others." The A.I. had a point there.

"What do you understand about human interaction?" Yusaku raised an eyebrow. "You are just a program that doesn't have your own discretion."

"That's rude!"

"I'm going to use the computers to try figure out Ai' programming, Kusanagi." This time, Yusaku didn't respond to the A.I. and instead turned toward Kusanagi.

The A.I.'s, or should I say Ai's eye widened upon hearing this. Kusanagi simply gave a solemn nod, so Yusaku stood up and walked to the truck, opening the door. Putting his school bag inside, he stepped in and left the Duel Disk on the table, before connecting it to the computers. I and Kusanagi stood at the door and watched them, the Ai complaining about how Yusaku was going to see his 'darkest secrets' and 'private parts'. The little guy really had its way to make people laugh, but the fun last so long until Yusaku finally muted it.

"These two have an interesting dynamic, don't they?" I asked Kusanagi.

"They sure do." Kusanagi nodded to my question.

"Why did you choose to name it Ai anyways?" I then asked, it didn't sound like a creative name to me; probably Yusaku came up with it.

"Yusaku came up with it." Funny, isn't it? Kusanagi answered my question and turned to face me. "So, what do you plan on doing?"

"What do you mean?" I wasn't sure what he meant by that question.

"Nothing specific." He admitted. "But you don't have anywhere to go, I have no problem to let you sleep in the truck, but it might be uncomfortable for you in there."

I bite my lip, Kusanagi just reminded me about what should have been my number first priority –finding a place to sleep. Helping with the food stand this whole day I didn't have any time to do some research on cheap lodgings in the city.

"Well, I'm actually about to start looking for a home." I admitted, ashamed of myself. "But I promise you to do my best and find myself a good home in no time!"

"So, my truck isn't a good home?"

"N-no, that's not what I meant-!" I began to try and defend myself, but then I noticed something; there was a small smile on Kusanagi's face. "T-this isn't funny!"

"Come and look at this, Kusanagi." Yusaku spoke up.

I stepped aside to let Kusanagi go see what Yusaku needed him for. The purple haired man sat next to the boy and began to work on the keyboard. I glanced at the text that showed up on the screens, but ultimately, I couldn't understand a word of what was being said there, most of it seemed like a meaningless string of letters, numbers and other symbols. But that was most likely only due to my own stupidity. I should stop to try and write an explanation on what they were doing.

"Um, Playmaker?" I spoke to him nervously. "Shouldn't we patrol Vrains, in case a Knight of Hanoi showed up?"

"If such a thing happens, the server's news network with momentarily showcase it and we will be alerted." U, so in other words my job as a watchman was pointless because the news would alert him about the bad guys?

"Then, what's my purpose in this?" I choose to ask another question.

"I'm simply holding my part of the deal, which was to train you." Yusaku pointed out. "Even if you don't have anything left on your life, this fight isn't yours. Only I should fall in the darkness of being an emissary of revenge. There's no reason for you to get any further involved with us, so after you learn as much as you find needed, go back to living in the light."

My spirit completely broke, it took all of my strength in order to resist falling down and crying. Playmaker didn't need me, he didn't accept to help me because it would be mutually beneficial, but out of pity. I truly was only a burden for them, a spare gear that had no part in the well-oiled machine that represented this team. Thinking about it, I had no real purpose in this world, only the prophetic words of the duelist that I meet yesterday. But should I even take those words seriously? Destiny and the likes of it, I believed in all of those. What I don't trust in was the idea that I would have some great role in any sort of important events.

I retreated to the corner of the truck and sat down, holding my own Duel Disk in hands.

"This was too harsh from you." I could hear Kusanagi's whispering, but it didn't matter since Playmaker was right about me. I was a burden, and the sooner I leave, the better for all of them.

The sound of clicking kept echoing through the still air inside the truck, they worked on actually important stuff. Something got stuck in my throat, this place looked more and more depressing to me the longer I stayed there. Perhaps it was just because I kept my back pressed against the corner, or because of how much of a weakling I was. So much, that if it wasn't the lack reflection of my Duel Disk, I wouldn't have noticed the tears rolling down my cheeks. At the moment, even the idea of entering LINK VRAINS sounded unpleasant, even depressing. Without dueling skills, I had no purpose there.

I didn't realize when, or after how long, but my view had started to turn gloomy until I fell asleep.

* * *

 **Chapter 8: Behind the Gears**

 **Summary: After discoving that she had no place in Playmaker's team, Roxy logs into LINK VRAINS to try and get her mind off the hard truth. There she met with** **Rocketeer, who tries to cheer her on. He takes her with him to met several charisma duelists and reveals a bit of a history behind the oGears cards that they were both holding.**

 **Chapter 9: To Embrace Destiny**

 **Summary: Upon hearing about the appearance of a new Knight of Hanoi, Proxy goes on to help Playmaker investigate, but instead she ends up looked in** **Go Onizuka. Despite that everything seems to be going in their favor with** **Playmaker's shift victory. However, using the cave trap in his advantage Picaro shows up and challenges LINK VRAINS' hero in a duel. Playmaker gets quickly overpowered and driven into a corner when suddenly...**

 **Chapter 10: Just a Proxy**

 **Summary: After her victory over Picaro and the saving of Playmaker, Proxy suddenly becomes a star in LINK VRAINS. Believing that her victory was just luck, she tries to hide in** **Rocketeer's private server, but the Charisma Duelist has another idea and calls on Blue Angel. Proxy doesn't want to duel, but soon the second best Charisma Duelist tells her that this meeting wasn't about a duel...**

 **Chapter 11: Contact with a Blood Sucker**

 **Summary: Roxy learns from Yusaku about** **Blue Angel's real personality as Aoi Zaizen and tries to befriend her, but she soon finds out that the girl wasn't easy to approach. She tries to talk with** **Rocketeer about the 2th best** **Charisma Duelist, when she learns that Playmaker was currently dueling her. Proxy goes on to watch, but is suddenly approached by a user named** **Gloomy Ruby who challenges her on a duel.**

 **Chapter 12: R** **esolve And Despair**

 **Summary: After their respective duels, Proxy and Playmaker find out that by some strange reason, their opponents has fallen into comatose. The duo** **tries to investigate the cause of this together with Kusanagi. However, Blue Angel, then appears on the city's monitors, and challenges Playmaker to a rematch! At the same time Proxy gets a message to met with Blaze Rose.**

* * *

 **A/N: So, my preparational** **Matriculation examinations are over, so I will be able to write more chapters in the following days, or weeks, so yay! I want to apologize if this chapter appears to be short (because it is). Right now, I'm just doing build up, and that's why I released the previews for the next five chapters. Since there won't be a duel** **in the next chapter either, I just wanted to show you when the hype really begins!**

 **Also, yesterday was the last episode of season 1 of LINK VRAINS. I won't talk about what happened in it since most of you might have yet to watch it, but I will say that I'm glad to see Decode Talker getting treated as the ace. I had always liked Elemental HERO Flame Wingman and Junk Warrior more than Elemental HERO Neos and Stardust Dragon and when I first saw** **Decode Talker I wanted it to be used as the real ace despite it having 2300 ATK. But, we also had to take into consideration how overpowered Firewall Dragon is, so that might also be a part of why YGO VRAINS is worried about using it. Who knows?**

 **Now to the reviews:**

ScalchopWarrior **: I see why you would find having Advent Skull Archfiend be a ritual is weird, so I will just address the problem with its retrains. Red-Eyes Archfiend, Skull Archfiend and Archfiend Commander (I guess?) can be put as retrains, but before everything else they are part of an Archetype and are mean to work in that archetype (** **Red-Eyes Archfiend not so much.** **) And yes, both** **Advent Skull Archfiend and Summoned Skull are part of the** **Archfiend archetype, but they are mean to work as individual cards! Although Summoned Skull is a staple in Red-Eyes Burn Decks, so... Ok, I just like anything connected to that Level 6 Vanilla beastick, is that a crime?**

ThePLOThand **: Not exactly 3 years, but... Yeah, it's set after Arc-Tracers. Also, you had asked me about my opinion on the songs you list in your review on Arc-Tracers, but I will answer it here because you are reading this story too. I completely ignore the songs you list out. Tried to listen to a few of them, found out that I completely hate them, so there is that. I can't tell you to stop making these song lists, and I don't care about them either, so end of discussion.**

 **So, I did it. Thanks to everyone who followed and favorited this story. Reviews are always appreciated, no matter if it's critism or something funny about the story, or you just want to curse at me. I have fun reading and responding to them, also, like with many other writers, they drive me to keep on writing these stories. So keep'em coming bois! (and gals)**

 **Diabolic Tracer Out!**


	8. Chapter 8

Behind the Gears

 **Proxy's POV**

Time just went by, I spend the next morning in Kusanagi's truck once again. Unlike yesterday, I wasn't getting in Kusanagi's way and let him do business. With me being the pain that I'm, he let me borrow a laptop to search for a place to stay. I wouldn't be wrong to say that Kusanagi was most likely wanting for me to leave as well. Despite him giving me an apology for what Yusaku said yesterday, I knew that it was all true. Whatever he had suffered from to make him hate the Knights of Hanoi like this, it had nothing to do with my situation. Other than losing everything and being alone, I had no other connection to either of them.

"Are you ok?" Kusanagi had just finished doing orders as he turned to ask me a question.

I looked up at him. Am I ok? Could I have answered that question with 'no'? And that's when my hands stopped, my eyes stared at the glowing screen as my head reached a dead end. There was nothing 'ok' about me. I felt weak, broken, useless, but all those words got stuck into my throat. No, Kusanagi and Playmaker already had enough stuff on their hands, without my emotions being part of these things.

"I'm fine." My voice sounded dull, I noticed the difference, but hoped that Kusanagi wouldn't.

"You don't sound ok." I cursed in my head for being so bad that I couldn't even lie properly. "You can talk with me. If it's against what Yusaku said yesterday, I want to know that he is blunt with his words, but he didn't mean to insult you in any way."

"H-he didn't insult me." I finally said back, turning to face Kusanagi. "He was right about me. I have no place with you, my story, my goals, the lengths that I would go to achieve them… Nothing about me comes near to your levels. I'm not a hacker, barely know how to use a computer, not a great duelist, and probably will never be one either. If I remain here, I will only keep you two back and that's something I don't want to do."

"Roxanna!" I fell back when Kusanagi called me by my full name. "You aren't holding us back, don't ever think so about yourself. Truth is, you are helping me more than it's apparent!"

"You are lying!" I shook my head, it was obvious that he was just trying to make me feel better

"I'm telling you the truth." Kusanagi kept on persisting. "Ever since the incident, Yusaku has never been the same… He had distance himself from the world, taking revenge on the Knights of Hanoi has become the only goal in his life. I'm much older than him and no matter how much I understand his quest and support him, our relationship would never be like that of real close friends. That's why…"

I could see where Kusanagi was going with that speech. He wanted me to get close to Yusaku, become his friend and pull him out of the dark abyss that he calls his destiny. This plan would never work out. How could I, someone unable to fix myself, resolve another person's struggles and defeat their inner demons? The more I thought about it, a certain truth floated on the surface of my mind, almost making me chuckle at how sad it was.

Call it a bitter irony, but I could characterize myself with some of the words that Kusanagi said about Yusaku. How many true friends did I have back in my world? Not many, unfortunately. The only person in my life that gave me moral support – outside my parents – has been Elizabeth. I loved her for everything she did to help me out in bad situations, for every time she sat there and listened to my complains, but she would never return those feelings to me. Our relationship could never grow into a close friendship because our realities and goals were too different from one another.

"Please, Kusanagi." I raised my head to look him into the eyes, despite how hard it was for me to do so. "Allow me to do one good thing for your and Playmaker's futures. Just, let me disappear when the time comes. I can't stand to know that I'm a burden to your cause."

"Don't worry, I won't try to stop you from leaving." I smiled a bit when Kusanagi finally saw my point of view.

"Thank you." I muttered.

"Just know that if you ever change your mind, we will be here."

Yes, I knew that. Kusanagi was a very nice person, he could never think badly of a person's choice. Even so, that didn't help to ease the feeling of betrayal that burned inside my chest. I have given them a word to help defeat the Knights of Hanoi and now turned my back on it.

"Thanks for everything." I tried to smile at Kusanagi.

"Don't say it like this." He raised his head and turned to look outside the truck. "You aren't leaving, yet."

"Yeah…" I was going to be a burden to them for some more time.

"This was a heavy conversation, why don't you do something to relax and refresh yourself?" Kusanagi suddenly asked me.

"I'm not sure." I didn't feel like leaving the truck, it was making me feel a little bit safer than outside.

"Since Yusaku is at school and probably won't show up for a while, you could use the room to go inside LINK VRAINS. Maybe use the chip to accept the tutorial."

"But wasn't the chip dangerous?" I raised an eyebrow, confused to why he was suggesting to use it.

"We were worried that it might be a trap created by the Knights of Hanoi, but neither me, nor Yusaku found anything suspicious in it, so it must be legal. The coding also is extremely similar to the one used by SOL Technology."

"I see…"

With nothing else for either of us to say, we ended the conversation there. I stop up and walked over to the table with the ingredients and took the black chip, inserting it into my Duel Disk. After that, we made sure that nobody was watching the truck and I entered the secret room. There wasn't anything special about it, a completely empty metal room with just some bluish circuits drawn on the walls inside it. I took out my deck and set it inside the Duel Disk.

"Into the Vrains!" I exclaimed as my consciousness drift away from the limitations of the physical realm and into the possibilities of the cyber reality.

Upon my logging it, I arrived in the same large city where I started from during all my previous logging inside LINK VRAINS. It was probably the common starting server for the whole virtual reality. Visible data flowed through the air and several people were even taking part in Speed Duels.

I raised my Duel Disk and began to tap on the screen, searching for the tutorial option in the menu. To spend some time without others around me, I wouldn't mind even an A.I. laughing at me for my lack of dueling skills just to get a bit of privacy.

"Hey, there you are!" My eyes widened a bit at the familiar voice and I turned around.

"Rocketeer?!" I exclaimed as the robotic duelist came toward me with a huge smile on his face.

"Hey there! I have been waiting for you to show up the whole day yesterday." He pouted.

That was right! I made a promise to meet with Rocketeer yesterday! I had completely forgotten about it, just how more useless could I even get? To break not one, but two promises within the same day, I was far more than a burden, the right phrase for someone like me would be a terrible person.

"I-I'm sorry…" I slammed my fist against my forehead. Stupid, so stupid and useless! "I'm honestly sorry for yesterday. I-I just really couldn't… damn it! I forgot about our promise, I'm so, so… I'm so sorry for turning my back and forgetting about you!"

I wasn't sure if a person was able to cry inside this server, but my chest hurt so much and all those unspoken words that I tried to hold inside were choking me to the point that I felt the tears bulging to come out. Why? Why did I have to be such a horrible human being? I'm not smart and can't learn things as quickly as others, I'm very emotional and have strong reactions to everything that happens around me, I'm so selfish and engulfed in my own problems that I broke every promise I made so far.

"H-hey now, don't start crying on me!" I felt Rocketeer's hands grabbing me by the shoulder and pulling me to look him in the eyes. His expression didn't show any sight of anger, but I could read something else in his eyes; anxiety. "P-please, it isn't a good public image if people catch me with a crying girl! The media will go crazy with their stories on my account!"

"I-I'm sorry." Hearing the panic in Rocketeer's voice broke something inside me. I knew that my irrational behavior was the cause for his problems and that truth was stabbing me in the heart along with all the other guilts that I had.

"Sheesh, you look so bad." I felt Rocketeer moving his hands and then a beam of light blinded me.

When my eyes were finally able to adjust to the sudden change in the lighting, I found myself in a white room with a huge window that showcased the ocean. It looked so beautiful, and the way its surface reflected the sun's light was so majestic. I felt the pain in my chest and the weight in my throat melting away in front of this magical view.

"How is that for a change of scenario?" Rocketeer asked, crossing his arms behind his back.

"W-where are we?" I asked him, looking around the white room. There was a completely white couch, a glass table and everything else that you would expect from a luxurious apartment.

"This is one of the Charisma Duelists' servers where we can meet." Rocketeer explained to me. "Usually, non-Charisma Duelists don't show up here unless they are invited, and guess who just invited you to join us."

"B-but why?" I was no more than a regular person, my dueling skills were even below average. After I broke my promise, Rocketeer should have turned away and left me, not reward me for it! "I'm no one special, so why are doing this for me?"

"Hm, no one special?" Rocketeer looked at me, like I had grown a second head. "What are you talking about? You are a very special person for me~!"

My cheeks burned up. I got no idea what he meant by those words, but they surely made me want to shove my head into the ground out of embarrassment. Maybe that's why they were called 'Charisma' Duelists. My heart fluttered and I turned away so that Rocketeer wouldn't see how red my face has become from his words.

"Hm? Why are you turning away? Did my words embarrass you~?" So he said that on purpose!? "Hehe, don't worry, I don't have a crush on you or anything like that."

You could call me a hypocrite for this, and you would most likely be right, but while a part of me was relieved that Rocketeer wasn't trying to make me fall for him, part of my heart shrank from the confirmation that I wasn't pretty, even as an online avatar. Or perhaps because of the avatar… It didn't matter!

"T-then why did you take me here?" I asked him. I couldn't find any reasonable ground on which he would have made such a decision.

"Because you were sad!" Rocketeer exclaimed, throwing his fist forward. "And it's the Charisma Duelists' mission to bring smiles to people, so I take you to help you smile again!"

I couldn't help but giggled at the answer he gave me. Just to make me happy, he would do something like that. Just to stop me from crying… Playmaker accepted to train me. Could it be that I have been using my tears as a free pass to get the things I wanted in this world? I didn't want this to be it! I had never wanted to manipulate others into doing my bidding!

"Hey, your face has gotten sad again." Rocketeer puffed his cheeks while looking at me. I tried to turn away, but his eyes followed me no matter how I moved.

"I'm… I just realized that everything I had achieved was just given to me because of my tears." I told him the truth about my thoughts. "I'm a horrible person that cries to get other peoples' attention."

"I don't think that it's true." It was my turn to look at Rocketeer in awe and confusion. "I have meet you for only a few minutes, but I'm sure that you aren't this kind of person. If people have helped you because you were crying, then that's because your smile has been too precious for them to save."

"But it's still a bad thing!" I shook my head. Using others is bad and there are no excuses for it.

"It surely is." Rocketeer nodded. "But if you didn't know that you were doing it until now, then that means you weren't manipulating them. I for sure didn't do this just to stop you from crying."

"Then why?"

"Don't worry, I will tell you everything in time." He laughed a bit and took my hand into his own, making my cheeks go red once again. "But first, let's meet you with some Charisma Duelists. Getting to know some of us is a very rare chance so you shouldn't miss it!"

Well, there wasn't a point in trying to resist him, so I followed after. We walked into a corridor made out of windows. I looked outside and everything that my eyes could see was an endless ocean. We were in a tower that literally flowed over the water with several other towers in the distance. Each one of them seemed different, one looked like a floating city, the other as an island, but all of them had elevators on their lower parts that seemed to lead to a small area on top of the water that looked like a pool.

"Impressive, isn't it." Rocketeer stepped beside me with a slight smile. "I looked just like that when I first got here as a Charisma Duelist."

"I meant to ask you." I looked at the side, unsure how to ask the question without making it sound rude. "Charisma Duelists are popular right? Why haven't I heard about you before?"

"Playmaker." Rocketeer sighed. "To be fair, previously most of the stage light fell on Number 1 and 2, the rest of us never got as much attention as them. But after Playmaker appeared and began to fight the Knights of Hanoi, the public's interest almost completely turned away from us. And before you ask, I'm Number 4 in the ranking."

"Who is Number 3 then?" I asked curiously.

"Blaze Rose."

"Oh…" I remembered that name, it was of the duelist whose first match I had watched.

"Judging by you reaction, you must have meet her." Rocketeer raised an eyebrow as he looked at me.

"I did watch one of her duels." I told him. "But she seems rude and some of things she said sound… weird? I'm not sure how to put it."

"You actually got her right." Rocketeer laughed a bit. "I'm very cautious with her, you know? Every time we met she challenges me on a duel and it's just starting to get really annoying at this point. I don't see why she bothers either way, her rating is higher than mine."

"She talks about a devil and an angel in LINK VRAINS." I rubbed my chin in thought. "It makes me wonder what she means."

"Nothing truly important." Rocketeer shrugged. "Anyways, we aren't here to talk about Blaze Rose and her weird behavior right? We came to have fun and meet interesting people!"

"Right." I nodded. "I'm sorry for bringing it up."

"Don't be!" Rocketeer laughed again. "It's really fun to have a normal conversation with users in LINK VRAINS that aren't my fan girls or rivals."

I nodded in agreement and followed him through the glass corridor. As we walked suddenly another figure showed up in front of us. A girl, much older than me with extremely pale skin, dark purple lipstick and black tattoos at the sides of her red eyes. Her hair was black and long with several curls falling over her face and around her eyes. She wore a red vest with black sleeves attached to it, a large purple ribbon around her neck with a bat emblem on top of it. Underneath the girl also had a frilly black gown, the bottom part of which was made from four reddish black batwings, two crossing over one another at her back, while the other two covered the side of her legs, but left the front mostly exposed. Her outfit finished with high-length black leather boots. Oh, there were also black cross earrings and a bat emblem on her left ankle.

The newcomer's face looked black, even lifeless. When I glanced into her eyes, all I saw were two red voids, it really creeped me out. She noticed us and walked closer, I instinctively took a step back, but Rocketeer's hand pulled me and we ended up walking over to her as well.

"Hey there, how are you doing, Ruby?" Rocketeer exclaimed with his usual lively attitude and big smile.

The woman just stared at him for a few moments, before turning toward me. I tried to not make any eye contact, but part of me was curious about this strange individual, so I still looked at her from the corner of my eyes.

"Who's that?" Ruby asked, lacking any emotion in her voice.

"A friend that I invited to come over here." Rocketeer replied. "Is there a problem with that?"

"Just keep an eye on her and don't let her roam around without an escort." What was that? Am I some sort of pet animal that I need people to follow me around?

"Don't worry, I will take care." Rocketeer reassure her with his big smile. "Also, you haven't forgotten about our private duel later, right?"

Ruby didn't answer back immediately, she looked around with her lifeless eyes for a moment. She pressed her thumb and index fingers together, I felt something very familiar about the way she was acting at the moment. The older girl didn't know how to answer the question without sounding rude toward Rocketeer and that seemed to be making her nervous. After a bit she shook her head and looked the male duelist in the eyes.

"I'm not sure if I will be able to make it." She responded in the same emotionless voice with which she stared the conversation and left.

"Who was that?" I asked after the creepy-looking girl disappeared from our view.

"That's Gloomy Ruby." Rocketeer told me. "She is a Charisma Duelist as well, but nowhere near the top places. We used to know her as Shinning Ruby, but after going to college she began to suffer from severe depression and wasn't the same ever after. Because of the change everyone began to call her Gloomy Ruby and a big portion of her fan base left her."

"That sounds horrible." I sighed, feeling bad for what must have happened to make her like this.

"Tell me about it." Rocketeer shook his head. "I used to be a very good friend with her before all of the bad stuff happened and it hurts me the most, because that's my friend suffering there. Unfortunately, there is little that one could do in cyber space to help someone whose problems resist in the real world."

I looked over at the robotic duelist once again. How could he kept such a big smile and positive aura even when his heart is hurting? Where did the strength to smile and kept on moving forward come from? I'm jealous of him for this sheer strength of will. For his determination to smile and make others smile even when in pain or sadness. Was that part of what it meant to be a Charisma Duelist, to put others before yourself and your own problems? It sounds like an impossible task for me, to be as selfless and noble as any of the duelists who had earned the right to reside in this majestic server.

"Enough negative emotions!" Rocketeer suddenly exclaimed, making me jump. "We came here to smile and have fun, so let's go on!"

I nodded and followed with him. After around five minutes of walking, the two of us reached the end of the corridor, which was a large white door that slides open. We walked past it and found ourselves in another room. This time it was much larger than the previous and had a more circular shape, with the duelists already inside. The first one was Blaze Rose and the other was a girl with long blue hair tied into two long strands with blue ribbons. Her eyes were blue and she had a green clover tattoo on her right cheek. Her outfit consisted of a white sleeveless shirt with a blue necktie. Underneath, she wears a blue and pink dress with wing-shaped frills, and dark blue thigh-high socks. As a final touch, she had a pair of white wings with pink heart-shaped patterns on them.

"And if that isn't a surprise." Rocketeer smiled and turned toward me. "Proxy, meet Blaze Rose and Blue Angel. Number 3 and 2 Charisma Duelists in LINK VRAINS."

Of course, I already knew who Blaze Rose was from our conversation not more than a few minutes ago, but the other girl caught my interest. As you might know, I had heard about her from users before and was interested in meeting her personally. She had a charming smile just like Rocketeer, nothing in common with the red counterpart that sat against her with a bored expression. Both girls turned to look at me and I waved at them a little awkwardly.

"I-it nice to meet you." I bowed to the two idols. "M-my name is Proxy."

"Hm, did you find a new friend, Rocketeer?" Blue Angel asked, standing up and walking over to me with a smile on her face. She took my hand and shake it. "Nice to meet, Proxy, Rocketeer already introduced me, but I'm Blue Angel."

"I-I know." I tried to give her a confident smile.

"What are you doing, getting outsiders in our server?" Blaze Rose asked angry. "This is a server for the top duelists of LINK VRAINS only, we don't need regulars like her running around."

"Jeez, can you not be rude for a moment, Red?" Blue Angel wagged a finger at Blaze Rose, scolding her, which, I have to admit, was very pleasing to watch. "We, Charisma Duelists are here to make the crowd happy, so don't be rude to the fans."

"Whatever, Blue." Blaze Rose rolled her eyes.

"So then," Blue Angel turned toward Rocketeer. "It isn't like you to bring other users here, so what's up?"

"Why must I be up to something?" Rocketeer titled his head to the side in confusion. I felt my cheeks getting warm again after Blue Angel said that he doesn't bring friends here often. "I got interested in her, she seems to have a bright future as a duelist, so I took her with me to show how much fun being a Charisma Duelist can be!"

"Is that so?" Blue Angel's smile widened a bit from that. "I won't mind helping you with that."

"You really are the best, Blue." Rocketeer laughed a bit. "But anyways, where is Go? I haven't seen him here lately despite him usually being very active."

"I don't know." Blue Angel sighed and turned back to look at one of the empty sofas in the room. "You know that the two of us aren't on close terms, so what he does outside of LINK VRAINS is a complete mystery for me just as it's for you."

"I hear him talking about dueling Playmaker lately." Blaze Rose just mentioned.

"Seriously?" Rocketeer facepalmed with a groan. "I just hope he isn't going to do anything crazy, but knowing Go, you should expect anything from him."

"That's not fair, I wanted to duel Playmaker as well." Blue Angel pouted. "I will have to get on it quickly, if I want to beat Playmaker first."

"Is there a duelist that doesn't want to beat Playmaker?" I laughed a little bit nervous about this question. It would be bad if they knew that I had some connection to the LINK VRAINS hero.

"Me." Rocketeer and Blaze Rose answer in unison. After that they glared at each other.

"Sheesh, you two are no fun." Blue Angel crossed her arms in disappointment. "Other users call him the strongest duelist in LINK VRAINS, don't you want to prove your skills by dueling him?"

"No, because he really isn't all that strong?" Rocketeer raised an eyebrow. "I know about duelists that are far stronger than him."

"I second that." Blaze Rose raised her hand to agree.

"I know, but they left!" Blue Angel shook her head. "They were my mentors as much as they were yours, but we are the ones standing here at the moment, not them!"

"I know that Blue, but Playmaker doesn't show up just because. He will come out only if there is a Knight of Hanoi, and as I saw the last time you tried to challenge him, that one just isn't interested in our affairs. If dueling him is so important for you, we will be supporting you, but that's just not in our interest." I glanced at Rocketeer, surprised by how calmly and collected he becomes when there is a serious topic. He's like a completely different person.

"It's your choice in the end." Blue Angel patted both on us on the shoulders before walking pass us. "I have to log out now, but I will see you two later. Bye, bye!"

Blue Angel winked at us and waved as her body began to slowly turn into pixels and disappeared. Rocketeer led me to the empty sofa and had me sit down with him joining a moment later. I felt nervous not because this was a completely new place for me, but also due to Blaze Rose staring at me from the other sofa, like she wanted to eat my soul or something. The three of us sat there in complete, awkward silence.

"So." Rocketeer cleared his throat. "Don't you have any duels or plans for today, Red?"

"Same goes back to you."

"I do have a plan for today. That's to spend the day with Proxy."

"Is that so?" I leaned back scared because the most unexpected thing happened and Blaze Rose actually smiled. But this wasn't a warm and genuine smile, but rather a more mischievous, maybe even sadistic one. "Come on, Rocketeer, you know that there is no point in trying to keep this a secret from me. Why did really you take this girl here? What's so special about her?"

"Jeez, you won't stop asking until I give you the answer you want, right?" Rocketeer rolled his eyes. "Fine then, she has a Gear deck."

"Seriously?!" Blaze Rose's eyes widened when she heard that.

"Absolutely."

I didn't dare to respond to them. Ever since I woke up and found my deck, I didn't think that there was anything special about it, and still don't. But if we all had a Gear archetype that couldn't be just a coincidence, right? Not to mention the angelic girl that saved me from the Knights of Hanoi, she had the word 'gear' in her deck's name as well.

"What's so special about Gear decks?" I finally asked. Rocketeer and Blaze Rose glanced at each other for a moment, then they turned toward me.

"The decks per say, have nothing abnormal about them." Rocketeer started. "I promised you to give the story behind our cards and why they are important anyways, so let's get to it."

"A few years ago, there used to be two great duelists. They were undefeatable, each of their duels breathtaking, and when they dueled together, it was an absolutely god-like image." While Rocketeer told his story, I noticed that Blaze Rose has learned forward to hear him better. Her eyes were burning with interest. "I had seen them win duel after duel, tournament after tournament, no one every coming close to defeat their impenetrable combos and powerful monsters. But being great duelists wasn't their only skill."

I looked down at my Duel Disk, already knowing where this story was going to go. These archetypes were created by them, weren't they? It would be ironic if my assumption was correct, because that would mean that I can't duel with a deck created by other duelists.

"Long ago, back when the wind blew strongly through LINK VRAINS, it's said that deep within the core of the cyber world resisted a hazard of data unlike anything seen before. It was wild, practically impossible to decode, nor understand. Well, not for these two legendary duelists it seems. It's said that they were the first ones who were able to travel to that place and tame the data, using it along with the data from their own decks in order to create cards with strength that was unseen before. As a result, they created six Gear Decks, each of which was based around one of the six attributes in the game."

"A-Amazing!" I shouted out, unable to keep down my astonishment after hearing about this achievement. "B-but is it possible a story like this to be true?"

"Of course!" Blaze Rose shouted, slapping the table that stood between our sofa and hers. "I and Rocketeer were the students of these legendary duelists! We witnessed their power first hand and earned a part of their strength!"

"So you know them?"

Blaze Rose retreated when I asked that question and lower her head. I turned toward Rocketeer, confused by the Charisma Duelist's reaction to my question, but he didn't look so happy about it either. His robotic hand squeezed into a fist, prompting me to crawl away from him.

"They abandoned us and disappear." He muttered, looking down at his own Deck. "The last thing they told us was how much of a disappointment were for them. We weren't worthy of the decks they gave us and all sorts of other things."

"Do you get it now?" Blaze Rose asked me. "Ever since that day, I swore to find and duel them to prove that they were wrong about the words they used."

"Y-yes, they had treated you horrible." I admitted.

"That's about is, but what's your story?" Blaze Rose asked me.

"What story?" I asked her, not understanding the meaning of her question.

"How did you obtain the deck?" She asked me again, her eyes turning to that angry look I remembered from before.

"I-I don't have one." I shook my head in disappointment. "T-truth is, I don't know how I ended in this city either! All I remember was having a normal live with my family and then- BOOM! I found myself in a hospital with this Duel Disk and deck. That's literally what happened, I'm not making it up!"

"People and cards don't pop out of thin air!" Blaze Rose shouted and I crawled back. "You are lying! This is obviously a lie! This there in your Duel Disk is a one of a kind deck! No one would kidnap you, drag you to this city, give you a Duel Disk with one of the rarest decks in existence and then walk away like nothing has happened!"

"I swear, that's the truth!" I exclaimed desperately.

"It's a LIE!"

"Shut it, Red!" Rocketeer suddenly stood up and pointed at the girl in front of him. "I took the girl here to help her relax, not to have you interrogate her! If you don't believe her, then it's your problem, not mine or hers! If you are so desperate for an answer, go and find the bastards that kicked us out, but don't take it out on her!"

"What are you? Her guardian angel?" Blaze Rose asked mockingly and stood up as well, staring into the boy's eyes. "You still own me that duel, so how about I kick your ass right here and now, huh? Then I will duel her too until she can't stand losing anymore and tells me the truth!"

"This is not the place, nor time, Red." I stared at Rocketeer in surprise at how quickly his calm self has returned. He didn't let Blaze Rose's provocation get the better of him and that alone was enough to earn prize from my point of view. "But if you want a duel, then fine, I will give you one just to shut you up. We will do it two days from now, you can choose the server on which we are going to duel."

Blaze Rose's eyes narrowed, then she nodded and turned around, leaving the room. At the door, she turned back and glanced at me one last time; I could see the anger still burning in her eyes. After the door closed and we remained the only two users in the room, Rocketeer took a deep breath and fell back down on the sofa, holding his robotic arm over his eyes. Great job Roxy, you got your only 'possible' friend into a fight with another user and probably got him to participate in a game that he would likely lose.

"I'm sorry." I whispered. My embarrassment from this situation was so big that I couldn't even get myself to speak in a normal tone. "All of this happened just because of me."

Rocketeer however removed his robotic arm and looked back at me, a happy, genuine smile written all over his face. It made me confused as to why he had such a positive atmosphere around him even at such bad times.

"It's not your fault." He told me and turned to look up at the wall. "Red would do anything to get a duel out of me, and that's why she suddenly became to blame you for lying. She knew that I wouldn't just stand there and watch, so she used the opportunity to get me fired up."

"It's still my fault." I gave Blaze Rose the situation that she needed in order to catch Rocketeer, so the mistake was on my side. "I should have lied and made up a more believable story to trick her first, but I didn't."

"I'm telling you, don't blame yourself for what happened. No matter what you have chosen to tell her, she would have still found a way to call you a liar, or something even worse. You did the right thing by being honest about what has happened and I appreciate that."

"T-thanks." I blushed a tiny bit from Rocketeer's reassuring words. "But what are you going to do now that Blaze Rose got what she wanted?"

"What every duelists would do in my position. I will face the challenge and give my best!" Rocketeer reassured me. "Although I wanted to do something for you than taking you to an empty white room."

"You already did too much for me." I told him. "But…"

"Yes?"

"All that you said made me wonder. Did you help me because of my Deck? Were you hoping to learn about the whereabouts of these legendary duelists?" I needed to know if that was how much I was worth…

"Of course not, silly!" Rocketeer laughed at me, making me feel more embarrassed. "Red is the one obsessed with them, I already moved on. The reason I became friend with you aren't the cards, but your heart."

"R-really?" This was the first time someone said something so nice about me. When the main topic of discussion were trading cards no less.

"Why would I lie to you?" He asked me back.

"I guess you wouldn't." It really was a stupid thought on my part.

"It makes me happy to know that you are trusting me." Rocketeer said, leaning back into the soft sofa.

"It makes me happy to know that there is someone I can trust." I replied and did the same thing as him. Not sure how a virtual sofa could feel so comfortable!

The two of us remained there for a while, until I closed my eyes and relaxed. I let all my negative emotions and problems just disappear for a while. Just so that I could smile again.

* * *

 **A/N: And so, another chapter without a duel. But anyways, this chapter focuses on Roxy and her interactions with other characters. I hope this chapter gave you all a better perspective on her character as well.**

 **If there is anything that I would say was a trouble making in this chapter, it would be the Charisma Duelists. Like, seriously, I went to the YGO wikia to get some better understand about how their group functions. Yet all I got were three sentences explaining that they are being watched by a crowd of people. Well, no sh*t Sherlock! So in the end, here is my idea about hwat Charisma Duelists are and how their 'system' functionates.**

 **Also, next chapter is finally going to have a duel and it's going to be between Playmaker and the mysterious Knight of Hanoi called Picaro! So stay tunned for that!**

 **Onto the next thing, big thanks to** shadosakushi **for following this story, I hope you like it.**

 **Response to** Guest **'s review: First yes, the main character's name is Roxanna, Roxy for short. Her online persona is called Proxy. About the grammar part, I don't know where my mistakes are, so if you would be kind enough to point them out, it would be a big help for me. Finally, I want to address the shipping part. I don't write romantic plotlines in my stories because, I really suck at them, BUT I'm a fan of AoixYusaku, so I might do it. But for the story that will follow the second season of VRAINS. In other words, it will take a while.**

 **Also a little response to** ThePLOThand **: I'm not telling you to stop listing the songs. If you like doing it, that's all that matters. But please try having some context in your reviews because otherwise they would be just spam.**

 **And that's all folks. Remember to Follow, Favorite, and most importantly, Review.**

 **Diabolic Tracer out!**


	9. Chapter 9

**On a second thought, given the kind of deck our 'villain' is using for this, I should have posted the chapter on 1st of April.**

* * *

To Embrace Destiny

 **Proxy's POV**

After the many encounters in the Charisma Duelists' private server, Rocketeer took me back to the city server where we could sit on the rooftop of a skyscraper and oversee the activities of other users. Data flowed through the sky, but no one dared to start a Speed Duel or just surf on it since SOL Technology had banned those activities and anyone who broke the rules would have their account erased. Now, I'm not sure how dangerous that could be for someone with connections to great hackers like Playmaker, but I preferred to not find that out.

"I can't explain it why, but standing in high areas like now, always makes my blood rush in excitement." Rocketeer told me, kicking his legs from the edge of the rooftop. "Maybe I'm just the weird one here, but I have always wanted to be a part of the wind. Stand in the sky over everything else."

"Perhaps the top is where you belong." I replied, looking at the red sky, without a sun to shine into my face it felt so fake and cold… "You are already one of the top Charisma Duelists and a very kind person, you deserve a reward for everything good you have done so far."

"Heh, you are just glorify me now." Rocketeer laughed, rubbing the edge of his nose. "There sure are greater people than me in the world. Compared to them, we are all just like tiny sparks of light within the night."

"But how many of them are spending their times watching over the users of LINK VRAINS like you do?" I asked back.

I don't mean to disrespect anyone, but even Playmaker – whom everyone calls the hero of LINK VRAINS - didn't speed nearly as much time in the cyber space as Rocketeer and the Charisma Duelists do. Sitting beside them for a whole day, I saw that they were the true string of hope for the users. Unlike Playmaker who put all of his attention and time on fighting the Knights of Hanoi, the Charisma Duelists stood beside everyone else, help them forget about the traumatic events and bring smiles to everyone's faces. They do it every single day, using all of their time to create new happy memories for the users, turning LINK VRAINS from a simple duel terminal into a warm and welcoming family.

"And how many are so nice and sweet talking like you?" Rocketeer turned the question back to me, making me blush once again. He did that so many times for a single day! "Heh, you can't answer because everyone here is unique. Because of that making comparisons between people based on their characters is unfair."

"Um, you always twist my words in order to avoid compliments!" I pouted at his attitude.

I always appreciated when someone told me that I did something good, even better than others, because this way I felt that my actions contained a sort of value. Lack of such motivation had caused me to drop my current projects more times that I would care to admit.

"Sorry, for that." Rocketeer smiled and slowly began to stand up. "I'm a guy of action that does what he finds right. Because of that kind words never had much signification for me."

"So, I never asked you, but do you have any sort of goal that you want to achieve?" I asked him, dusting my behind after sitting on the rooftop. In virtual reality clothes couldn't get dirty, but this was a habit of mine.

"I do." Rocketeer nodded and looked below, where the other users were talking and dueling. "I always wanted to find the Core of LINK VRAINS. The place that only my 'teachers' have been able to reach."

"Hm?" I looked at his surprised to hear that. Though remember him talking about this when telling me the story of the legendary duelists, it was unexpected to learn that it was his goal. "I thought you were over the past. Why do you want to go there?"

"It has nothing to do with the past or anything like that." He shook his head. "As I told you that place was rumored to be a hazard of data. The only area where the wind continued to blow after it disappeared from all other servers. It's the epicenter where the data's density is so high that the monsters living in the winds could materialize, take physical form and interact with outsiders! Unfortunately, no one tried to find that place. Not even SOL Technology were brave enough to try and tame the wildness that exist deep within their own network. I can understand them though. The core must be filled with Data Storms and dangerous creatures, exploring it would be a suicide mission."

"Then why do you want to find it?" If he knew about the dangers, shouldn't he be more hesitant to try and follow this goal of his?

"It's hard to try and explain to you everything right at the moment. Perhaps, the idea of unexplored land filled unknown dangers and a great adventure are what gravitate my interest toward that specific goal."

"I see…"

A long and dangerous adventure in the center of the whole network? I'm not going to lie that the idea isn't too appealing for me, but Rocketeer is a different type of person. He isn't grounded by fear or anxiety like me. Where those the type of goals that other people set before themselves? Do they set such high bars on purpose in order to overcome a really hard challenge?

There was an awkward silence between the two of us for a while. I was unsure what to say, we have known each other just for a few hours so there weren't many topics. Finally, Rocketeer broke the silence with a pretty interesting topic.

"You know, I wonder what your deck is like." He told me with a tiny smile.

"Hm, why?" I asked him.

"A deck and how he uses it are the most important part of a duelist. The deck reflects its user, their feelings and character. This is true for every duelist including us, the Charisma Duelists."

"Well, I'm not a dueling expect, but my BrioGear cards seem to focus on discarding and I don't tend to have a problem with putting multiple of my monsters on the field." I glanced at my Duel Disk once again, wondering what character profile these cards would make for me.

"Do their effects help each other?"

"Um, yes, I think so."

"Hm, then you are a very supportive person, but you have a problem with your self-esteem and self-worth, which is the reason you would 'discard' yourself to make others happier. Am I correct?"

"Y-yes." I nodded in response. "What about your deck then?"

"My deck consist of weaker monsters with a battle oriented play style." So, weak monsters that just charge right ahead? Sounds familiar. "They often let me summon other monsters upon taking damage from fights involving them as well."

"Sounds interesting." I stated.

Thinking back to my duel with Playmaker and the duel with Blaze Rose that I watched, this rule seemed to be true for them as well. Playmaker's Cyberse monsters all work together in a specially calculated pattern which makes them work together in order to achieve specific strategies, while Blaze Rose seems to use strength above everything else.

"Hey, what's that?"

The raise in volume of Rocketeer's voice forced me to put my current thoughts to the back of my head and focus at the area where he was pointing at. A few streets away from us was floating a man in white robes with a hood that looked very similar to… It was a Knight of Hanoi! I reached for my Duel Disk to inform Kusanagi, but then I stopped. Playmaker told me that he didn't need my help to learn when a Knight of Hanoi shows up. He didn't need my help and would probably show up very soon.

But even then, shouldn't I help as much as I could? If I don't act, innocent people would be hurt or even killed!

"Tch. That isn't a good sight at all." Rocketeer crossed his arms.

"I think we should get away from here." I suggested to him. "Those are the Knights of Hanoi, they are dangerous even if you don't duel them."

"I would love to see how they are going to deal with a hothead like me. Come on!" Rocketeer exclaimed jumping off the building.

"Rocketeer!" I exclaimed, seeing his body falling toward the hard ground below us.

Then a green D-Board with a black line in the middle shot through the data as he fell on top of it and speeded forward. I hesitated for a moment before jumping as well, landing on my own D-Board to follow him.

"W-what are you doing?" I looked at the boy, while also keeping my focus on avoiding a crash with a building.

"Protecting my home obviously." Rocketeer told me with a smile.

"That's dangerous!" I shouted after him. "Only Playmaker can successfully fight the Knights of Hanoi! What would happen to everyone's hope if you fall in a duel against them?!"

After I asked him this, something unexpected happened and he turned around to face me. His eyes were half closed and his charismatic smile turned down a bit, giving him a more harmonic expression. I wanted to tell him more, make him realize how dangerous it was to go after Hanoi, but my throat became tight from the way he was looking back at me. There was no anger, fear, or desperation in his eyes, in fact, there was a sense of enlightenment that I felt from watching him. It made me realized that my words, my attempts to discourage him from helping the ones he believes to be a family were not only awful, but that it wasn't him whom I tried to stop.

My legs trembled and it took a lot out of my courage to not just fall on my board as memories of all the times when I came in contact with a Knight of Hanoi resurfaced. I was trying to scare myself, turn back and run, because they were fearsome, they gave me nightmares, they made me feel defenseless. But I won't let the fear control me! I shook my head, ignoring that natural sense of dread that sent shivers down my spine.

Rocketeer moved his D-Board close to a rooftop and jumped on it with me following suit by landing on the next. I could catch a glimpse of the knight standing on a rooftop around a mile or so away from the one we were standing on top of. I turned toward Rocketeer who stood in place and narrowed his eyes. I could understand him, for a member cyber-terrorist group that knight seemed pretty pacific. Something was definitely wrong about him.

A blue portal filled with data appeared on the sky and a single figure flew out of it, landing to face the Knight of Hanoi. I couldn't see the new avatar clearly, but the red hair and dark outfit made it easy to identify Playmaker. The two seemed to stare at each other for a bit. Suddenly, the Knight of Hanoi's body became yellow and its proportions changed. It the avatar's place appeared a tan-skinned man with a bulky body, wearing a grey jacket. That's what I managed to make out from the distance between us. Playmaker didn't seem to be much interested, as turned around to leave, when a large cave fell from the sky!

An earthquake shook the ground under me as the huge metal cage with spikes all over it trapped me as well.

"Proxy!" Rocketeer shouted.

I turned toward him, but the building he was standing on was outside the trap, separating us one from another. I tried to log out or move to another server and then return outside the cage, but nothing seemed to work. Whoever had programmed the trap made sure that those caught wouldn't be able to get out!

"What is this?" I looked around.

"So that was Go's plan to lure Playmaker." Rocketeer crossed his arms then turned toward the man and Playmaker.

"Wait, the person there is Go Onizuka?" I asked him, looking at the two as well.

"Yep, that's him." Rocketeer sighed. "He has always been a more old-school type of person. Someone must have helped him to create this trap."

"The Knights of Hanoi maybe?"

"No. I know him personally. No matter what the reason why him to use such a low tactic, Go would never side with a group that hurts others, there is a third party involved. Perhaps those bastards from SOL Technology finally choose to get their hands dirty."

"Why would SOL Technology set a trap that hurts their users as well?" It made no sense to me. "How am I supposed to get out of this cage?"

Rocketeer raised his robot arm and a hologram disk came out of it, showing some data that I couldn't understand.

"The programming seems too complicated." He sighed and dropped his arm.

"Wait, you know how to hack?"

"Of course! Almost every user in LINK VRAINS knows how to program and hack." Rocketeer explained to me and turned away. "I will go search for a weak point in the cage. Just, stay here and be safe, ok?"

I nodded to him and Rocketeer jumped on his D-Board, speeding away. I sighed and turned back to Playmaker who now surfing through the data was locked in a Speed Duel with Go. I stepped closer to the edge and looked bellow me. Even if Playmaker said that he didn't need my help, he was currently caught in a trap.

But… I had no skills in neither programming, nor dueling. If I tried to join or do anything else, it would only make it harder for Playmaker, and probably me too if the media learns that we are partners of some sort.

"Jeez, the Number One doesn't know when to quit." I gasped at the new voice.

I turned to the side and saw a little boy sitting on a turbine vent with his legs crossed. His eyes were dark purple and his hair was black with dark purple edges and bangs. Its outfit was mostly black as well, with a black shirt that spotted several large purple lines on it, black pants with knee protectors, oversized sneakers. But the most prominent feature of its appearance - at least for me – was his large jacket that seemed more suitable for an adult that a 10-11 years old. It had a huge with what seemed to be cat ears designs twisted to look more like horns.

"Hey there!" the boy turned toward me and gritted, showing his teeth and the two fangs among them. A pair of black tails made from gears swayed behind his body.

"Um, hi." I waved at the boy and walked over to him. "Excuse me, but kids shouldn't hang on top of rooftops."

"Seriously?" the boy wrapped his arms around his sides as he laughed loudly. "You understand that this is virtual reality, right? We are all avatars that can be completely different from our real selves."

"S-sorry." Although that raised the question of why this user has chosen a kid for their avatar. "Um… so… You weren't here before so…"

"Don't push yourself to try and start a conversation with me." The boy told me. "Don't ask questions either. We are here to watch and wait for a specific event to happen."

"What?" I titled my head in confusion. This boy was very strange and he seemed to be avoiding saying specific things on purpose. "What do you mean by 'we'? Were you expecting me to show up?"

The boy's grin just turned wider as he began to kick his legs forward while watching Playmaker and Go. Both of them had two monsters on the field. Playmaker's were a man in a white robe and a man in a beast armor, while Go's were a blue, and green humanoid. The boy's grin became even wider and sparks of excitement seemed to spark inside his dark purple eyes the more it focused on the two duelists.

"Even as just a spectator you are so afraid from duels." I tensed up, from the boy's words. "You haven't used the tutorial have you?"

Ok, now that was just creepy! The boy appeared out of thin air, told me some strange things and then mentioned things that only I, Playmaker and Kusanagi should know about. Obviously, he was neither of us and that's what creped me out about this kid. His grin didn't fit the cute face, it wasn't innocent, more like, mischievous, maybe even evil-minded. The two tails kept swinging behind his back and the purple eyes didn't move to meet mine.

"W-who are y-you?" I tried to hide the fear in my voice, but it still make out in the form of shaking.

"Your friend is coming back, you should follow him." The boy gestured.

I turned toward where he pointed at as Go and Playmaker speeded past our building. The formed had three monsters: a green, a black, and one covered in fur with a huge axe while Playmaker had only the man in beast armor. As they passed us, I turned back to the boy, but he was no longer there. I glanced around, but the kid was completely gone, without a trace. I clenched my fist, thinking about the last thing he told me.

' _Your friend is coming back, you should follow him._ ' Did he mean Yusaku? Rocketeer wasn't back, so Playmaker could be the only person the boy would be referring to. I wouldn't want to follow the words of someone that suspicious, but… I don't know! If he wanted to diverse my attention to escape, the later part of the sentence was unnecessary!

"Here comes nothing…" I muttered and jumped on my D-Board, dashing after the two duelists.

While I couldn't tell what was happening, it appeared that Playmaker was at the disadvantage at the start of his turn. In a moment a strange creature with wings and a cute white robot appeared on his field, after that, he began to Link Summon. First came out a spider-like monster, then a white and grey robot with pinball bumpers on its shoulders, a female with a bee costume and finally, he summoned what seemed to be his ace; a knight in blue armor with a huge sword.

"The Link Monster?" I heard Go as the large man turned around to face Playmaker. "But they are no match for my Great Ogre's attack!"

"Our next battle will be the final one." My eyes widened as I heard Playmaker say that. He has collected all the pieces needed for his combo! "Go, Decode Talker!"

'He is attacking with a weaker monster?!' I thought to myself, watching the blue knight charge with its sword.

"You are attacking with a lower attack monster?" Yes, thanks for saying my thoughts out loud, Go!

"Since Decode Talker is equipped with Cyberse Annihilation, its attack becomes the same as its opponent's." Playmaker explained.

But wait, according to the rules, if two monsters with the same attack battle, they will both get destroyed. Even if that works out, Go would still have two Defense Position monsters to protect his life Points after the attack!

"Decode End!"

"Ogre Axe!"

The two monsters fiery attacked one another, their weapons slamming into each other, causing a shockwave as even electricity flew out of the attack. I saw how both Decode Talker and Great Ogre tried to push the other down with their attacks, despite being just holograms, the two were giving their all to defeat the other. In the end, the energy from their attacks blew them away from one another, knocking both monsters.

"My duel is only getting started!" Go exclaimed, his Great Ogre slowly getting back up.

"I expect no less." Playmaker replied, as Decode Talker shook its head and raised on its feet as well. "Due to Honeybot's effect, Decode Talker isn't destroyed in battle."

The bee-like woman gained a blue ring around her body with a red arrow pointing toward the blue knight, who took his sword and held it back up.

'So Playmaker attacked because his monster's effect would protect Decode Talker from destruction.' I thought, watching the two. 'But why wasn't Great Ogre destroyed, or does it have a protective effect as well?'

"Great Ogre's effect!" Oh, so Go would explain it for me? Thanks! "By destroying a monster that's linked to it, it can't be destroyed!"

I bite my lower lip while watching them duel. I remembered how when I dueled Playmaker he used similar effects to protect his monsters from destruction. Although I didn't understand the reason why he would attack a monster that can't be destroyed by battle, I at the very least understand what made those two such strong duelists. It wasn't just their strategies, but the way they protect and use their cards to their fullest potential. That's why Playmaker put Decode Talker in a zone where it couldn't use its effect as well. He had anticipated such an outcome!

"Your mutual destruction failed." Go pointed out as they surfed across the city.

"I wasn't aiming for mutual destruction. Link Bumper's effect!" My eyes widened as I looked at the red robot. "Decode Talker can attack for every Link Monster on my field!"

"T-three attacks!" I couldn't help but gasp as Decode Talker charged once again.

"Second attack! Due to Cyberse Annihilation, Decode Talker's attack becomes the same as Great Ogre's! Decode End!"

"Ogre Axe!"

The two monsters' attack collided for a second time, knocking them away again. This time, Go's green monster shattered to let his Great Ogre stand up again. On Playmaker's field, Honeybot's body glowed with a yellow aura as Decode Talker stood back up.

"Link Bumper's effect allows one final attack! Decode Talker attacks Great Ogre! Cyber Annihilation's effect! During damage calculation, my monster's attack becomes the same as his opponent's!" I sweat-dropped when Playmaker began to explain the same effects once again.

"Go, Decode Talker! Decode End!"

"Great Ogre! Ogre Axe!"

The two monsters flew at each other again, throwing their weapons behind their backs, they slashed at each other with all of their strength. Their movements stopped as both Decode Talker and Great Ogre stood there, after their attacks connected. A few moments later, Go's monster fell down while Playmaker's remained up.

"Due to Honeybot's effect, Decode Talker isn't destroyed!"

"Great Ogre's effect!" Go continued, even though his field was absolutely empty. "When it's destroyed by battle, I can destroy a linked card instead to-! Oh no!"

"You have no monsters left to sacrifice. Therefor Great Ogre is destroyed." Playmaker pointed out, as Go's monster began to break down from the damage it took. "Cyber Annihilation's effect activates! When your monster is destroyed in battle, you take damage equal to its attack!"

The Spell appeared beside Playmaker and fired a blast at Go, knocking the opponent off his D-Board with a scream as his Life Points were reduced to 0, ending the duel! The cage that imprisoned us got lifted up, but I could only focus at Playmaker and stare in awe to his skills. Though this wasn't the right situation to say that, I was grateful that I was able to see this duel.

"What are you doing here?"

"Huh?" My thoughts returned back to reality as Playmaker slowed down to surf next to me. "H-hi there!"

"I asked what you are doing here." Playmaker repeated, narrowing his eyes at me.

"Um, I told you that I will help you to find Knights of Hanoi." I reminded him. "I'm here doing my end of the deal!"

"I told you that you don't need to get involved. We got it." He told me coldly.

"Jeez, is it possible for you to get anymore dislikeable from girls?" Ai suddenly spoke out, staring at Playmaker. "Why don't you let the girl just help you, or is Playmaker's pride too thick to accept a helping hand from a girl?"

"Nobody asked you for an opinion." Playmaker hissed at his Duel Disk, then turned toward me. "The fight against the Knights of Hanoi aren't your responsibility, so don't get in danger because of it!"

"B-but I learned so much from your duel!" I said back to him. "Watching your duel with Go taught me a lot about proper strategy and how to use my cards more effectively!"

"Yeah, watching your dueling might help teaching her." The Ai added.

"I told you to shut up!" Playmaker raised his voice at the A.I. "I said no! We are logging out right now!"

"Hey, Playmaker!"Ai shouted.

"I told you to shut it!"

"But-"

"Look out!" I yelled as a black energy beam came out of nowhere and hit both of us.

* * *

 **3** **rd** **POV**

A purple explosion took both Playmaker and Proxy by surprise, throwing them off track! The Hero of LINK VRAINS caught the edges of his D-Board, holding on it, while his female companion could only helplessly stretch out her arm as the homing beam knocked her off the board and send her flying straight into a building. Holding his chest and gritting teeth in order to contain the pain, Playmaker slowly raised his head to look at the source of the attack.

Flying in front of him was a giant purple dragon without legs and large horns coming from the heavy scales that covered its body. On top that behemoth of a dragon stood the image of the demonic knight that the Knights of Hanoi referred to as Picaro. The duelist held his arms crossed and his helmet hide any facial expression that he might have been making at the moment.

"Why did you warn me about the attack?" Playmaker demanded an answer from his Ai.

"What?!" Ai glower in response. "I was just about to warn you, but you told me to shut up! You hurt my fragile feelings with those cold words."

"So the great Playmaker, the man who creature so much trouble for the Knights of Hanoi, spends his time dueling weaklings and arguing with an A.I.? Who would have guessed?" Picaro laughed. "I should have let the regulars take care; you aren't anywhere near my class."

"Do you sense that as well?" Ai asked his partner. "That guy stinks of Hanoi."

"There is no Hanoi in his deck though." Playmaker narrowed his eyes.

"Stink of Hanoi you say? What are you, a computer program of a dog?" Picaro mocked them, then leaned forward and rested his arm on the knee. "Actually, I take my question back, you two are definitely just dogs that can only bark."

"Hey! Who are you calling a dog?!" Ai protested. "Playmaker, go kick his ass!"

Playmaker narrowed his eyes, dealing with that piece of data that resided inside his Duel Disk was getting more troublesome with every hour. Unlike the Ai, he was far more collected and always calculated his moves two steps ahead before taking action. But the duelist before him was a Knight of Hanoi, so there was little of a choice for him. He had to defeat the man before him. He had to defeat every Knight of Hanoi that stood in his path in order to get revenge for the past they stole from him.

"Heh, it would be so easy for me to just obliterate you right where you stand, but my leaders need that A.I. you got there, so I'm going to take you out in a duel first." Picaro said, raising his arm.

The behemoth of a dragon raised its head and roared, its body dispersing into data that was then absorbed inside the demonic knight's Duel Disk. With nothing to stand on now, Picaro fell toward the ground. He reached out with his demonic claw and a portal opened behind him, a shield shaped D-Board flew through the air and he landed on top of it.

Playmaker turned back toward Proxy, who was slowly beginning to move inside the crater that her impact caused. The girl groaned in pain and held her head, trying to comprehend what just transpired. Her warm pale blue eyes meeting Playmaker's cold green ones for a moment.

"Log out and leave this to me." Playmaker ordered her before speeding off down the data with Picaro following after him.

Proxy gritted her teeth, feeling the pain running through her body. She had to log out, her condition wasn't perfect. But she didn't want to leave this fight. As Rocketeer had told her, this was their second home, the users in LINK VRAINS were their second family, and because of the thought of that, she couldn't let the Knights of Hanoi to invade her home and hurt her family! Even if not as a duelist, she wanted to support Playmaker in his fight, to be there and watch him!

For the first time, there was no doubt in her mind. Her heart was filled with fear of the Knights, but she suppressed it like a hollow screams and jumped on her own D-Board to follow the two duelists. She didn't notice the boy from before sitting on top a rooftop and watching all three of them going out of his view with a mischievous smile on his little face.

* * *

"You took quite a lot of damage during the duel with Go Onizuka." Ai pointed out. "In addition to that, you took damage by that guy's awesome dragon, so your body is at its limits."

"I will simply defeat him without taking too much damage." Playmaker stated, surfing in front of his opponent.

"It's not that simple!" Ai exclaimed angrily. "Even if you don't run out of Life Points completely, anything near 1000 Life Points would be dangerous for your health! This means that you won't be able to use Storm Access without putting your own life on the line!"

"I don't care if it's to beat the Knights of Hanoi."

"Are you serious?!"

"Heh, you are using some big words for a loser." Picaro told the other duelist. "I would have appreciated your courage, but I'm not that type of person."

"And I'm not the type that loses." Playmaker responded. "Let's duel!"

"I was starting to get bored waiting for you to say that."

"Speed Duel!"

 **『** **Playmaker LP: 4000 Hand: 4 (VS) Picaro LP: 4000 Hand: 4** **』**

"Since you are faster than me, I give you the first turn!" Picaro exclaimed, catching his opponent by surprise.

"To let his opponent take the first move, this is a first for a Knight of Hanoi." Ai narrowed its eye.

"He isn't like the others." Playmaker stated. "This one has far more experience. He even used my duel with Go Onizuka as an advantage to catch me when I'm not in my best."

"That's why he attacked you out of nowhere! He cheated!" Ai gasped.

"It matters little now." Playmaker looked back at his opponent. "I Summoned Cyberse Wizard (Lv.4, ATK: 1800) and set a card, ending my turn."

"You simply summoned a monster and set a card." Rocketeer stated, speeding past Playmaker. "Your starting turns are always slow and serve as set up for your later combos. So predictable! My turn!"

 **『** **Turn 2 [Picaro] LP: 4000 Hand: 5** **』**

"First, I will play the Spell Card, _Unexpected Dai_! If I control no monsters, this effect lets me Special Summon one Level Four or lower Normal Monster from my Deck!" Rocketeer stated, as a blue portal appeared next to him and a yellow monster with large red lips and antennas appeared on his field. "Come, _Thunder Kid (Lv.2, DEF: 600)_!"

"Eeeeeeehhh?!" Ai exclaimed. "He uses a deck of Normal Monsters?"

"I don't see a point in carrying about that when I'm going to just use them as materials!" Picaro took another card from his hand and played it. "Then I play _Hand Destruction_! We send two cards from our hands to the Graveyard and then draw two new ones!"

"What's the point in that?" Ai looked up to Playmaker.

LINK VRAINS' hero didn't respond. He send two cards from his hand to the Graveyard and drew to replace them. So far, Picaro's dueling seemed random, he couldn't pin down what the strategy behind it was.

" _Dandylion_ 's effect activates from the Graveyard! When send to the Graveyard, it Special Summons two _Fluff Tokens (Lv.1, DEF: 0)_!" Picaro raised his arm and it glowed, summoning two flowers.

"Open, circuit of storming wind!" Several streams of data shot from Picaro's hand and opened a circuit in the sky. "Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are Two WIND monsters. I set the two _Fluff Tokens_ in the Link Markers! Circuit combine! Link Summon! Strom through our enemy, _Greatfly (ATK: 1400, LINK-2)_!"

"Just a Link 2 monster?" Ai looked in confusion at the monster.

"While _Greatfly_ is on the field, all WIND monsters gain 500 attack and defense points." The two monsters that Picaro controlled glowed as their ATK and DEF raised to 1900 and 1100 respectively.

"I Summon _Mauled Captain (Lv.1, ATK: 400 → 0)_ next." A warrior with broken armor and swords stepped next to the other monsters. "Using its effect, I Special Summon _Bat (Lv.1, DEF: 350 → 850)_ from my Graveyard!"

"Another weak monster appeared on the field." Ai sighed

"Open again, circuit of storming wind!" Picaro summoned the circuit once again. "Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are two or more monsters with different names. I set the Link-2 _Greatfly_ , _Mauled Captain_ , _Thunder Kid_ and _Bat_ in the Link Markers! Circuit combine! Link Summon! The chained beast of destruction! _Chained Dragon Serpent - Skull Dead (ATK: 2800, LINK-4)_!"

Thunders fell from the sky, hitting the rooftops of buildings as a dragon made from skeletons with chains all around its body flew on the field and roared.

"A scary dragon appeared!" Ai cried out.

"When _Chained Dragon Serpent - Skull Dead_ is Special Summoned using 4 monsters with different names, I draw 4 cards!" Picaro stretched out his claw, summoning four cards over it. "Then I return three to the bottom of my deck."

"He went through all this trouble to summon this monster for the draw effect." Playmaker muttered to himself.

"My strategy isn't over with just so much." Picaro stated. "I play the Spell, _Dragon's Mirror_ next! I banish _Thunder Kid_ and _Bat_ in my Graveyard to Fusion Summon!"

The spirits of Picaro's two monsters came out of the Graveyard and flew next to one another, opening a multicolored vortex. The demonic knight put his arms together in front of his chest.

"Summoning conditions are two Normal Monsters. I use _Thunder Kid_ and _Bat_ as Fusion Materials! Fusion Summon! Level 9! _First of the Dragons (Lv.9, ATK: 2700)_!"

Wind burst through the sky, a monster with the size of a behemoth came out of the Fusion portal and roared. Its body was purple and lacked legs. The dragon had large horns coming from the heavy scales that covered its body.

"That's the amazing dragon from before!" An alarmed Ai pointed out.

Playmaker looked at the huge beast, meeting it for the second time in such a short period of time. He expected it to appear during some time in the duel, but he didn't have anything to counteract it with. Playmaker turned his attention toward Picaro. The demonic knight caught his attention quite a bit with the moves that he made so far. This duelist's style was much too different from the usual Knight of Hanoi duelists that he had faced so far. It was a polished and analytic style like his own, but with several important differences: Picaro's dueling was fast paced, throwing his biggest moves at the start of the duel. He was also able to refresh his arm and still had half of his hand even after calling out two monsters with difficult summoning conditions, so he was good at managing his resources.

"Under normal circumstances, when a monster is summoned next to _Chained Dragon Serpent - Skull Dead_ 's link, that monster gains 300 attack. However, due to _First of the Dragons_ ' own effect, it's unaffected by other monsters and can't be destroyed in battle except if the other monster is a Normal Monster."

"This deck I build is a mess." Picaro exclaimed, drawing his opponent's attention. "It relies too much on weak Normal Monsters and discarding in order to function properly. But it has to be expected. I build this deck to counter your own strategy that focuses on randomness!"

"Hm? What does he mean, Playmaker?" Ai asked.

"Due to the build of my deck it's hard for my opponents' to read its strategy and how to counter it." Playmaker explained. "What he's saying is that I won't be able to properly analyze his deck and build a counter against it."

"Wwwwhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaattttt?!" Ai yelled.

"Next, I will equip _Dragon Treasure_ to _First of the Dragons_ , raising its ATK and DEF by 300!" A green ball of a laughed face appeared on the dragon's chest, making its body slightly bigger. "I set a card. Now, battle! _First of the Dragons_ , attack _Cyberse Wizard_! Primal Firestorm!"

The dragon swirled in the air, its chest and neck glowing as flames were accumulated inside its body. The beast opened its mouth and released a wave of flames that engulfed the magician who cried out in pain.

 **『** **Playmaker LP: 4000 – 1** **2** **00** **2** **8** **00** **』**

"I activate _Cyberse Beacon_!" Playmaker threw his arm forward as the trap glowed. "When I take damage, this trap lets me add a Level Four or lower Cyberse monster from my deck to the hand! I add _Lockout Gardna_!"

"Heh, pointless struggle." Picaro smirked, gesturing toward his Link Monster. " _Chained Dragon Serpent - Skull Dead_! Attack Playmaker directly and end this duel!"

The second dragon threw its head back, the eye socks on his skeleton armor glowing green, until it fired a black mist directly at Playmaker.

"That's what I waited for!" Playmaker exclaimed. "When my opponent declares a direct attack, _Lockout Gardna (Lv.3, ATK: 1000)_ Special Summons itself from the hand in attack position!"

A heavy red machine formed in front of Playmaker, pushing the mist away. The green light disappeared from Picaro's monster.

"Hm, _Lockout Gardna_ can't be destroyed by battle during the turn in which it's Special Summoned." Picaro looked the effect on the screen coming from his claw. "If I continue the attack, you will have 1000 Life Points left. Planning to use Storm Access, eh? I end my turn here!"

"This Knight of Hanoi isn't a joke, Playmaker. Playmaker?" Ai looked at the duelist curiously.

It was hard to notice it unless someone was standing next to him, but Playmaker's body had started to give up from the damage it took until now. His breathing became heavier and his shoulders dropped just a bit.

"You look bad." Ai pointed out.

"I can still duel." Playmaker replied, putting a hand on top of his deck. "My turn. Draw!"

 **『** **Turn 3 [Playmaker] LP: 2800 Hand: 3** **』**

"I Normal Summon _Cyberse Gadget (Lv.4, ATK: 1400)_!" A white, blue and red robot appeared on Playmaker's field and outstretched its arm, opening a portal next to itself. "When _Cyberse Gadget_ is I can Special Summon a Level 2 or lower monster from my Graveyard in Defense Position. Come back, _Stack Reviver (Lv.2, DEF: 600)_!"

One of the cards that Playmaker send to the Graveyard by the effect of _Hand Destruction_ returned back beside him as a monster.

"Three effect monsters?" Picaro stated, his voice sounding excited. "So your ace monster is coming!"

"Appear, the circuit that leads to the future!" Playmaker threw his arm forward and fired a stream of electricity, opening the circuit. "Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are at least two Effect Monsters. I set _Cyberse Gadget_ , _Stack Reviver_ and _Lockout Gardna_ in the Link Markers! Circuit combine! Link Summon! Link 3, _Decode Talker (ATK: 2300, LINK-3)_!"

Playmaker's ace, a black humanoid with purple stripes and blue armor covering most of its body appeared on the field, holding its large sword with both hands.

"With Decode Talker on our field we have nothing to fear!" Ai exclaimed triumphantly.

"When used as Link Materials, the effects of both _Cyberse Gadget_ and _Stack Reviver_ activate!" Playmaker continued. " _Cyberse Gadget_ Special Summons a _Gadget Token (Lv.2, DEF: 0)_. _Stack Reviver_ revives _Lockout Gardna (Lv.3, DEF: 1000)_!"

Picaro looked at the field from his Duel Disk. _Chained Dragon Serpent - Skull Dead_ was in the right Extra Monster Zone, while _Decode Talker_ was in the left with the token under it. _First of the Dragons_ and _Lockout Gardna_ were in the middle. Due to the Speed Duel's field, Playmaker could only use point with one of _Decode Talker_ 's arrows toward a monster on his field.

"Decode Talker's effect activates! While he points at a monster, he gains 500 ATK! P _ower Integration_!" The knight raised his sword, which began to glow, increasing his strength.

 **Decode Talker, ATK: 2300 + 500 →** _ **2**_ **800**

"Our monster still isn't strong enough to take the dragons out!" Ai panicked.

"Appear, the circuit that leads to the future!" Playmaker gestured forward. "Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are at two Cyberse Monsters. I set _Gadget Token_ and _Lockout Gardna_ in the Link Markers! Circuit combine! Link Summon! _Flame Administrator (ATK: 1200, LINK-2)_!"

A heavy red, orange and yellow robot came out of the portal, floating behind Decode Talker. Flames formed in its palms, then it drew them at the blue knight, giving him a red aura.

"While _Flame Administrator_ is on my field, all of my Link Monsters gain 800 ATK!" Playmaker explained, both of his monsters clenching their fists tightly at the surge of power that passed through their bodies.

 **Decode Talker, ATK: 2800 + 800 →** _ **36**_ **00**

 **Flame Administrator, ATK: 1200 + 800 → 2000**

"I set a card. Now, let's battle! Decode Talker, attack _Chained Dragon Serpent - Skull Dead_! Decode End!" The monster readied its blade and charged forward, the dragon firing its black mist in response.

"Is that it?" Picaro shrugged at the attack. "All you are good at is forcing your monster to swing its sword around. But has anyone used a quality card like this one to stop you before? I play the Counter Trap, _Negate Attack_! As the name suggest, it negates _Decode Talker_ 's attack and forces your Battle Phase to end."

"But in a Speed Duel after the Battle Phase follows…" Ai began.

"The End Phase." Playmaker muttered. "His card practically skipped our turn."

"A hero you are! I played you from the start and you still hadn't understand the difference in skills between someone like you and me! You are pathetic!" Picaro laughed.

'He is not only blocking Playmaker's moves, but also making fun of him.' Proxy thought as she followed the two duelists.

"Tell me, isn't it embarrassing to have your deck losing against a trash that I build within five minutes?" Picaro turned back to look at Playmaker and clenched his fist. "Being outshined by an unfocused set of Normal Monsters with two decent boss monsters must be very painful truth to swallow, huh? Today I'm not just going to defeat you, but also shame you in front of the whole network! Everyone will see their hero, their beacon of hope not only lose a duel, but to a pill of trash as well! I will show them that you, Playmaker, aren't even worth half the useless junk I filled this deck with!"

Playmaker didn't respond to the insults that his opponent was throwing. Analyzing and strategizing were his best skills, so he used them to concentrate on coming with a counter-strategy for next turn. Although his cold expression didn't show it, Playmaker felt insulted to have his deck called trash.

"It's time to end this, don't you think?" Picaro asked, drawing a card. "My turn!"

 **『** **Turn 4 [Picaro] LP: 4000 Hand: 1** **』**

"Perfect!" Picaro exclaimed, looking at the card he added to his hand. "I activate my skill! _**Extreme Link**_!"

The demonic knight raised her claw, several green lines appearing all over it along with runes that wrote themselves over his back as well.

"By discarding a Monster Card I can target 1 Link Monster on my field! This turn, one monster it points to can attack a number of times equal to its Link Ratting, but in return, other monsters can't declare an attack! I target _Chained Dragon Serpent - Skull Dead_ and _First of the Dragons_ four attacks! Go!" the dragon opened its mouth and fired a new barrage of flames at Playmaker and his two monsters.

"I activate Three Strikes Barrier!" Playmaker gestured to his side, a Trap Card materializing where his hand pointed at. "When you control exactly three cards, I can choose one of three effects and apply it!"

"Ha, if you use the first effect, our monsters will be safe for the turn!" Ai pointed out.

"I activate the second effect!" Playmaker said. "I take no damage from battle during this turn!"

"If you listened to your A.I., I would have just attacked _Flame Administrator_ three times for three thousand damage." Picaro crossed his arms. "It would have been the less painful end for you, but as you choose. _First of the Dragons_ , annihilate _Flame Administrator_!"

The dragon's flames hit the red robot straight, carving a hole through its chest. The monster only groaned as its body exploded and the shockwave pushed Playmaker back, knocking him on his knee in pain.

"W-what happened?!" Ai looked worried at his partner.

"Did I forget to mention it?" Picaro gestured with his claw at the purple dragon. "I hacked my monster's data to make any attack it declares to inflict physical damage, even if your effects negate it!"

"That's cheating!" Ai yelled.

"Not if it doesn't affect the duel's result. Playmaker is still going to lose, but the agony that he is going to go through is only going to be increased and made several times worse! Since _Flame Administrator_ was taken out, _Decode Talker_ 's attack returns to its base value!"

The blue knight's sword stopped to glow and it leaned forward, feeling his strength being literally drained out of his body.

 **Decode Talker, ATK: 3600 – 500 - 800 →** _ **23**_ **00**

"Second attack!" Picaro shouted. "Obliterate his ace!"

The dragon flew over Decode Talker and fired a stream of molten lava at it, melting the blue knight away. Some of the flames hit Playmaker on the chest and shoulders, causing him to scream in intense pain.

"Third! Direct attack!"

 _First of the Dragons_ opened its mouth as wide as possible releasing yet another wave of fire, but this time straight into Playmaker's body. Despite the agonizing pain, the hero of LINK VRAINS tried to fight the attack, but it was just too strong and send him flying back with the flames, crashing through the window of a building and slamming into a wall. The fire dispersed itself, allowing Playmaker to take a step forward, before completely collapsing on the floor without a sound. Picaro flew in front of the window with his dragons and gestured toward the fallen body.

"Learn to fear the might of the Knights of Hanoi! Fourth attack! Finish this fool!"

"Noooooooooo!" Proxy flew past the demonic knight and jumped in front of Playmaker, standing there like a shield for him. "He is down!"

"A duel isn't over until the last Life Point is spent!" Picaro shouted and his dragon unleashed another barrage of flames, but this time toward two people instead of just one. Proxy closed her eyes and prepared to fell an unimaginable amount of pain as the attack came closer and closer to her.

"How boring." The boy muttered, watching everything from the building opposite to the one in which Playmaker and Proxy were. The boy raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

A blue clock gear formed in front of Proxy, taking a more humanoid form. _Grand Ranger Serene_ stood in front of the two duelists and faced the wall of fire that came her way. The Duel Monster raised her right fist and slammed it into the ground, cracking it as a blast of water raised in front of her like a wall, negating the hellish flames.

"BrioGear." Picaro muttered.

"What's that?" Ai asked.

Proxy waited for a bit, but she felt no pain or anything like that. Slowly, and very precariously she opened her eyes and saw her own monster standing between them and Picaro's dragons. _Grand Ranger Serene_ stared forward, awaiting a second attack to follow, but Picaro had already used all of his monster's attacks, so her owner and Playmaker were both save.

"That's my monster." Proxy muttered, looking up at the warrior with sparks in her eyes.

 _Grand Ranger Serene_ slowly lowered her head and the blue gear appeared behind her once more, sucking her back inside the girl's Extra Deck. This was quite the miraculous display that they all witnessed and no one dared to say a word after it ended. Ai was dumbfound about how a Duel Monster could overwrite the coding and come out of the Deck on its own; or maybe something else had done that. Proxy's eyes were glowing with awe from her own monster's display. It was a completely new level of weird for her, but this miracle saved both her and Playmaker's lives so she was thankful for that. Picaro on the other hand gritted his teeth behind his knight helmet and his human hand clenched into a fist.

"So, yours is the water gear." He muttered quietly to himself, then turned to address the girl herself. "I don't know what happened, but get out of my way! This is a duel between me and Playmaker!"

"Playmaker!" Hearing this name caused Proxy to snap back to reality.

She turned back to the collapsed body and kneeled next to him, put her hands on his shoulder, she shook him a bit, but nothing happened. Playmaker was out cold and Ai's single eye was staring at the motionless body in concern.

"He is not waking up!" Proxy exclaimed, equally worried.

"His body was already worn out from his duel with Go and the surprise attack that followed." Ai responded. "I told him that if he took anywhere near three thousand damage, his body would most likely get damaged beyond repair. Right now, due to that bastard's hack he took four thousand and seven hundred damage! It's a miracle that Playmaker is still alive."

"What?" Proxy's eyes widened. She moved her trembling hands away from the body and to her mouth, covering it as tears began to form in her eyes.

"If we take him out of VRAINS soon, I could repair the damage and have him come out without any lasting effects!" Ai exclaimed, turning its attention toward Proxy. "But due to that Hanoi cheater, I'm unable to log him out!"

"Hm, if Playmaker can't continue the duel then wouldn't that technically be a victory for me?" Picaro asked, putting his hands to rest on his hips. "You Ai won't be able to save it because I'm taking you in!"

"Wait!"

Behind Picaro's mask, his eyes could be seen to widen as Proxy stood up and turned to face him. He wasn't worried because of that, knowing that his dueling skills were superior to hers. But there was something in her that awoke the fear inside of his heart. Her eyes, they were filled with determination! Despite her obvious disadvantage, the girl was standing her ground, whole body trembling from fear but declining to stand back and let Hanoi win. She clenched her fist and raised her Duel Disk.

"I will finish the duel in Playmaker's place!" She declared.

"Oh?" Picaro titled his head to the side in amusement from the response he got. "If you want to be burned to ashes by my dragons so badly, you could have stopped your monster from blocking my attack earlier!"

"I'm not going to lose." Proxy stated.

"Tch, fine. Entertain me!" Picaro flew back, opening her path to go. "You will get to use Playmaker's Graveyard and the same hand size as the one he had before passing out"

"That's a bad idea!" Ai shouted after Proxy. "Your dueling skills aren't nearly enough to hold your back against such a vicious opponent!"

"I know." Proxy whispered, turning back to look at the A.I. with a smile on her face. "But I can't just stand back watching my friends getting hurt."

"If you say so." Ai sighed and data ran through its eye.

The cards in Playmaker's deck began to glow and then flew out, entering Proxy's Duel Disk, so fast that the girl was only able to catch a glimpse of Decode Talker. Once the transfer was compete, her disk burst to life.

"Pray that I win." Proxy told the Ai and jumped out of the building.

"A.I.s don't pray!" Ai shouted after her, but then sighed as it was pointless anyways.

* * *

 **Proxy's POV**

After Ai transferred all of the cards that Playmaker used so far to me, I ran out of the building and landed on my D-Board speeding forward. How stupid did I have to be to challenge a Knight of Hanoi to duel! No less than that, Playmaker and Ai's future was bet on the result. If I lost, both of them were going to lose their lives as well. All because of me…

"Are you going to duel or just stand there and tremble like a leaf in a storm!" Picaro shouted from behind me, followed by his dragons.

The dragons that took down Playmaker… Don't think about that! But then, the only card that I had in my hand was a Level 3 BrioGear with an effect that wanted me to throw a dice!

"It's all up to this draw." I whispered, putting him hand on top the deck. I would need all the luck and destiny nonsenses in order to get a good card, or Picaro would destroy me next turn. "My turn!"

 **『** **Turn 5 [Proxy] LP: 2800 Hand: 2** **』**

I looked at the card that I drew and my eyes widened; it was _Monster Reincarnation_. Why? Why did I draw the card that Elizabeth gave me right now! I needed a card that would help me win, not this! I have been betting the futures of three souls on this draw, so why did you fail me?

 _"I noticed three big weaknesses in your dueling. First, you don't know what you deck does. I noticed that there were several times during the duel in which you were just lost at what to do and took a lot of time to think about your moves."_

My eyes widened as the familiar memory of Playmaker lecturing me after our duel resurfaced to the top of my mind.

"Second, you don't believe in your deck. You don't thrust in the capabilities that your deck has and that usually leads to you making mistakes while trying to play safer."

I looked down at my deck and then back to _Monster Reincarnation_. The card wasn't just a part of my deck, it had Elizabeth's spirit and thrust in me put inside of it. Her spirit, my best friend's spirit, was a part of this deck as well!

" _Third, you don't trust in your own skills as a duelist, so even if you had the skills of a professional duelist, you wouldn't be able to go far without confidence._ "

Could the answer be already in my hand? I looked at my cards once again, but there wasn't much that I could… Wait! Yes! I could see it! There was a combo able to win this duel!

"I Normal Summon _**BrioGear Freakiver**_!" I announced placing the card on my disk's blade.

A heavy rusted diver suit appeared on my field with an agonizing moan. Parts of its body were broken with gears stabbed through it, while other parts revealed decaying purple skin underneath. The glass of its helmed was broken, showing the disgusting face of the corps inside. Its mouth moved to form a smile as a hollow laugh passed its spiked teeth.

* * *

 **BrioGear Freakiver**

 **Level:** **3** **/Attribute: WATER/Type:** **Zombie** **/Effect**

 **ATK:** **11** **00/DEF:** **13** **00**

 **Effect:** **When this card is Summoned you can roll a six-sided dice. Reveal cards from the top of your Deck equal to the roll and send a "BrioGear" card you revealed to the GY, then add 1 of the revealed WATER monsters to your hand.**

* * *

"I activate Freakiver's effect!" I exclaimed as two gears going through one another appeared in the monster's hands. "I roll a six-sided dice and reveal a number of cards from the top of my Deck equal to the number rolled!"

The gears my monster held began to spin along with the dice. Freakiver threw it in front of us, breaking the gear, as roll stopped on 4.

"Yes!" I took the top four cards on my deck and looked at them. "Let's see… Um…"

It was a hard choice, because I got _Deep Sea Diva_ and two other monsters along with a trap named Eisbahn. _Deep Sea Diva_ and the trap would be pointless, I knew that much, but the other two were a Level 7 and Level 3 monsters respectively and since I already used my Normal Summon this turn, I won't be able to call them out anyways. But that doesn't matter! I have to use my deck as it's intended to be used, not the way others use their own decks.

"…I will add _**BrioGear Flyoat**_ to my hand and because a BrioGear was revealed, I send… _**BrioGear Sea Snake**_ to my Graveyard." At the end, I added the Level 7 monster to my hand and returned the remaining two cards into my deck.

"Level 7 monsters need two tributes in order to be summoned." Picaro stated. "Choosing that card over the others has just set the outcome of your defeat in stone!"

"You are wrong!" I shouted back at him and grabbed the top cards of my deck. "When Sea Snake is send to the Graveyard by the effect of a BrioGear card, I draw two cards and then discard one! The one I choose to discard is _Cryo Raptor_ , which lets me Special Summon a level two or lower BrioGear from the Deck!"

"And what's that going to do?"

"I use the effect to Special Summons _BrioGear Pale Crawfish_ _(Lv.2, DEF: 600)_!" A white, humanoid Crawfish appeared on my field, standing beside Freakiver, while I prepared my next move. "Afterward, _Pale Crawfish_ 's effect adds another copy of itself to my hand when it's summoned."

"Three card effects later you were only able to get yourself such a puny array of meat shields that it's just pathetic." Picaro laughed and speeded past me with his dragons staring at my monsters. "That A.I. must have been really desperate to put its own life in the hands of someone like you!"

"We will see who is pathetic." I narrowed my eyes and looked down at my deck. "Let's go! Come forth, circuit of life!"

"WHAT?!"

The circuit opened before me, I generated two waves of water from my hands, grabbing my monsters in them and then slammed my palms together, sending the BrioGears inside the arrows.

"Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two Level 3 or lower monsters! I set _BrioGear Freakiver_ and _Pale Crawfish_ in the Link Markers!" My monsters flew at the top middle and bottom middle arrow of the circuit. "Link Summon! The dancing spirit of storms! _Grand Ranger Serene (ATK: 2100, LINK-2)_!"

A wave of data raised before me and fell back down with my monster flying out of it. She raised her left arm and activated the bow attached to it.

"Next, I'm going to discard _BrioGear Flyoat_ from my hand to activate its effect!" A black circuit formed before me with a wave of data bursting out of it like a geyser. "By discarding a number of cards including _Flyoat_ I can revive one Link Monster for that amount of turns and raise its attack by five hundred! Fight beside me, _Decode Talker_!"

Playmaker's ace jumped out of the black circuit and landed behind Serene, holding out his sword. Because the two were linking together, it was going to get another boost.

* * *

 **BrioGear Flyoat**

 **Level:** **7** **/Attribute: WATER/Type:** **Sea Serpent** **/Effect**

 **ATK:** **24** **00/DEF:** **16** **00**

 **Effect:** **If this card is in your hand, you can target 1 Link Monster in your GY: Send any number of cards from your hand to the GY, including this one; Special Summon that target and raise its ATK by 500, but destroy it during your Nth End Phase after this effect's activation (N = number of cards sent to the Graveyard when this card was activated). If a WATER monster was Special Summoned while this card is in your GY, except the turn this card was send to the GY: You can target 1 other WATER monster in your GY; Special Summon both this card and that target, but negate its effects.**

* * *

"Also, since Decode Talker points toward, _Grand Ranger Serene_ it gains five hundred extra points! P _ower Integration_!" The monster's sword began to burn with yellow energy as its power increased.

 **Decode Talker, ATK: 2300 + 500 + 500 →** _ **33**_ **00**

"Tch, so you managed to do something noteworthy." Picaro turned away from me and waved his hand dismissively. "Well, whatever, your monster will be destroyed during the end of this turn, leaving your weak link two to deal with."

"No! I will end it this turn!" I told Picaro, taking _Monster Reincarnation_ from my hand. "I play the Spell - _Monster Reincarnation_! Its effect lets me send _Pale Crawfish_ to the Graveyard in order to add _BrioGear Flyoat_ to my hand!"

"What the heck are you doing?" Picaro asked me. "Your strategy is even more illogical than Playmaker's!"

"It's not illogical, it's based on my trust in the cards!" I responded. "You hurt my friends and I could do nothing but watch them suffer. You overpowered Playmaker, the duelist I believed to be stronger than anyone else, but you didn't kill my hope! The opposite, you strengthened it! I believed that Playmaker could deal with anything that I'm too scared to face, but now that you proved me wrong, I'm ready to face my own fears! Go, _Decode Talker_! Attack _Chained Dragon Serpent - Skull Dead_ with _Decode End_!"

The dragon opened its mouth and fired a stream of black mist at the knight. _Decode Talker_ jumped over the attack and swung his blade, hitting the opponent in the head with enough strength to slam it into the road under them. _Chained Dragon Serpent - Skull Dead_ roared and pressed its claws against the ground, forcing itself to stand up. Only for Decode Talker to pierce through its heart with his blade.

 **『** **Picaro** **LP: 4000 –** **5** **00** _ **35**_ **00** **』**

Picaro grunted and held his shoulder, probably feeling pain in it after his monster was destroyed by Playmaker's.

"Now you have only one monster on your field!" I reminded him. " _Grand Ranger Serene_ attack _First of the Dragons_!"

"What?!" Picaro turned back to me. "Your monster's attack is lower than mines!"

I didn't respond to him, just looked down at the card that was in my hand. I never had the chance to try it before, in fact, I wasn't sure how exactly it worked, so this was going to be my first time using my special ability. Concentrating on the monster in my hand, I ignored Picaro's laughter and the roar of his dragon. This was for Playmaker, for Ai, for Kusanagi, for Rocketeer and everyone else that helped me reach this point in one form or another. Slowly, the artwork of my monster began to glow, and the card followed it, turning into a blue orb of light. Yes, all the feelings that I held in my heart have reached it! Thank you, everyone!

"I activate my skill! _**Miracle of Life**_!" I declared, turning the blue orb into an arrow and threw it toward my monster. "Once per duel, when a WATER monster I control battles, I can discard a WATER monster and transfer its attack power to the fighting monster!"

"You can what?!"

 **Grand Ranger Serene, ATK: 2100 + 2400 →** _ **45**_ **00**

Serene turned her left hand into a fist and pushed it forward. The shield opened and a small blue orb came out as the blades underneath were drawn out and obtained glowing writings which matched the orb. The orb turned into an energy string that connected the two ends, turning them into a bow. She grabbed the arrow I threw her and put it in, aiming at the dragon.

" _ **Last Serenity**_!" I threw my arm forward in time with my monster firing her bow. The blue arrow pierced through the monster's chest, causing it to scream in agony and fly into a building, while Picaro was forcefully moved behind me.

 **『** **Picaro** **LP:** **35** **00 –** **15** **00** **→ 20** **00** **』**

"Due to _First of the Dragons_ ' monster effect, it can't be destroyed by battle with an effect monster." Picaro muttered, raising back up. "You failed!"

"I activate _Grand Ranger Serene_ 's effect." I gestured toward my monster, who aimed her bow at Picaro's chest, but without an arrow. "When she inflicts damage to the opponent, I can send a monster she is linked to in the Graveyard and inflict its original attack to you as damage. I send _Decode Talker_ to the Graveyard!"

Playmaker's ace glowed and transformed into a purple arrow that my monster caught and put in her bow.

"Two thousand and three hundred damage… Damn you." Picaro stood still, staring at me. I couldn't see his eyes behind the helmet, but he was surely angry at the end result.

" _ **Decode Arrow**_!" I told my monster and she fired the arrow straight through his chest.

 **『** **Picaro** **LP:** **20** **00 –** **23** **00** **0** **』**

 **『** **Winner: Proxy** **』**

Picaro didn't respond and just fell off his D-Board. His body turned into a data and then disappeared altogether. I took out the Decode Talker card and looked at it one last time before it flew back to Playmaker's deck along with all the other cards that were still in my Graveyard. Thank you, Yusaku.

I took a deep breath and collapsed on my own D-Board, trying to calm down my springing heart. This was so scary, I would never do it again! I couldn't bear the responsibility of someone else's live to depend on me. It's just too much-! Huh?

I blinked a few times to make sure that I wasn't having a hallucination from the stress, but it was still there. A black cat with purple stripes and eyes, whose ears were twisted a bit resembling horns was rubbing its face against my knee. The little animal just turned its head to look at me for a bit, its mouth twitching into some sort of smirk before it jumped off my D-Board. I tried to follow it, but the cat had disappeared as fast as it appeared.

'I should probably log out before an elephant comes next.' I thought to myself and quickly did so.

* * *

 **3** **rd** **POV**

Deep within a seemingly abandoned part of the city, the girl in white was sitting on a wall, holding her legs crossed like a lady and the hood still covering her face despite the complete lack of other users within the area. She was staring at the ground, when the familiar sound of a cat's meow returned her back to reality. The girl looked around and then smiled as the black and purple cat walked closer to her.

"Took you long enough." She responded and jumped from the wall, landing next to the animal.

The sudden movement didn't scare the cat even a bit, as if it was used to that already, or more likely, because it was just a virtual object like everything else in this world. The girl kneeled down, allowing the little beast an easy way to climb in her lap. She smiled and took the cat, raising it so that they were on an eye level.

"Telling her the thing about our tutorial, you almost gave us away." The girl puffed her cheeks at the cat. "I know that you like to play, but sometimes you need to act like an adult, brother."

The cat just simply looked up to the girl and its eyes flashed purple. In a few moments, the virtual sun was reflecting the shadow of two humans. One a carrying angel and the other a mischievous demon.

* * *

Skills:

 ** _Extreme Link_ : Target 1 Link Monster you control and 1 Monster in your Monster Zones that it points to. This turn, the monster it points to can attack a number of times equal to the Link Rating of the targeted monster, but other monsters can't attack.**

 ** _Miracle of Life_ : During your Battle Phase, when your WATER monster battles an opponent's monster, discard 1 WATER monster from your hand. The battling monster gains ATK equal to the discarded monster's until the end of the Damage Step.**

* * *

 **Unseen cards:**

 **BrioGear Sea Snake**

 **Level:** **3** **/Attribute: WATER/Type:** **Beast** **/Effect**

 **ATK:** **14** **00/DEF:** **7** **00**

 **Effect:** **If this card is send to the GY by a card's effect: You can draw 2 cards, then discard 1. When this card is Normal or Special Summoned, you can add 1 WATER monster with 1500 or less ATK from your Deck to the hand.**

* * *

 **And with this, the chapter came to an end! I have to say many weirds things happened in this one, but I finally introduced and the last 'new' character that we are going to see for a while. Also, something funny that I noticed while writing this,** **Grand Ranger Serene is a WATER Link Monster that uses a bow attached to her left arm, just like freaking Shootingcode Talker! But she was made back in S** **eptember last year!**

 **So, VRAINS' second season has started last week and I want to put my thoughts on it so far. The first thing that I noticed about it was that the background is on a completely different level from before! The team behind it seems to finally have gotten their shit together, as the new LINK VRAINS looks more colorful, more interesting, and overall, more like what a virtual world is supposed to look like. The old one was very blank and it's city design was as generic as generic goes.**

 **The background characters look nice too. Compared to the grey skinned faceless humanoids we got last season, this time there is a more colorful array of background characters including nekos and schoolgirls! Those are always nice to have, hehehe.**

 **As for the characters, I'm probably the only person out there that isn't interested in SoulBurner? I really don't care about any of the new characters, except for Blood Shepherd. He is the only one that I can't wait to see more from!**

 **Lastly, Playmaker's new monsters are... interesting. From all I saw,** **Elphase is so far the best LINK-2 for a Cyberse deck and there is no arguing about that. It really helps when I want to get a Decode Talker out, but have only 3 damn effect monsters so I can't give it protection immediately!**

 **Also, I didn't think that Konami would be able to do it, but they made a Code Talker that is worse than Encode Talker. Shootingcode Talker is the trash of the archetype. Tell me, what is this monster going to run over with 2300 ATK so you give it an effect to attack multiple times?! And to add to that, it loses ATK when it comes to attacking the last monster! As someone who plays these things I must say, Konami, except for Decode Talker, all of the Code Talkers hit the Graveyard in less than a turn! They get run over by everything!**

 **And now that my little rant is over, I want to thank to** StarlightSG **and** MusicianWish **for favoriting and following the story.**

 **Also, thanks to** Creatus O' Spiritus **for following.**

 **In the review department, there is a bit more action this time around and I'm very happy to say that!**

 **To** ScalchopWarrior **: It's funny a bit because duels are my favorite part of a YuGiOh story as well, but well, the older I get the more focused on plot I seem to get.**

 **To** MusicianWish **: *takes deep breath* Oh boy, where do I start. First of, this is probably the strongest the response that I have had to a story so far and I'm happy that it was the possitive kind of strong response. When I first read the starting few** **sentences of your story I admit, they made me go back to check the story's summary because I had written it right there that Roxy is new to dueling. Ofcourse, being new to something doesn't make a character a not-Mary Sue, and my main characters from the Arc-V story are Mary Sues, sort-of so there is nothing to apologize about.**

 **It's also great to hear that my** **portail of Yusaku is faithful to his canon self. Though I guess my enjoyment of writting characters that are disconnected from the rest of humanity helped, this is the first time I see, or have to write, a character that is THAT disconnected from the rest.**

 **For the rest, well, we will see what's going to happen in the future, but I just want to be clear that the "Legendary Duelists" in this story aren't from the canon ones, aka Yugi, Judai, Yusei and etc.**

 **Finally, don't worry, English isn't my first language either.**

 **That's all for today. Thank to everyone for reading and I hope to see you next time!**

 **Diabolic Tracer out!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A non-duel chapter again folks! Be warned!**

* * *

Just a Proxy

Within the familiar black room with green circuits stepped Picaro. Like usually, none of the low ranked knights was there and Specter was checking how far Faust, Baira and Dr. Genome's project to make a cyber-virus had come. The demonic knight kneeled down and bowed his head to Revolver after the failure. He spend a long time analyzing Playmaker's play style and strategies, only for all of his hard work to go to waste because of some girl with little to no duel experience. The memory about it was haunting him, after all the trash talk, he ended up being the worthless one.

"I never gave an order for you or any of my other knights to go after Playmaker." Revolver stated calmly, turning around to face Picaro. "So, tell me, why did you thought that you have the right to go out and challenge him on a duel?"

"I meant no ill intent to our cause, nor any sort of glory when I challenged Playmaker." Picaro answered. "I was given orders from the highest authority to defeat our enemy and take back the escaped Ignis."

"Highest authority? So, it was Dr. Kogami that ordered you to go after him?" Revolver asked.

He didn't expect that his father would go out of his way to order a single hacker's destruction when there were more important things to be done, like the finding and destruction of the Cyberse. But behind Revolver's cold-blooded eyes, a part of him felt disappointed in himself because apparently Picaro was a more trustworthy and skilled duelist in Dr. Kogami's eyes than his own son. This self-loathing made his anger to rise, as well as his desire to defeat Playmaker with his own two hands and rip out the Ignis from the Cyberse-user's broken Duel Disk.

"Yes, I was given my orders by Dr. Kogami himself." Picaro confirmed and stood up. "Although I lost the duel, I was able to find some interesting information about Playmaker that might help us in our future operations against him."

"And what exactly did you find?"

"The girl that defeated me, Proxy, seems to have ties to him. She protected him and even knew who the Ignis was, so our original Intel which stated that Playmaker works alone in LINK VRAINS was apparently wrong." Picaro explained, clicking the edges of his claws together to open a screen which showed a picture of Proxy with _Grand Ranger Serene_ during the duel. "While I'm not sure about their relationship it seems like she is some sort of apprentice that Playmaker had taken to help him out. If we get close to her, we might be able to use her to lure the big fish out of hiding."

"Hm, do you know anything else about the girl?" Revolver asked, taking a step toward the screen. His soulless yellow eyes staring at the girl's picture. "Do you have any way to come in contact with her without alerting Playmaker about our actions?"

"I do." Picaro confirmed. "But using her would be the harder part. Apparently the Ignis has a way to find out the presence of Hanoi, so if we try to infect her with the virus that we are developing Playmaker would find out about it instantly."

"What are you planning to do then?" Revolver asked. Using the girl as bait would be hard if they can't turn her into a victim.

"I will use some of my personal tricks to catch her." Picaro replied. "Unlike with Playmaker, there is a much larger pool of people to use as hostages to make the girl cooperate with our demands."

"Then you are free to do as you please." Revolver told him. "Just don't go after Playmaker personally again, even if Dr. Kogami tells you to. This an order from me."

"As you wish." Picaro bowed one more time before he left. But behind the knight helmet and hood, Revolver couldn't see the little smirk that appeared on his knight's face upon leaving.

* * *

 **Roxy's POV**

"Today is a pretty nice day." I told Kusanagi, while helping with his food stand.

Since my first victory in a duel yesterday, I and Kusanagi went to visit Playmaker's house to see how bad his condition was. Thankfully, Ai was able to fix everything while they were inside LINK VRAINS so all he needed was a good sleep in order to get back his energy. Kusanagi had told me that Yusaku sometimes spends all night to search through the internet for any traces that could lead him to Hanoi and that seemed to have finally gotten a tool on his body, at least inside the virtual reality. Despite how close of a friend he was to Playmaker, I could tell that he was partially happy that the 'Hero' finally got forced into getting a good rest.

"One hotdog and coffee."

"Hm?" I turned toward the client, only to meet Yusaku's cold gaze. "Hey, there! Did you get a good rest?"

"It was refreshing." Yusaku nodded and leaned against the truck, watching the screens that showed Blue Angel and Rocketeer in different duels.

I sighed, he was a very hard person to deal with. His cold gaze alone would be enough to push most people away from him, and let's not speak about the massacre that occurs when he tries to speak with someone. The first thing I could think about when I look at him is that I was unwanted in this group. Though I could completely understand him, and began to search for a place to stay at as well, it still made me feel like a piece of shit for wasting his and Kusanagi's time with my petty problems.

It wasn't all that bad though. Looking on the positive side of the spectrum, such a soft girl like me needed the rough treatment in order to become tougher! So even if it was his cold gaze reminding me to disappear, I was happy because it was supporting as well. Sort of.

"I didn't expect to see you here so early today, Yusaku." Kusanagi smirked, putting the sausage down, then leaned over the grill to look at Yusaku. "You look like you have woken up from the wrong side of bed."

Really? He looked the same as always to me.

"Tell him that. Mister lame-o came here as soon as he woke up." Ai complained.

"This is where I must be." Yusaku stated, crossing his arms in a manner that put his Duel Disk under his arm, silencing the little A.I. inside of it. "Were there any new activities that could lead us to Hanoi?"

"No, and don't worry, if anything popped up, I will just send Roxy to investigate it and call you if there is trouble." I smiled a bit at Kusanagi, after hearing that.

"I don't want you to let her get anywhere near the Knights of Hanoi again." My smile quickly dropped after Yusaku stated that.

Like, come on! I won a match against one of them! Yes, I had a lot of luck and Playmaker had already set everything for me by getting Decode Talker in the Graveyard, but I still did something! Doesn't that count as something? Of course, I would prefer if I don't duel another Knight of Hanoi, like, ever again, but it proved that I can take care of myself!

"Come on, if it wasn't for her, you could have been in a much, much worse situation!" Kusanagi crossed his arms and shook his head. "You didn't even thank her for saving you!"

"I agree that she must have been magnificent, if she was able to defeat the Knight of Hanoi, but there was a condition in my agreement to help her." Yusaku pushed himself away from the truck and turned to look at me. I averted my gaze knowing what he meant. "I told her that I don't want her to get involved with Hanoi because that would endanger her live, but she still dueled."

"Isn't that more of a reason to let her stay! So we can look out for her if the Knights of Hanoi target her?" Kusanagi asked back.

Wait, they could come after me now that I revealed my connections to Playmaker! Oh no, what have I done!

"You misunderstand me." Yusaku stated. "I will let her help us, but not in LINK VRAINS. They already know about her deck and its strategy, so it's a matter of time for the Knights to start implementing counters to it in their own decks! She isn't experienced enough to face a challenge like that and even if she was-"

"- You don't want to involved innocent people in our fight." Kusanagi sighed.

"But I'm already involved!" I pointed out, gesturing toward myself. "I'm sorry for breaking my promise to you guys, but if the Knights of Hanoi choose to go after me… There are people in LINK VRAINS that could be hurt because of that! I don't want to be a hero, but I want to at least know how to protect those I care about in case things go to the worse."

The words didn't seem to have fazed Yusaku, even just a bit, or if they had, he was too got at masking them because I saw absolutely no change in him. His posture, his cold gaze, nothing had changed. After a bit, he glanced around - there were no customers at the moment – so he walked over to the back of the truck and opened it. At this point, I was used to what this meant so I began to close while Kusanagi was turning on the computers.

"There were no sights of Hanoi lately, what do you plan on doing?" Kusanagi asked, sitting down on one of the chairs.

"There was something that I was thinking about since yesterday." Yusaku replied, sitting down as well. "The trap that Go Onizuka set in order to duel me was a SOL program, right? Why are they trying to take me out of the picture when the Knights of Hanoi are the much bigger threat?"

"It's not much different from when I was a free A.I." Ai sighed. "During the five years in which I was fleeing through the network, I was being chased by both the Knights of Hanoi and SOL Technology themselves."

"Wait, are you suggesting that the ones who created LINK VRAINS are working together with Hanoi to catch you?" I asked; it would be worrisome if that was the case.

"The two groups are each other's main enemy." Kusanagi shook his head. "But it's true that lately they had started to get on us harder than before. So, are you suggesting to hack their servers? That would be crazy!"

"I know. That's why we must find alternative ways to gather data about both my lost memories and your brother." Yusaku stated.

"Hmm, I will start looking into it, but it would take at least a few days to figure out something with the data that we have at our disposal."

"Coffee and hotdog." I handled Yusaku the order he gave before we closed. Though they seemed preoccupied with SOL and Hanoi, I didn't forget that Yusaku was most likely hungry.

Of course, he didn't reply, instead just taking the food and eating. Which was fine, I wasn't expecting him to thank me for something as simple as that, he didn't need to thank me, it was common sense. Ok, ok! I'm the type of person that needs other to notice my actions, because otherwise everything I do would feel completely meaningless.

"So, would you need anything else?" I asked.

Yusaku simply shook his head for a 'No', not even breaking eye contact with the computer screen in front of him.

"Ok then…" I rubbed my hands together and looked around. How should I tell them the news… "Um.. Just to let you know, I was looking for a place to stay and found an online ad. It said that the rent was negotiable, so maybe it could work out."

"That's great news." Ai replied first.

"Indeed they are, but does that mean that you are leaving us?" Kusanagi asked me.

At that I paused; what sort of answer should I give him? I was a burden for them, there was no doubt in that, even if I move out of Kusanagi's truck, staying a part of this team alone would cause more trouble for them. Kusanagi already had to go out of his way to erase my logging history to help me avoid getting my identity revealed and Yusaku would also have to deal with both the Knights and protect the other users in LINK VRAINS because of my actions alone.

"I don't know, I will need some time to think about it. I'm not even sure if it's a good idea. I got no idea what 'negotiable rent' means, nor if I could actually pay it."

I also had no idea what the people that I would most likely end up living with would be like. They could be some angry old couple, or even worse than that. I got no information about the user who publicized the ad because their profile was blank; not even an image. At this point, my mind was in a debate on whenever I should even go to check it out, or not.

"So, when are you going to check it out?" Kusanagi asked me.

"I don't know." I shook my head. "The ad said that visits were accepted after three after morning, so even if I go today, there is much time until then."

"Geez, you sound almost like you don't want to get yourself a home!" Ai suddenly exclaimed.

"N-no, that's not it!" I shook my head.

I wanted to get my own place to live in. Kusanagi had helped me already with a lot by letting me stay in his truck for several nights, but I didn't want to take up his space any longer. It just didn't feel right to stay at his pace for free.

"Hm, is that so? Just make sure you check out the place before you accept the offer, unlike Mr. Serious over here." Ai told me, narrowing his eyes at Yusaku.

"Hostages don't get to complain where they are kept." Yusaku stated simply, while clicking on the keyboard.

"Your house is about to collapse!" Ai exclaimed. "And why is it so boring? You have almost nothing in it!"

"Be quiet." Yusaku hissed at that. "If you share any personal information about me with someone else again, I'm going to dismantle your program."

"Oi, hotdog guy! Playmaker is threating me!"

"Kusanagi, turn off the speaker."

I sighed, those two were arguing like always. Well, not always since Yusaku was able to silence the little guy that lived inside his Duel Disk, but I believe you get the point I'm trying to get across. While they were complaining to Kusanagi – who by the way, had some smug look on his face – I took my own Duel Disk and sat on the spare chair.

"I'm going into LINK VRAINS." I told them. At this Yusaku turned to glare at me again and probably say something, but Kusanagi put a hand on his shoulder and nodded; I smiled in return. "Into the Vrains!"

* * *

As the rings that changed my form to that of my avatar disappeared I quickly found myself standing in the middle of the streets of the city sever in LINK VRAINS, surrounded by many other avatars who were walking around, chatting or simply dueling. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, so that made me a bit happy.

As I walked further down the streets, people began to occasionally throw glances at my way and at times I even heard the world 'Proxy' being muttered between them. I tried to remain collected and not react, after all, there was no way they could be talking anything about me, right? I was just a nobody that recently made my account.

"Hey, isn't that her?"

I stopped in my steps and turned around, several avatars pointing at me from afar as they kept on talking loudly for everyone to hear them.

"Yes, it looks just like the girl from the reporters' video!" Another one exclaimed.

"It's the girl that saved Playmaker from the Knights of Hanoi!"

My eyes went wide as the whole crowd came running toward me. Instinctively, I tried to turn around and run, but they were everywhere. All they let me do was stand there and close my eyes as they all crashed into me. Some were throwing arms and shouting for an autograph, others wanted to duel me, and third – which seemed to be the reporters – began to ask me questions like:

"Are you connected to Playmaker?"

"What made you do this courageous action?"

"What do you think of the title, 'LINK VRAINS Hero's Hero'?"

"P-please! Let me go!" I finally shouted out, but to no point, no one was listening to what I was saying.

They kept on squeezing me and I began to feel my breath stopping. Being in large crowds like this, people shouting around me, being in the center of it all. I put a hand over my chest, feeling my heartbeat starting to get faster with each passing second, while my stomach rebelled. Even if it was the virtual reality, I felt sick and ready to vomit.

"Hey!" A new voice called, taking everyone's attention off me for a moment.

Using the distraction, I tried to push my way out of the crowd, when something grabbed me by the collar of my suit and pulled me off the ground. My sweet world! Why is everything crazy happening to me?!

"Calm down, it's me!" I looked up at the voice and saw Rocketeer on his D-Board. He smiled at me and turned to look at the path before him. 'Why didn't you tell me that you were a friend of Playmaker? That wasn't fair."

"I-I'm not his friend." I shook my head. "I-I can explain it to you, but…"

"I messaged you several times until now, but you haven't replied to none of my messages." My eyes widened once again at that statement.

"S-sorry, I didn't know that you could message others." I told him. I really didn't know that.

"Heh, for real?" I noticed a slight smile on Rocketeer's face. "Then we have a lot of stuff to talk about. On a more private place of course."

As he said that, a portal appeared not too far from us, and he drive right through it. The transition to the other area was so quick that it took less than the time to blink and we were already there. This time, the server he dragged me to, was much different from the usual, with large flowers raising above us like trees and large chunks of earth floating in the blue sky like islands. My chin dropped at the scenario, while Rocketeer simply leaned against a tree and crossed his arms, looking at me. I turned toward him as well, knowing that he wanted us to talk about something important. All my hope is that he won't break his friendship with me, but I couldn't blame him if he did; I was a horrible friend so far.

"Listen…" Rocketeer began, glancing around. "I know that our friendship isn't all that well established, and even if it was, I also understand that there are things which each one of us wants to keep to themselves. But you had just dueled a Knight of Hanoi and saved Playmaker! You became more popular for one day than the rest of us after months of performing!"

"S-sorry." I lowered my head. "I-I didn't mean to o-overshadow you."

"That's not the main point here!" Rocketeer exclaimed and walked over to me. Seeing his robotic figure coming closer, I instinctively tried to pull back, but he grabbed my cheeks and looked me in the eyes. "You dueled a Knight of Hanoi that was able to overpower Playmaker! Do you… Do you how worried I was when I saw you dueling that bastard? Then, you just handled his ass, and I… I don't know what to think any more except for: Are you really a duelist newbie?"

I glanced at the side and put a hand over my mouth to cover my smile after his words. He was worried about my well-being – also about my dueling skills – but mostly about the first! I turned my eyes back on him and put my hands on top of his as I shook my head.

"I was just lucky that Playmaker had set up the field for me." I muttered. "My intentions weren't to make you worry, but I… I remembered your words and they made me act."

"My words?"

"At that day, you told me that LINK VRAINS was like a family for you and because of that you would do anything to protect it." I reminded him. "I too, feel you and LINK VRAINS as something close – a home if I might. Because of that, I couldn't just let Hanoi to do as they please!"

"Is that so?" Rocketeer smiled and put his robot arm on my head. "But you are still a newbie, so dueling such powerful opponents would be dangerous!"

"Actually…" I began to explain it to him, but quickly bite my lip; I couldn't tell him that I'm being taught by Playmaker!

"W-what?"

I remained silent, trying to come up with a different thing to say. I did trust Rocketeer and knew that he wouldn't tell my secret, but if I told him, it would turn him into a target of Hanoi as well. I didn't want to risk my only friend's safety for that, or anything else!

"Proxy!" Rocketeer narrowed his eyes at me. "What is it? You know that I'm a person you could trust."

"I-I…" the words that I wanted to say were stuck in my throat, suffocated me every time I tried to mutter them. "I can't do it anymore!"

I yelled that out and feel on my knees. It was too much! Too much for me to handle it anymore! Everything that happened in the last few days: Almost getting killed in LIN VRAINS, meeting Playmaker, being saved by an angel, becoming friend with Rocketeer, the duel against Hanoi, looking for a home – losing my home. Why couldn't I get a break for just a day? A moment to catch my breath and collect my thoughts about all that happened; that was all I asked for.

"Woah, woah, woah! Don't start crying again, please!" I looked up at Rocketeer, there were no tears in my eyes, despite how badly I wanted to cry out my soul. "Jeez, what happened with you again?"

"Everything." Everything was happening so fast and I couldn't keep up with it. "I'm so weak, so frightened, and so miserable."

"Guess, I will have to sit through another sad story, huh?" Rocketeer sighed; I could tell that he was starting to get annoyed with me. That was something we could both relate to - I hated myself as well. "So, what's going on?"

"There so much, I don't know where to start." I wrapped my arms around my legs. "I so was used to having a peaceful that everything happening around me right now is… I don't know the word for it –startling perhaps?"

"That's something I can understand. Not relate, but understand." Rocketeer told me. "Why don't you start to explain everything from the start?"

"I don't remember if I ever told you, but the first time I logged in LINK VRAINS, it was the Hanoi's attack on the servers. Back then, I had no idea what was happening, all I knew was that buildings were on fire, the avatars were screaming while a giant mechanical robot burned them alive."

"That must have been a bad first impression." He chuckled.

I glared at Rocketeer for those words. Seriously, I was trying to be serious and tell him about all the bad things, he could at least try to be serious about it!

"Sorry, sorry. I was just trying to light up the mood a bit." That wasn't an excuse!

"I barely managed to escape with the skin of my teeth, but the image, those horrible screams and the laughter of the Knight of Hanoi… I-I'm scared of them, probably even horrified." I glanced at my hand, remembering the first day in LINK VRAINS, how I stood there in front of the dragon, completely frozen and unmoving. "When the Knight that defeated Playmaker was about to finish his job, I was terrified, but your words gave me the courage to face him. Usually, after you face and defeat your own fears, things should get easier, right?"

"Yeah, that's how it works." Rocketeer nodded. "But it wasn't the same for you, was it?"

"No." I confirmed. "It wasn't the same at all. After dueling that Knight, my fear of Hanoi has only increased. I'm absolutely terrified of their name; of what they could do. I'm so scared, not only about my safety, but about all of this. What will happen if Hanoi comes after you next? The crowd save you helping me!"

"Don't worry!" Rocketeer exclaimed, crossing his arms. "If those Hanoi bastards ever try to come after me, I will beat all of them in a duel and let the admins deal with them afterward!"

I tried to force a smile, but I knew that if Hanoi attacked Rocketeer, things would go much more complicated. As Picaro had showed, some of the Knights were actually strong duelists and they don't always play fair.

We stayed like this for a while, until Rocketeer's duel disk began to make some noise. He looked down at it and opened a screen with text. I looked at Rocketeer's eyes, how fast they moved while he read through the message, then closed it with a nod.

"I just got a call to meet someone." Picaro stood back up and opened a portal toward another server. "This server isn't used much, you could stay here, collect your thoughts. I will try to come back as fast as possible, ok?"

"Yes."

"Great! Make sure to message me if anything happens."

I nodded to him and he jumped through the portal which closed right after him. I took a deep breath and lied on my back, staring at the beautiful blue sky. There was no sun to shine in my eyes, but the scenario was still worth to be seen. I glanced over to my Duel Disk and pressed the screen, showing the digital clock. There was still some time to waste before I have to go.

Back home, having an account in at least fifteen sites was a must in order to socialize with other kids. Browsing through the web was a top choice in my list of activities to relax after a stressful day. Almost ironic how the virtual world turned into my biggest fear for such a short time. I'm scared, even terrified to be here, but I couldn't leave because this place felt like a home to me. I got friends here; things to fight for. Could those things be meaningless just because they aren't physical and don't exist outside this reality?

"Meow~"

I threw my head back against the flat ground and saw an upside-down black cat coming toward me. I turned my body around so that my chest was lying on the ground and reached out for the little animal. The cat didn't seem to get scared by my actions and simply walked onto my hands, lying down on them, so I could gently take it and bring it closer to myself. Surprisingly, it was the same cat that I met yesterday with the purple eyes and horn-shaped ears. Geez, are they using the same designs for all creatures?

Come to think about it, why haven't I seen any other creatures except for this cat? Wait! You can use animals as avatars in LINK VRAINS, right? I tapped my Duel Disk for more information around the area, but it wasn't showing there to be another player nearby. When I tried to look at the cat's information its name was also 'Cat' so that confused me even more. Are there animals in LINK VRAINS or not?

"Meow~"

"You are such a strange thing." I muttered and patted the little animal on the head, making it purr. "Who gave you such a strange design?"

The cat looked up at me and raised its palms placing them against my chest.

"And now I'm talking to a cat… Just great."

I sighed but the creature mewled happily and rubbed its face against my hand. Even though it wasn't real, the cat seemed to have gotten a liking toward me.

* * *

 **3** **rd** **POV**

Rocketeer sighed deeply. The Charisma Duelist was sitting on the white couch in the private served he took Proxy to visit yesterday. He had gone out of his way to arrange a duel for today, but his opponent hadn't logged in yet, so he was stuck doing absolutely nothing useful. Then there was the call that he couldn't talk with Proxy about. Those idiots, don't they know that with his current live as a Charisma Duelist they couldn't write to him whenever they pleased; something might catch wind on what was going on and call him out, effectively ruining everything he worked so hard to build.

"That pompous ass isn't carrying about what I'm doing, is he?" Rocketeer talked to himself, but his gritted teeth and clenched fist showed that he wasn't exactly happy about his current situation.

"I didn't except to meet you here today." A happy voice called out.

"Hmm?" Rocketeer turned his eyes to look at the newcomer; the end of his lips raising into a smile. "Well, I just have much free time on my hands lately, Blue Angel. Talking about time, don't you have a challenger to burn today?"

"There is still time until then." Blue Angel shook her head.

"Really? You usually don't log into LINK VRAINS for anything more than to defeat someone in a duel." Rocketeer pointed out matter-of-factly. "So, what has happened for you to come here now?"

Blue Angel pouted at that. "What's with this question? Can't a girl come to have some fun for a bit?" She asked feeling a bit offended.

"Um, I haven't say that you can't." Rocketeer shook a finger. "It's just unusual for you to come for that. And by unusual I mean, like, something you have never done before."

"It's a change of topic, but why aren't you with your friend?" Blue Angel suddenly asked, noticing the absence of a certain someone. "I heard that she has gotten very popular in the last twenty-four hours."

"I left her alone on a private server to collect her thoughts. She… really isn't alright."

"What happened? Everyone calls her a hero, shouldn't she be happier about it?"

"It's not so simple." Rocketeer shook his head. "She… she told me that the victory was just extreme luck. She is definitely an amateur duelist who, due to all the tension and adrenaline she thought that it was the best time and place to challenge her fear of the Knights of Hanoi. At the end this backfired and now, due to what happened and everyone's apparent liking toward her after the saving of Playmaker, she is shit scared to show up in public."

"But that's awful!" Blue Angel exclaimed.

"She got a lot of problems, Blue." Rocketeer sighed and leaned back into the couch. "A lot more than she told me, I can tell you that much. There is a lot of pressure around here, so it's probably something personal."

"I see…"

"But there is one positive of her current state."

"And what would that be?" Blue Angel asked. She couldn't see what would be good about a girl being too scared to show her face in public.

"Red seems to know about Proxy's little adventure as well and is searching under every rock to find and duel her. As you know how brutal this fellow can be, it's best to keep Proxy hidden from her until I manage to somehow calm her down."

"Blaze Rose really has some social problems that she needs to work on." Blue Angel sighed, then she glanced around, making sure that no one else was there. "Anyway, wouldn't you mind telling me the server on which Proxy is currently? I would like to talk with her."

"I knew that I would trust you to do this." Rocketeer smirked and pressed a button on his Duel Disk, sending the data and password to Blue Angel.

"You wanted me to talk with her?" Blue Angel raised an eyebrow at the boy's words. "Why didn't you tell me that directly?"

"Because you are a tsundere and would have declined if I asked you to do it~"

"I-I'm not a tsundere!" Blue Angel shouted back at Rocketeer. "Jeez, no wonder that you don't have a larger fan base, you can be pretty annoying to deal with at times."

"Heh, that's part of my charm." Rocketeer replied and stood up. He looked at his Duel Disk for confirmation and nodded. "Great! My opponent just logged in! I won't be able to go back to Proxy after this, so would you please tell her that?"

"Why don't you just message her right now?" Blue Angel asked. It seemed like the more logical thing to do.

"Because if I do, she is going to log out and you won't be able to talk with her. Anyways, see ya later!" Rocketeer waved at the blue haired idol and disappeared from the server, leaving the girl to sight in frustration.

"That guy…" He really had a special power when it came to giving others a headache.

* * *

 **Proxy's POV**

Around half an hour went and Rocketeer hadn't shown up. The black cat remained still with me, lying in my hands with its tail wrapped around its body and eyes closed. The little being purred in its sleep. Strange given that it was a virtual cat.

Suddenly, its ears stick up and the beast opened its eyes, looking at the horizon before me. Momentary after that happened, a blue portal appeared a few feet away from us and someone came out of it. The familiar long blue hair, wings and cheerful smile greeted me as Blue Angel materialized a few meters from where I was sitting.

"B-Blue Angel!" I quickly stood up and bowed to greet her. "It's nice to meet you again."

"The honor is all mine." She gave me a cheerful slime.

"Um is there anything I can help you with?" Rocketeer told me that this server wasn't usually used, so of course the first idea I had was that Blue Angel came for a more specific reason.

"Yes, there is something." Blue Angel nodded in confirmation. "Rocketeer told me that you were here and about what has happened yesterday."

"Oh…" Well, it wasn't like he swore to keep it a secret; not that keeping it a secret would have changed anything. "If it's about dueling, I don't want to have anything to do with that anymore."

"But why?" Blue Angel raised an eyebrow. "I watched you yesterday and you have a potential."

"It's not about potential!" I shook my head and stepped back.

She couldn't understand how I felt! The only reason I wanted to start dueling was to learn what happened for me to get in this city, this situation, this… Reality. I only sought answers, not expecting anything serious to happen from just playing a card game, but I soon realized that it would be impossible to just duel for fun here! Here, I had to win in order to survive and protect those who I care about. To save the people that showed me kindness and helped me get up in the hard times. Losing - this is the one thing I'm scared about, losing my life, my friends, all the connections that I built in the last few days!

"I see…" Blue Angel walked closer to me. "Your problem isn't with dueling, is it?"

"I'm sorry." I stared down at the cat in my hands, too embarrassed to look the idol in the eyes while we talked. "I'm not someone strong."

"You are wrong."

"How could you tell that?"

"Because looking at you, I can see a bit of myself."

I stared at her with an empty gaze. What did those words mean? She saw a little bit of herself in me? But we were so fundamentally different from one another, she was cheerful, energetic, always happy and positive, while I was the complete opposite of that. I would never be able to stay in front of a large crowd and give the same warm and confident smile like she did. I couldn't see how this would work, could you?

'Huh, why do you look so confused?" I snapped out of my thoughts and turned back to Blue Angel after she asked me that question. "Oh, I get it. You thought I talked about my Blue Angel persona, right?"

"Um.. Yes. Is there something else that I should have thought about?" Because I didn't know anything about this girl beyond her Charisma Duelist.

"I'm talking about the real me." She replied, her smile suddenly dropped and turned into a small, sad frown. "I remember, back when I first began to learn how to duel, I feared that my brother would be against it. There was an awful time in my life, during which he did so much about me that I could never-ever thank him enough. Because of that, I didn't want to make him worry about me and my wellbeing, so I made the decision to stop dueling."

I stayed quiet and listened to the story. The black cat moved its head and looked at Blue Angel with its purple eyes. Strangely, when I looked at it, I felt like the beast was experiencing some kind of pride while listening to Blue Angel's story, but that must be just be getting crazy, right?

"I understand how awful it is to think that those you care about wouldn't accept the path you choose to walk. I was scared about how my brother would react and how this would affect his job." Suddenly, Blue Angel paused. Her frown turned into a smile again and her cheeks became a little red. "That's when two very special duelists came to me. They were a family that my brother was familiar with because they had worked together on some issues. They were also the ones who told me that I had the potential to become a great duelist."

The story sounded a bit familiar to me. Part of it sounded the same as what Rocketeer told me about his and Blaze Rose's backstories, especially with the two great duelists…

"They told me that if I backed down at everything because I didn't want to make my brother worry, I would just hurt both of us even more. That's what fears are about, keeping us down, keeping us locked. If I ever chickened out and turned my back on the things I'm trying to achieve, it's as locking myself in a cage. It's normal for someone to worry about others, even be scared for them, it shows that we truly care about them. But if we let those fears lead us, we won't be able to protect our precious people when it counts!"

"I see…" That was a very nice little story. "But aren't there times when our fears are justified?"

"Yes, there are. But what are your fears?"

"To lose! I tried to act like a hero and save Playmaker because I care for him, but now because of that the Knights of Hanoi know about me and will probably go after my close ones! I'm scared that I will lose and become the reason for their demise!"

"And what will happen if you choose to not fight back and protect them? Will Hanoi spare your precious people if you choose to run in fear?"

"N-no."

"The coldest truth that I learned was, there are no right decisions. We only have the ability to choose and live with the consequences. Whenever they would be good or bad."

"That truth… sucks."

Blue Angel laughed at that and then nodded. "Yeah, I can't argue about that."

There was no easy way in life and now I was slowly learning that the hard way. Making decisions for myself, living with the consequences from them, those were all new sides of reality that seemed to have remained hidden from me for so long. No wonder that fourteen year olds like me aren't take as seriously as adults.

"How do you feel right now?" Blue Angel sat down next to me and asked.

"I don't know." I replied to her in the most honest way. Looking at my history from the respective of an adult would be hard. "I feel… the same?"

"Well, I didn't mind to change you." I laughed awkwardly at the comment.

Looking at the digital clock on my Duel Disk I bit my lip. I should log out soon to go see if I will manage to get the lodging. But would it be even worth it? It probably wasn't a good place if they let people stay there for free.

"Is there something on your mind?" Blue Angel asked me.

"It's a rather personal issue." I admitted. "I'm looking for a place to stay in and… Well, I found one, but I'm not sure if I will take it, nor am I sure if I ever want to live there."

"Huh? Why?"

"I'm… worried how it would turn out to be. Uh, is there a problem?"

"Didn't we just talk about this?" Blue Angel pouted. "I told you that if you look at everything from the negative perspective, nothing good will ever happen. You must get some self-confidence!"

"What should I do then?"

"Simple: Go and visit it, if you like it, do your best! Getting a place to live is very important, you don't have time to worry about the outcome. And trust me, I know about that from personal experience."

"I guess you are right." I had to do this because of Kusanagi as well. He let me live in his truck until now, so I need to make him proud and fight for myself!

"Thanks!" I smiled at Blue Angel. "I will then go and do as you suggested! See what the place is like for myself!"

"That's the spirit!" Blue Angel winked at me. "But, um, where did the cat come from?"

"Oh, this?" I suddenly remembered about the black cat which was lying in my hands. "I don't know, it just showed up, doesn't seem to be a player, so maybe an NPC?"

"That's the first time I heard about such a thing." Blue Angel shook her head.

"Do you want to pet it? Its fur is pretty soft." I told her and handled it to her.

Blue Angel seemed a little worried at first, but eventually she nodded and took the cat from me, putting it on her lap.

"Meow~"

"Ah!"

As soon as Blue Angel put the cat down, it raised and placed its palms on her chest, similarly to what it did with me before.

"Ha-ha, it did the same thing and before."

"It did?"

I nodded to her, the cat lied back down after touching the 'muskmelons' for a few seconds. It's body relaxed and the tail swung back and forth as the gentle sound of its purring was the only sound in the area. I looked at Blue Angel, she nodded in confirmation and I left.

* * *

"The girl is back." I heard the familiar voice of Ai as I slowly opened my eyes.

Kusanagi was looking over at me with a slight smile while Yusaku was still working on the computers. Moving slowly, to avoid falling or anything like that, I stood from the chair and stretched a bit.

"Did anything noteworthy happened while you were logged in?" Ai asked me.

"Yes." I nodded and looked at all of them. Taking a deep breath, trying to relax my beating heart, I put on a huge smile. "Kusanagi, Yusaku, Ai, could I remained a part of your group after I find myself a place to live in?"

This caught Yusaku's attention as he stopped typing and turned to look at me as well. Kusanagi crossed his arms and sighed. We stayed like this for a moment, sweat began to form on my forehead due to how awkward this situation became.

"Yusaku is against it, but I don't see any harm in it. It's up to you." Kusanagi finally told me.

"W-wait! What do you mean by that? I'm for her to stay with us as well!" Ai exclaimed.

"Hostages don't get to vote." Yusaku muttered and returned back to typing.

I sighed, those two again… "I want to help you in your fight against Hanoi!" I exclaimed clenching my fists.

I'm still scared of the Knights of Hanoi, but with Playmaker by my side, I would make sure to give my best and support him! Together, we will achieve each other's goals to protect LINK VRAINS and bring this group of terrorists before the law!

"Then this time it's official." Kusanagi stepped forward and reached out with his hand, shaking mine. "Welcome to the team, Roxanna!"

That was right, I'm officially Playmaker's sidekick and partner. I nodded and turned, noticing the blanket which I use to cover myself when sleeping. There was one last thing I had to deal with for today…

* * *

After talking with Kusanagi and Yusaku about what steps we would be taking next to catch the Knights of Hanoi, it finally came time for the most important decision that I had to make. The people in the bus looked weirdly at me, probably because I went to look for the location of the apartment on the ad while holding the blanket. Taking the bus cost me pretty much all the remaining money that I had, so hopefully I won't get kicked out immediately.

To be fair, I expected the ad to be about some simpler place, but the map that Yusaku installed in my Duel Disk before I left was leading me in some rich neighborhood. Stopping next to the red dot that market the address written on the ad, I looked in front of me and immediately my jaw dropped from the view. I was standing in front of a three story high white house with flower arrangement on the sideway terrace of the second floor. There was no front door, instead, there were stairs that lead toward a door on the second story.

Gulping my embarrassment and doubts, I took the first step. My legs were trembling and anxiety took over my system. This wasn't anything like what I expected to see. It was more like a palace than a house. The people living here were definitely very rich, compared to me, a miserable girl without a cent, it would be amazing if they don't order the butler to throw me away immediately, right? Despite those thoughts and my trembling legs, I didn't stop. Step after step, I felt my body getting heavier, gravity pulling me back to the ground. After what felt like an entire hour ( **A/N:** 1 minute and 25 sec. actually...) I finally reached the top and pressed the bell.

"Coming!"

I heard footsteps and waited for the owner to open the door while, trying not to panic. I mean, not any more than I already have. My legs had stopped to tremble, but now they stood frozen like infused with the ground.

The door opened and I was greeted by a girl. She looked to be around my age with green eyes and long vibrant white hair with green bangs on the right side of her forehead and some more green locks on the back which was tied into a ponytail. She wore a white dress shirt with a green tie, a short black skirt with black socks that reach below her knee and brown shoes.

"Hello." She bowed with a smile on her face. "You must be here for the ad, right? Come in, come in."

Ok, I was surprised to see such a young girl here, but I nodded and took my shoes off before walking inside. Looking inside, it looked pretty much like what you would expect from a house. It had a kitchen, a living room, several bedrooms and restrooms, along with two set of stairs; one leading toward the third floor and the other toward the first.

"As you can see, the house is completely furnished." The girl told me, gesturing around. "You can use anything, but please don't go to the other floors without permission, ok?"

"R-right." I nodded. Why those places were special was beyond me, but her house, her rules.

"The free bedroom is in that corridor." She pointed toward a long corridor that was after the living room and the kitchen. "It's the door in the left; the right one is mine. You don't seem to carry any clothes so if you want, I could give you one of my spare pajamas for tonight."

"Um… thanks, but I haven't chosen if I want to live here or not." I sweat-dropped. This girl was going a bit too fast for me to keep up with her.

"Ah! Right." She nodded. "Well, at any point, feel free to look around. If you got any questions, just ask me."

"O-ok."

"Oh, also! Sorry, last thing. Can you cook?"

I felt a part of my heart shatter at the question. When it came to cooking, that always used to me the job of my mother back home, so I had absolutely no experience or idea what to do. It was pretty pathetic since I have heard my classmates telling stories about when they would go visit one another and the host would always make them food by themselves.

"N-no. S-sorry." My head dropped in defeat. Once again, I couldn't even do the most basic things needed for survival like cooking.

"It's not a problem." The girl waved it off. "We are usually the ones doing the cooking around here."

"W-we?" I asked, but she walked away before I could get a proper answer.

With nothing else to do, I went on to look around the house. I'm not sure what to tell about it, despite how luxurious everything seemed, it also had the appearance of a normal family house. Everything was tidy and clear, but there was no trace of a maid, so was the girl taking care of the house by herself? Going into the living room, I found a large white sofa with a glass table in front of it and a huge TV on the wall. At the side were several flowers in pots and a huge cabinet filled with trophies and certificates put on display behind a glass.

Walking closer, I noticed that most of the 'prizes' were from dueling events, but there were also others about topics that I didn't understand. The most interesting part were the pictures put in frames in front of the glass. They all depicted two individuals, a boy and the girl that I just talked with, but at a younger age. There was also one that depicter three individuals.

The girl I talked with was on the left side of the picture with a huge smile, short hair and was making a peace sign with one hand while hugging the person next to her with the other. At the right side was the boy from the other pictures; he had white and red hair tied into a ponytail and crimson eyes. He too, had a huge smile and had his hands wrapped around the person in the middle. Lastly, there was another girl that the other two individuals were being affectionate with. She had short black and blue hair with matching blue eyes and a somewhat awkward smile written over her face.

I could tell where, but I felt like I have seen the black haired one somewhere. Not because of her look, but because of that look in her eyes, it seemed so familiar. It was like something that I had seen hundreds of times before, but I couldn't put my finger on what it was.

"Do you like it?"

"Ah!" I yelped and quickly turned around to face the girl, accidentally pushing the image to fall. "I'm sorry!"

"Don't be." The girl laughed it off and passed by me, taking the picture in her hands. "Those are all great memories, but this one is my favorite."

"W-who are they?" I bite my lip as quickly as I asked the question. This wasn't my business, asking personal things like that was rude!

"Hmm, they are my older siblings." The girl replied, putting the picture back on its place. "They were many amazing adventures that we went through, but not long after this picture, some of us had to go on their own separate ways…"

This just made me feel even worse for asking. The three seemed pretty happy on the picture though, I wonder what must have happened for them to separate. As someone who never had a sibling, I could only wonder what it felt like to have more to your family than just two parents.

"So, did you make up your mind?" The girl suddenly asked me.

"Huh?" What did I have to make my mind about again?

"Are you going to stay here?"

"Y-yes! I would love to!" I nodded eagerly, but… "But what about the rent? What does negotiable mean?"

"Oh that? It means that we won't press you about paying if you don't have money. In fact, what sum do you think that you will be able to pay?"

"I…" It was embarrassing to admit such a thing… "I don't actually have a job yet."

"Is that so?" The girl laughed and patted me on the back. "Don't worry! If you want, I could help you get some well-paid job."

"Really?!" Someone would do such a thing for me?

"Of course! That's what a family is for, right?"

"Yes…" A family… that was something I didn't believe to ever obtain in this city. But maybe I got lucky to come here…

"Oh, I'm such an idiot!" the girl suddenly slapped herself on the forehead. "I completely forgot about the introductions!"

"D-don't worry about it too much." I smiled and reached out for a handshake. "My name is Roxana Petit, but people usually just call me Roxy."

"Nice to meet you Roxy. My name is Avice." The girl replied, grabbing my hand and shaking it. "Avice Greyson."

* * *

 **A/N: So, here are the after effects of Proxy;s heroic actions during the last chapter. Not much else to say except the obvious fanservice for those of you who have followed my Arc-V fanfiction. I also hope that I managed to make Blue Angel close to her canon personality. After all, she is different from Aoi, more cheerful and lively and from what I have seen, willing to help others when they have problems. Of course, when we see Aoi herself later on, she won't be the same as Blue Angel, just letting you know here.**

 **Also, at VRAINS, someone finally addressed the elephant in the anime! Yusaku finally addressed the fact that Kogami's plan was retarded. Of course he didn't say that, but it was obvious for anyone who has watched the whole first season. This moment of self-awareness that the writers poured their souls into was the best line from VRAINS for me. Period.**

 **Thanks to** CAD270895 **and** ChaosMedivalDukemon **for the favorite and follow. Thanks to** My-Own-Time **for the favorite.**

 **Now to my favorite part. The reviews!**

ScalchopWarrior **:** **Actually, there are many people on YouTube and forums outside of Fanfiction that believe that** **Shootingcode is a reference to Shooting Star Dragon so you aren't alone in that. But why they had to make a Code Talker into the Shooting Star Dragon reference instead of the Firewall Dragon evolution is beyond me.**

 **For Proxy's win. Well, she had time training in the tutorial and with Playmaker so she has some skills, but ultimately, she wouldn't have won if Playmaker's Decode Talker wasn't in the Graveyard so she could revive it. She is still going to lose in the future, don't worry about that, but for this duel, she had Playmaker's help (sort of).**

 **On Picaro, well... I didn't want him to use his real deck because that would be a huge give away on who he could be. Also, I wanted Skull Dread to be summoned in this story in the most amazing, yet retarded way possible, so there is that.**

 **I don't understand what character decay means so you would need to explain that to me in detail.**

ThePLOThand **: I know that this is about an older chapter, but I will address your idea of having Yusaku grind for Link Monsters anyways. First, he doesn't see Proxy as an ally, but you would understand that when you reach the recent chapters. As for the actual grinding. Well, some people say that it's possible that Yusaku is canonically, getting Link Monsters from Storm Access outscreen due to the huge amount of those that he has, including** **Security Dragon (a smaller Firewall Dragon) and Talkback Lancer (Code Talker support WTF).**

My-Own-Time **: Thanks! I'm actually having a lot of fun writing Yusaku the way he is, so that might be why I somehow manage to keep him in character. Proxy really won't have much** **influence over Yusaku's personality, so don't worry about him changing.**

 **I also appreciate that you like the duel layout. I was worried that people might not like having the card effects thrown in the middle of the chapter, but I wanted to make sure people know what to except because, well, then it would seem less like bullshit when someone uses a card's effect to turn the whole duel around. At least that's how I view it.**

 **Thanks to everyone for reading so far and I can't wait to meet with you guys next time! Until then!**

 **Diabolic Tracer out!**


	11. Chapter 11

Contact with a Blood Sucker

 **Roxy's POV**

After my talk with Avice, she helped me to settle down; which wasn't hard considering that I had nothing but a blanket with myself. Another positive was that I finally got around to take a bath, which I was unable to do in the past few days because, well, there wasn't a place to do so in Kusanagi's truck. Avice was also kind enough to lend me one of her spare pajamas. It was a little too big for me, but I could still wear it without worry about it falling off me.

The room that I was given wasn't anything mediocre either. It was rather large with a bed big enough for two people, a large closet which was currently empty and even my own TV. I lied down, feeling the softness of a mattress for the first time since I came out of the hospital. It was almost hypnotizing, like I was floating on a soft cloud! My Duel Disk was still on my arm though and I stared at the black screen while thinking about today. So much happened, but there was one thing that my mind couldn't forget.

Greyson – this name brought pain to my heart every time that I repeated it in my mind. It reminded me of my best friend, Elizabeth Greyson. Joyful memories and happiest that was far, far away from my reach at the moment repeated at the back of my head, dragging me deeper into those happy, yet agonizing to remember moments. Of course, this was just a coincidence, but, in a way, it was almost ironic. Back home I had a Greyson as a friend, always helping me out when I was in a difficult situation. And here I was, saved by a Greyson once again.

There wasn't much point in overthinking this though. I raised my right hand and pressed my index finger against the center of the Duel Disk's screen, making it glow for a moment. I opened the menu and looked through my contacts, which were Playmaker and Rocketeer. Despite how comfortable my bed was, I couldn't fall asleep, something was just bugging me and various unrelated to one another thoughts ran through my mind so fast that if I closed my eyes and began to count sheeps, I would be watching white blurs speeding across my imagination.

I needed to talk with someone so badly! It didn't matter with whom or what the topic would be, all I needed was a small chatter to help me relax enough to fall asleep. Avice was probably already sleeping, so I didn't want to go to her bedroom and wake her up for that. She was the householder, so it would be rude from me to do something like that. The question was, whom should I call then?

Rocketeer was a nice guy who always listened to my problems and tried to help me out. He was the most understanding person I knew so far, but then again, I would just be using him for his kindness if I called him at this hour. Playmaker on the other hand was… less than friendly. It would be a complete surprise to me if he don't outright block me from chat for something like this. The choice was between them only and my finger moved rapidly between the chat buttons next to each of their avatars. Eventually, after god knows how long, I made my decision and wrote in the chat.

 _[10:17:20 PM] Proxy: Can we talk?_

Naturally, no response came immediately. In fact, I would be surprised if he gave my message the time of the day. Ten minutes passed since I wrote to him and there was no sight that he would answer at all, my arms dropped on the bedspreads beside my head. I expected that outcome, yet why does it feel so bad?

 _ **Beep!**_

A sound came out of my Duel Disk and I turned to look at the glowing screen. There was text on it, saying:

 _[10:31:49_ _PM_ _] Playmaker: What's it about?_

My heart beamed with delight, he actually replied to me!

 _[10:33:07_ _PM_ _] Proxy: Since I left earlier today, I wondered if you and Kusanagi were able to find out something about SOL Technology._

A weird topic I know, but revenge was everything that Playmaker was thinking about, so I was trying to make the topic more 'pleasant' for him rather than me.

 _[10:38:23_ _PM_ _] Playmaker: Yep! Apparently, Blue Angel is the sister of SOL Technologies' security manager, Akira Zaizen. Her real name is Aoi Zaizen._

Wait, Blue Angel? Like, the Blue Angel that I spoke with earlier today? It never came to me that her real persona could be related to someone important like SOL's security manager. TO be fair, who would have expected such a thing anyway?

 _[10:42:02_ _PM_ _] Proxy: Seriously?_

 _[10:44:56_ _PM_ _] Playmaker: Yes, she goes to my school so I will try to approach her tomorrow. Here is what she looks if you wonder._

After he wrote that, I got a notice containing a single file. I opened it and saw the picture of a girl with short light brown hair and yellow eyes. The picture showed her wearing the same jacket that Yusaku was wearing all the time, as well as a white dress shirt with a blue tie. The difference between him and her was that the girl also had a light yellow jumper, but that's probably mean to be the difference between boys' and girls' school uniforms.

 _[10:46:29_ _PM_ _] Playmaker: Combining the data from her look, I classify her as beautiful._

Well, I couldn't decline that she seems to have a charm, but that comment was pretty out of character for Yusaku. I never thought that he could be looking at girls like that. Oh god! What is he thinking about me then? No! He would think that I'm weird if I asked him about it.

 _[10:49:13_ _PM_ _] Proxy: I agree._

 _[10:52:20_ _PM_ _] Playmaker: So, how is your new home?_

Yet again, words that I never expected to hear from Yusaku, or in this case - read. He completely catches me by surprise with that new, carrying nature of his. It makes me wonder if Kusanagi doesn't have a finger in that, or maybe he is just practicing talking to girls with me. No offense toward him or anything, I couldn't imagine how someone like him could be able to talk with someone like Blue Angel in real life, if he acted as cold as he usually does.

 _[10:58:41_ _PM_ _] Proxy: It's pretty nice actually, the householder is very nice as well. Actually, I was just about to go to sleep, but I thought that it won't hurt if I chatted with you for a bit before that. I haven't bothered you, have I?_

 _[11:02:28_ _PM_ _] Playmaker: Not at all. I should leave you then. Just know, even if I don't show it, I'm actually glad that you choose to remain with us._

Oh. My. God! If I wasn't sure that this is real, I would have slapped myself across the face to make sure that I'm not dreaming. Yusaku Fujiki, Playmaker, the coldest person that I had ever known, just told me that he was glad to have me in his team!

 _[11:03:38_ _PM_ _] Proxy: Thanks!_

After writing the last message, I dropped my Duel Disk and stared at the ceiling. What I just read wasn't a creation of my imagination, right? It's not a dream? My mind couldn't comprehend what just happened. Playmaker showed interest in the physical features of a girl, asked me if I'm alright and then even shared his gratitude that I was part of his team. Was it because of the time? Does his emotions awake during the night like a sensitive werewolf or something among those lines? So many questions and weird theories, but I couldn't focus on them at the moment. I felt my eyes starting to feel heavy, the small chat has helped to relax my mind and I started to feel sleepy. Guess figuring out Playmaker's mind would remain a quest for another day.

* * *

When I woke up again, it was early in the morning. My eyes shot open and I felt energized from having a good sleep. I felt senses beginning to return to my body and turned my head to the side. My bedroom was dark, but there was light shining through the curtains that covered the window.

I forced myself to sit up and looked around the room. Everything was like I remembered it to be yesterday and my Duel Disk was lying on the bed next to me, so I took it and put it on the nightstand next to me. It was lucky that I didn't turn in my sleep and lied on top of it because that would have probably crushed it. I mean, I'm not heavy, but, the Duel Disk didn't look to be made by an unbreakable material, so I didn't want to test its durability.

I stood up from my bed and walked out of my room. Since I had only one set of clothes, which I threw in the laundry yesterday, I had nothing to change into and was left with the pajama that Avice gave me. As soon as I stepped out of my room, I felt a pleasant smell being carried through the air. It was of something that I have never smelled before, but it was definitely food and by the smell of it, a very delicious one as well. I closed my eyes and let my legs lead me as the pleasant scent became stronger with each step that I took.

It was probably Avice making breakfast, though it seemed a bit too early for her to be awake. Once I walked out of the corridor that leaded to the other rooms, my eyelids raised and I looked around, trying to locate where the kitchen was supposed to be. There wasn't a door separating it and the living room from the rest of the rooms, so I didn't have to search long for it. My steps were light as my body came closer toward the kitchen and the food. I could hear Avice's voice right behind the corner, sounding cheerful.

I stepped forward and surprisingly, she wasn't actually cooking. Avice was sitting next to the table in her school uniform, the same as Yusaku's, with her arms on it and her head resting on her palms while she laughed cheerfully. Following her eyes which were looking forward, I noticed that there was another person in the room with her.

Standing next to the kitchen countertop was a tall man wearing a white shirt with a red tie and black trousers. He had long white hair tied into a ponytail, similarly to Avice's, with red highlights with red spikes on the right side of it. His crimson eyes turned toward me, the smirk that was on his face turned into a smile. The man stood there, looking at me with a cheerful expression, only moving his left arm a bit to place it on the countertop and lean against it.

"Ah, good morning Roxy." Avice stood up and bowed toward me. "Did you have a good night sleep?"

"G-good morning." I replied, bowing as well. The man didn't break eye contact, staring at my eyes even as I bowed. "I had a good sleep, thanks."

"That's good to hear." Avice clapped her hands together and gestured toward the man. "I'm sorry that you were unable to meet yesterday, but this is Evan, my older brother. He is the owner of the house."

"It's nice to meet you." I replied, bowing toward the man. "My name is Roxy."

"I know, Avice told me a lot about you." Evan pushed himself away from the countertop and walked closer. "She told me that you were nervous and a cutie."

"Hey!" I winced as Avice suddenly yelled. "This was supposed to be secret!"

Despite her angry tone, there was a small smile on Avice's face while she was looking at her brother. Evan chuckled and walked next to me, pulling back a chair, he gestured for me to sit down. I felt my cheeks heat up from this gesture - it reminded me of all those romantic movies I have watched with Elizabeth, where the couple goes to have dinner with the man acting like a gentleman. I complied with Evan and sat down, a moment later my chair was pushed closer to the table with a knife, a fork and a spoon set before me.

"I hope you don't mind Japanese food, but living her for the past few years had its tool on the direction that my cooking skills set to." Evan told me and brought dishes that I have never seen before in my life.

"Are we in Japan?" I asked him. It was weird, people here seemed more like cartoon characters than Japanese people and I could understand their language, so it was weird indeed.

"Do you seriously don't know where you are?" I looked down in embarrassment when Avice asked me that question.

"It's a complicated story…" A very weird one as well, I got hit by a car and woke up in a hospital surrounded by cartoon-like looking characters.

"Believe me, we are specialists when it comes to complicated stories. Right, bro?"

"Yeah, that's why we put out that ad, to find you."

I looked back up, meeting both of their gazes. Avice was looking at me with a soft smile and half closed eyes while Evan had a smug smirk on his face. I stared at them while also searching for the exit from the corner of my eyes. The ad was made to lure me in, they must have somehow learned that I had nowhere to stay. But, why did they choose me? Could it be… Knights of Hanoi!

No, they actually found me. After such a short period of time as well. I looked down at the table and pressed my fists against it. There was sweat forming on the skin of my hands, which were trembling, in fact, my whole body was feeling like I was put inside a frozen pool. A series of strange sensations came over me, I felt getting dizzy with a black falling over my vision. My gut felt like it was stabbed by a hot knife as whatever food was left in my stomach started to quickly raise toward my throat.

"Oi, are you ok?" My body tensed up as someone put their hand on my shoulder. I couldn't tell who it was, the voices became all blurry to me.

"She is going to throw up!"

"Not on the food!"

There was a sharp yell after which someone grabbed the back of my chair and pulled it away. I saw the ceiling and a pair of crimson eyes staring down at me before everything turned dark. I had no memories about what happed after that point.

* * *

When my senses began to return to me again, the first thing that I senses was a coldness. My whole body was feeling cold, but this was a more specific one, my vision was still dark and somewhere in the more distanced parts of my mind echoed the sound of water along with two voices that I couldn't quite understand. I felt a hand running over my face, it was soft but extremely cold and moist. First it ran two times over my mouth, the insides of which tasted as something that I would rather not name and then two more times over my forehead and eyes.

I could tell now, someone was holding me next to the sink and washing my face for some reason. There were still shadows over my vision so I couldn't tell who it was, but I could slowly start to differentiate the voices of a male and a female along with what they were saying.

"I lost all my appetite after this."

"Come on, how were we suppose to know that she was going to throw up after that?!"

"I don't know. She doesn't seem like the type of person that could deal with tense situations. Did we go a bit too far by telling her about the ad so fast?"

"If that scared her so much wait until I tell her that the chip she got from the hospital was a tracking device all along."

"What?!" I yelled and turned around, only for Avice to grab my arms and pin them down next to the still running sink. "L-let go of me!"

"Well, I guess she knows about that as well." I glared at Evan who was leaning against a push broom. Looking at that smug expression of his was fueling the anger that I was currently feeling toward these two!

"Why did you do all of this? Why me?" I asked them. Why did they have to target me, or anyone for that matter; what was their goal?

It was all too confusing, I just couldn't keep up with it! I was trying and trying to get free from Avice, but her grip was far too strong. Her expression didn't show her to be even trying to hold me up. I tried to push my body forward and knock her down, but she just shook her head.

"If you stop fighting and sit down then maybe we could all understand how we went from having a breakfast to scrubbing vomited from the floor and holding you down, ok?"

Taking another looked at them, I began to process the information. They had caught me anyways so I couldn't escape, but none of them has tried to threaten or hurt me so far. Of course that wasn't much of a reassurance, but narrowing my options, I could either sit down and listen to them or keep on trying to break free from Avice's hold. Even if I managed to do the later, there was still Evan who was far taller and probably also stronger than me.

"F-fine. I will listen." I nodded and looked down at my hands.

"Great. Here, sit down." Evan put a chair next to me, while Avice released my hands.

They still had those smiles on their faces, but the way they held their hands, ready to grab me again hinted that they trusted in me as much as I trusted in them.

"S-so, you were supervising me from the start?" I began with the simplest question. They nodded in return. "Why would you do that? Back then, I knew absolutely nothing about anything happening in this city."

"I'm not sure what you think our motives are, but I can reassure you that you are going to be wrong." Avice shook her head.

"Back then I got a call from Doctor Souma, the person that was taking care of you until you decided to disappear from the hospital. He mentioned that some bystander has found a girl with no ID card or anything that could be used to identify her." Evan reached into the pocket of his pants. "He also mentioned that they found THIS with you."

After finishing, Evan pulled out a deck and put it on the table next to me. I looked at him, then at Avice. Both of them had their arms crossed and stared at me, prompting me to take the cards, so I did and…

"That's my deck!" I exclaimed, seeing that it was composed of the BrioGear cards that I used.

"Halfway there, this is the deck that disappeared from our house a few hours before we were told about your existence." Avice told me.

No way! This deck belonged to them? It did somehow make sense that it didn't just appear out of thin air, but it was surprising no less. I never really thought about how I ended up with these cards and the Duel Disk that I currently use, but for them to be stolen by someone else and then given to me was the last possible outcome that I would have thought of. I ran my thumb over the artwork of _Grand Ranger Serene_ wondering; did I ever have the right to keep this deck?

At first I thought that using it I could get the answers that I needed, but all I was able to get out of dueling was trouble and more trouble. I wasn't like Playmaker or Rocketeer, there wasn't the heart of a hero inside my chest, fighting the Knights of Hanoi wasn't something I wanted to be doing anyways, so holding onto these cards was pointless. It was weird, but I felt some sort of strange fondness toward them all so suddenly.

"They are useless to me, I don't plan to use them for dueling." I placed the cards back on the table and pushed them toward them. "If you wanted them, you could have just asked me to give them back. There was no need for you to go out of your way and stalk me."

"You are getting the wrong idea of our intentions once again." Avice sighed and sat down beside me. "If we wanted the deck back we would have come and taken it. Instead, we thought that maybe it wasn't a coincidence that our deck suddenly feel in the hands of someone who according to all the data we gathered doesn't exist."

"We figured out that you probably don't have a home to return to and that if we tried to approach you directly, it would have most likely scared you." Evan continued after that, leaning back into his chair. "We began to make preparations and thought how to tell you all of this when you suddenly ran away from the hospital, so we had to improvise."

"I see…" It's true that I wouldn't buy if some unknown people suddenly came before me and told me to go live with them.

"As for the chip we left in your Duel Disk, it was mean to be used mainly as protection in case you logged in LINK VRAINS. The main function was to help you learn how to duel and alert us if you got yourself in trouble, so I could use my access to the network and come up with a way to save you. For instance, do you think it was a coincidence that someone appeared to save you when that Cracking Dragon was about to destroy your avatar?"

"And when you got yourself in the company of those two Knights of Hanoi while spying on them?" Avice smirked. "Who do you think was the brave heroin covered in white that came to your rescue?"

"I-it was you?! The girl with the AstroGear deck?" Ok that's starting to get a little too convenient!

"Who else do you think?" She winked and wrapped one of her arms around my shoulders. "We were there from the start, watching over you and making sure you remain safe. Even after you began to work with Playmaker we knew that you would still need our protection. Also, living in a hotdog truck? That's soo last decade."

"You are starting to say weird things again." Evan sweat-dropped. He pushed the BrioGear deck back to me with a smile. "But that's about our part of the story. It's your turn now."

"Eh?" Was there something that I was supposed to tell them?

"Where do you come from?" Oh! Yes, it makes sense to ask that since there is apparently no data of my existence.

"I don't know how to explain it to you guys." I sighed and leaned back into my chair, staring at the ceiling. "It's such a weird story that you would think that I'm trying to lie to you."

"Believe us, you don't know half the weird things that people like us have encountered in the past few years." Avice replied while playing with a lock of my hair.

"Are you sure about that? Because I was hit by a car and then woke up in this… world I guess, without any knowledge about anything and a Duel Disk already in my possession."

"…"

There was an awkward silence as the two of them blinked a few times. Then after a few moments they both burst into laughter. I couldn't tell what was so funny about what I just said. There was a warning that the story is weird, but to react like this was just mean!

"S-so… Ha-ha… You… Oh Ra, I can't… You got hit so hard that your brain got send to this city? Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" Don't laugh, I want to cry!

"Don't worry, we believe your story." Avice hit me on the back, ouch.

"Here, you can have this one back." I heard Evan say before pushing the BrioGear cards back toward me.

"But… since it's yours, shouldn't you keep it?" I had no use of this deck, nothing really good came out during the time in which I owned it. "I'm really not a duelist, there is no point it giving it back."

"Could you say anything stupider that this?" Evan tapped his fingers against the table, looking at me with an annoyed expression on his face. "After coming so far, after surviving several direct encounters with the Knights of Hanoi, after winning that duel and saving Playmaker himself, you think that there is a way to just stop?"

I turned my head to the side, trying to come up with a good response to that question. I wanted to be of help for Playmaker and protect the friendships that I was able to create, but not through dueling. I knew that something like that would be impossible, but to fight against the Knights of Hanoi? I knew where my limits lied, my dueling skills were subpart compared to everyone else's.

"I told you once that your destiny was already in motion, do you remember?" Avice patted me on the head. "Your win back then was just luck, I agree. That doesn't mean that you don't have the potential to become something better."

"No." I shook my head, but my hand grabbed the deck anyways. What kind of destiny would await me if I choose to use these cards as a duelist? "I can't. I just can't do it. This is not a part of me."

Evan sighed and stood up. He was disappointed by me, there was no need for me to look up to know that was the case. Could you blame me though? Would it make me a horrible person if I thought about my health and security first?

"Tch, it's about time." Evan stood up and left the room.

"Where is he going?" I asked Avice who has started to eat the breakfast. She raised her head to look at me and then toward the empty chair.

"He is going to work obviously." Ah right, he was an adult after all; that was a stupid question from my side.

After a bit, Evan came back wearing a black coat over his white dress shirt.

"Actually, I will first go get Zaizen angry at me and then I will be off to work." He told me.

"You know Zaizen as well?" Was there even something that they didn't know about?

"Um, he is SOL Technologies' security manager, so we work together some times." He responded, fixing his tie. "But how do you know about him?"

That's bad! I forgot that there were two Zaizens around all of this. Evan's crimson eyes were staring down at me, while my brain was struggling to come up with an answer. Ah heck, why don't I just tell them the truth?

"S-sorry, I thought that you are talking about a difference Zaizen." I answered. Sector was cleared.

"So you thought about his sister, Aoi?" Sector wasn't clear.

I gulped and nodded. "I-I wanted to meet with her."

"Heh, just say that!" Avice jumped on me, wrapping her arms around my body once again. "Despite what my brothers says, we are good friends with the Zaizens and especially with Aoi. She is like a sister to us. Come, come, I know what her route for school is, you could talk with her while we are walking, ok?"

Well, I didn't expect that to go this smoothly, but it probably wasn't because of me. In fact, if I had to guess, these two probably knew why I needed to speak with Aoi but were playing dumb. Would it be a stretch to think that they might know that much, when they knew everything about me from the beginning.

I didn't have much time to think about it because Avice suddenly pulled me off the chair and began to drag me toward the corridor.

"Evan could drive us to Aoi's place, so let's get dressed fast. We don't want him to show up late to work because of us, right?"

I could just nod in response while the older girl was dragging me through the hallway and into her room. I won't get into details of what happened after we entered, but I never knew that getting dressed could feel so defiling…

* * *

"And here we are~"

Avice threw her arms upward as we reached Aoi's home. Her brother has left us there and drove off to get to his job. From what I understood he was the director of a small company that made video games and also managed a portion of LINK VRAINS' servers. But back to topic, after we arrived and Avice showed me the building in which the idol was living my chin literally dropped. It was a huge, huge skyscraper compared to which the Greysons' house looks like a tiny fly. In fact, it was so huge that I could see where its roof was.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Without a permission from my brain, my head nodded eagerly to the question.

"Is this whole thing theirs?" I turned toward Avice to ask.

"Are you for real?" She raised an eyebrow at me. I asked a stupid question! "They live on the last floor. In a luxurious house… on top of another house. Just… don't ask me what's up with the architecture in this city."

Yes, perhaps some questions were better left unanswered…

We waited outside for around ten minutes doing nothing. I didn't try to have a conversation with Avice because… After learning that she and her brother were spying on me the whole time I had a hard time trusting them, yet alone talking to them. The doors leading inside the building parted away and a large smile formed on Avice's face as a girl walked outside. Aoi Zaizen - she was just like in the picture that Yusaku showed me last night. Seeing her in person made me wonder if there wasn't a mistake, her timid look was nothing like the joyful Blue Angel that I remember from LINK VRAINS.

"Oh." She stopped walking and looked at us. "Good morning, Avice and… My apologies, but I don't think I know you."

"This here is Roxy!" Avice shouted cheerfully hitting my back again. Ouch! "She lives with us from today on, so I thought I could show her around and have her meet some of my friends!"

Aoi nodded in response and turned back to me. "It's nice to meet you, Roxy. My name is Aoi Zaizen."

"I-it's nice to meet you." I bowed to show that I was happy to meet her.

"I believe you won't mind if we walk to school together, right?" Avice asked.

"Of course no." An almost unnoticeable smile formed on Aoi's face as she walked pass me.

'Avice didn't lie when saying that they were close to the Zaizens.' I thought as I followed after them. 'Aoi immediately became happier from hearing that Avice was going to walk with her.'

"S-so, you two are really good friends, aren't you?" I asked them, trying to initiate some kind of conversation.

"Heh, you got that right. When we first meet, her brother was still a regular worked in SOL Technology." Avice turned back to me and began to talk while walking backward. "Since how close our brothers' works were to one another we often spent much of our time together. I and Evan were also the ones who taught her how to duel in the first place, isn't that right, Aoi?"

"It's not like I didn't know how to duel before that." Aoi puffed her cheeks. "You just helped me get better at it."

'That sounds awfully a lot like the story that Blue Angel told me yesterday.' I thought and looked over to Avice who was smiling back at me. 'She also mentioned that her mentors were the same ones that taught Rocketeer and Blaze Rose, so could it be possible that Avice and her brother are…'

"One day we should have a friendly duel, what do you think, Aoi?" Avice crossed her arms behind her head and continued to walk backward while talking.

"You would seriously do that for me?" Aoi's eyes beamed when she heard those words. "But I have to warn you, I have improved much from our last duel."

"I knew that you would become a good duelist." Avice giggled and spun around to put a hand around Aoi's shoulders. "But would you mind if we let Roxy join in as well? Maybe we could call Vermilya too?"

"I don't mind, but I don't think that calling Vermilya would be very proper. You know that she isn't very fond of you."

"Ah right, because of that…" Avice sighed. "Well, then it's going to be the three of us, right Roxy?"

"Y-yes!" I nodded, but didn't really want to be dueling due to obvious reasons. Plus, this was Blue Angel that we talk about, I wouldn't last a turn against her.

"So it's decided!" Avice exclaimed, throwing her arms up.

"I think you should focus on your classes first." Aoi interrupted her. "Tell me, you haven't been getting bad grades lately, have you?"

"What do you think of me?" Avice laughed and raised her fist triumphantly. "I'm not just a dueling genius, but a real genius as well!"

As the two kept on talking to one another and I followed them, it slowly stared to feel like I was the third wheel. No seriously, the only thing I was doing was answering brief questions after which they continued to talk with one another. I needed to get some information out of Aoi in order to help Yusaku and Kusanagi, but I had no idea how to approach her or get to talk with her without interrupting their current conversation. What they talked about was mostly school and a bit about dueling; for the first topic, I was technically in a summer vacation so I wasn't informed and for the second… Come on! Why must dueling be so important here?!

"So, if you are going to return to dueling once again, why don't you think about joining our school's Duel Club?" Aoi asked.

Avice stopped walking and stared blankly into the distance. We paused as well and turned toward her to see what was wrong. She scratched her cheek then titled her head ninety degree to the left.

"Wait our school had a Duel Club?" How is this new information to you?!

* * *

Den City High School was rather similar to the rest of the buildings in this city. By that I mean that it was huge! The main building was gigantic, it was only four floors, but the space that it occupied was far beyond what you would expect from a school. There were also several additional, smaller facilities around it that seemed to have secondary roles. The stairways that lead to it also had deviations that lead to apartments build at the sides. I could only guess that those were dorms where students whose homes were too far could live, but as I said, it's just a guess.

"I have to go now." Aoi said and turned in the other direction from us.

"Um… hey…" Now that the conversation was over I reached out to try and talk with her, but she just walked away.

That went pretty badly for me. Despite telling myself that I would help out Yusaku by getting some info from Aoi Zaizen, I failed to even talk properly with her. To be so miserable that to lack the ability to start conversations with people, something must have gotten wrong with me!

"That was fun." Avice stretched out her arms. "I haven't had such a great chat with Aoi in a long while."

Too bad that it was at the expense of my mission.

After this failure I choose to just follow with Avice and have her show me around the place. Oh, she also gave me one of her school outfits to wear for this, so I wasn't standing out. At the back of the building was a huge park-like field with trees and a fountain in the center; it looked so beautiful. There I also spotted a familiar person with blue and pink hair, sitting under a tree and observing the area.

"A nice day, isn't it?" I walked over to him and said.

"Hm?" Yusaku turned toward me all so suddenly; it seemed that I snapped him out of his thoughts or something. "Oh, it's you."

"Are you really going back to talking coldly to me after what you told me yesterday?" I narrowed my eyes at him.

"I don't remember even talking to you." So he was seriously going to act like the chat didn't happen?!

"What? You told me about Aoi Zaizen last night, remember? I tried to meet with that 'beautiful' girl, as you called her, but it was hard to start a conversation with her."

"How did you learn that I'm after Aoi Zaizen?" Is he for real?!

"You told me about all of this last night!"

"There are three reasons why what you are telling me is wrong." He shook his head and raised his fingers. "First, if I told you that I would have remembered it. Second, I know that you don't go to this school, so telling you about Zaizen would have been pointless. Third, this is something between me and Kusanagi, even if he accepts you as a part of the team, I don't. Therefor I have to desire to share any sort of information about our actions with you."

"A-are you really going to just say that?"

"Hey there!" My heart was going to jump out from the sudden call followed by Avice jumping on my back. "Oh, is that you friend? Maybe even your boy-fri-end~"

"Avice! I-I-It's not like that!" My cheeks were burning in embarrassment after she said that.

Yusaku and I were just friends. I didn't have any sort of feelings for him and it was obvious that he didn't have any either. We were just helping each other out, but Avice just had to make it all weird.

"Who is that?" After the initial surprise by Avice, I was meet by the freezing stare of Yusaku.

"Are you talking about me?" I whimpered as Avice pushed me aside and almost threw me on the ground. "My name is Avice Greyson, I'm here caretaker from today on! Oh, your Duel Disk has the sweating eye emoji as well!"

Wait, what?

I could feel mine and Yusaku's minds synchronizing for a moment as we both look down at his Duel Disk. In there, of course, was Ai's eye which was looking away and had digital sweat formed on top of it. Wait, could it be…

An A.I. that can talk and think like a real human being exists inside Yusaku's Duel Disk. In order to chat with other LINK VRAINS users you use the Duel Disk therefor…

"This is just a program that I plan to turn into a bad version of Microsoft Word later today." Yusaku replied before he stood up and left. I saw Ai crying inside the Duel Disk

I know that breaking someone's privacy deserves a punishment, but I think that Yusaku was going too hard on the poor thing.

Avice scratched the back of her neck and turned toward me.

"That guy seems weird, be careful around him." As if you are the one to talk about weird!

"H-hey, I hope you don't mind, but could I go back home now?" I failed to talk with Aoi and got completely rejected by Yusaku. At this point getting hit by a truck was a rather tempting idea.

"Yeah, you better go before any teacher comes to ask you about your ID card and stuff." Avice nodded and opened her backpack. "Here, we have made a third copy of the keys for you."

"Thanks." I bowed and took the keys for her before turning around to leave.

It might sound arrogantly and selfishly, but while going back toward the house I hoped that Rocketeer was online so I could sit down and complain to him about how everything that happened today was awful for me.

* * *

"So, what happened today?" Rocketeer asked me.

We were in the server with the flowers again, this time sitting on top of them across from each other. I hadn't told him that there were problems, but apparently at this point even just log-in in the same server was enough for him to read me. I wonder, was it possible for friends worse than me to exist in this world? I knew that I was burdening him with problems that weren't his to solve, but all of these things just needed to come out of me and I just couldn't control it!

"Do you have any idea about what Blue Angel might be like in the real world?" I went straight to the point. "I'm talking about her personality not look."

"Well, to be honest, guessing someone's real personality is just as hard as guessing how they look in real life." He replied shrugging; that wasn't very helpful. "Why are you asking?"

"Well…" I couldn't tell him that I needed to get close to her to get info for Playmaker. "After yesterday I thought that it wouldn't be awesome if I were to meet with Blue Angel in real life. But since I don't know what she could be like, I'm unsure if I will be able to talk with her."

"Heh, don't worry about that! Blue Angel is Blue Angel. I'm sure that she is the same in the real life as well. Energetic, cheerful, friendly, sexy." Sadly her real-self seemed more like the opposite of what Blue Angel was than a copy of it.

"What about your problem. Was that place you were going to look at good enough to live in?" Ah right, I told them about that, didn't I?

"The building is beautiful, inside is rather spacious and everything was top-notch. My bedroom was well equipped as well… There is one thing though."

"What is it, the owners?"

"Yes, the owners." I nodded. I didn't want to talk ill about Evan and Avice behind their back since they did so much about me and I knew that they were stalking me, but… "Don't get me wrong they are very nice toward me and seem to want to make my live in the house as pleasant as possible, but… They can also be really weird at times."

"You mean weird like wearing their underwear on their head, or?"

"No, not that." I don't even want to imagine what it would look like if they did something like that. "I don't know how to describe their weirdness. Maybe it's more of the social type, if there is something like that. They sometimes act and say things that a normal person would get in trouble for, if not even in jail. But they seemed to be able to get away with it somehow and… And sometimes I feel them trying to invade my privacy which annoys me, but I know them for just a few hours and things are already like this. I have no idea what to except from the later on."

"That sounds like a problem that you will need a more professional type of help to deal with."

That was a good piece of advice, but did it mean that I had to book an hour to the psychiatrist because of them? If anything, such an action would more likely cause my relationship with them to worse before anything else. Oh well, it won't hurt to write it down as a possible solution if things start to get weirder.

"You are always here to listen to me when I need help with something." I told Rocketeer and forced a smile for him. "I feel like I'm being nothing but a burden for you."

"Come on, don't say that!" Rocketeer exclaimed and stood up. "You are my best friend here, it's only natural that I would be there for you when you need me. I don't mind listening to your complains because it helps me figure out what kind of person you truly are."

"I bet what you found out about me so far is pretty bad, huh?" Of course, I couldn't blame anyone but myself for that.

"Actually, what I found out is that you are a pretty cute person." He grinned at me.

My cheeks burned once again from the compliment and I turned to slam my fist against the flower that I was sitting on top of. Why? Why was I so weak to accepting compliments from boys?! It wasn't fair!

"He-he-he! I got you to blush~" Please stop thinking of my feelings as some kind of game that you play!

 **Beep!**

The orb on top of my Duel Disk glowed as I got a message, which was weird since my only two contacts were Rocketeer and Playmaker. I was with the first right at the moment and the second wanted to have nothing to do with me, unless the message was from Ai instead. I opened it, and yep, it read the following:

'Playmaker is going to duel Blue Angel right now! You should come to watch it as well.'

Wait, weren't the two of them still at school at this time? How could they duel if there were classes? Oh well, Playmaker doesn't seem to care about his education all that much, but Aoi on the other hand appeared to take school as important.

"Are you going somewhere?" Rocketeer asked me.

"Oh, I got invited to watch a duel. Do you want to join?" I would feel happier if he came with me.

"Ah, no." He shook his head. "I got some things to do as well. But could you tell me on which server the duel is going to be?"

"I don't know, maybe in the city?" That was where Playmaker dueled all the time, so there.

"Ok, I will try to make it for you." He waved at me and jumped off the flower. "See ya!"

"Goodbye."

After Rocketeer left, I turned my attention back to my Duel Disk and began to input the coordinates that came with the message. Ai didn't have to message me, but I appreciated the effort this little guy was putting in its work. A flash fell over my body and all the flowers disappeared in an instant, getting replaced by huge buildings with the warm blue sky turning into a much darker tone. I looked around the area, but Playmaker hadn't shown up yet.

"Proxy? What are you doing here?" A voice called out for me.

"Blue Angel?" I turned to the side and saw her standing on top of a building across from mine. "I just happened to come here by accident. What about you, are you here to duel someone?"

"Yes, my opponent must show up any moment by now." She replied. "And there he is."

"Hm?" I looked around again and saw Playmaker walking next to me, holding his Duel Disk up while he scanned the area with his eyes.

"What are you doing here?" He noticed me and asked in a cold tone.

"I just happened to come here?" I tried to lie, but his eyes just narrowed, so it didn't work.

"Better get somewhere safer then because there seems to be a Knight of Hanoi nearby."

Huh? Is that how Ai tricked him into dueling Blue Angel? I'm happy that Ai is trying to help out as much as it could, but for an A.I. it is pretty stupid to keep pushing Yusaku's buttons like this. Heck, I was more worried for the poor thing's safety that Ai itself.

"I think that there is a mistake." I cleared my throat to get his attention, then gestured toward Blue Angel.

"Blue Angel…" Playmaker stated coldly.

"You finally made your decision." She replied.

I stepped back and let them discuss this between themselves. This wasn't too hard since both of them seemed to have forgotten that I existed.

"Decided what?"

"Enough! Still playing dumb?"

"Playing dumb?"

"You invited me here."

"I invited you?" Playmaker looked puzzled for a second before realizing what happened. "Ai, is this you doing as well?"

"Yes!" The little program sounded pretty happy despite how horrible this all could turn out for it.

"You tricked me?"

"What are you talking about? I didn't trick you. I said that there was a Knight of Hanoi and there she is. Right in front of you."

A Knight of Hanoi right in front of Playmaker? It can't be…

"Blue Angel." Ai continued. "Even though it's faint, I sense Hanoi in Aoi Zaizen's deck."

I turned to look back at Blue Angel. Could that be true? Was she really working with the Knights of Hanoi? My fist clenched without me controlling it, she was the sister of SOL Technologies' security managed and a Charisma Duelist, so why would she do something as evil as joining with a group that wants to destroy LINK VRAINS? And if she is a Hanoi then could Evan and Avice be associated with them too?

"So that's what you senses earlier?" Playmaker asked his partner. No, not me.

"I tried to tell you but you wouldn't listen." Ai narrowed its eye.

"But why did she join the Knights of Hanoi?"

"Who knows?" Ai responded. "Maybe they are using her as lure to hook you."

"I don't know much about dueling, but if she is Number Two then she definitely isn't a joke. Be careful, Playmaker." I told him.

"Wait, something isn't right here." Ai spoke. "I sense a second Hanoi somewhere nearby! What will you do, Playmaker? You were going to defeat all Hanoi, but you can't be at two places on the same time, can you?"

I stared at Playmaker who stood unmoving. A second Knight of Hanoi, I could be of help but, what if they are someone stronger than me? No, I already made my mind that I won't be dueling and it's not like Playmaker would agree to let me if I wanted to.

"By the time that you defeat Blue Angel the second Knight might escape." Ai continued. "You know that there is only one way to do this, right?"

"Proxy." Playmaker turned toward me and I knew what he was going to tell me.

I shook my head to decline. "Sorry, but this isn't something I can help with."

I'm not a duelist like Playmaker, nor a hero that could inspire others. I don't have the heart, nor soul needed to fight for others through my dueling. Playmaker nodded to my response and jumped off the building, as the wind blew through the city once again. I looked on as he and Blue Angel surfed through the data and got lost in the distance. Playmaker didn't mind my answer, probably he wanted me to decline that request, but even so, why did it felt like I was betraying him? Maybe I was just thinking too much about it.

I heard steps coming from behind me and turned around to see a girl in a gothic outfit standing in front of me with her lifeless eyes staring at mine. She looked familiar to me, but I didn't immediately recognized who she was. She slowly moved toward me, her black hair covering most of the face except for her open mouth and the fangs inside of it. I tried to take a step back and possible jump on my D-Board to escape, but the moment my body moved just a bit she immediately disappeared from view.

"What the-!" I felt an extraordinary pain in my stomach.

The vampire girl's face appeared just a few inches from mine and she hissed at me while the pain in my stomach increased. I instinctively moved my hand to my belly, but the other girl's hand was already there so I looked down. I-it can't be, the pain was because her arm carved a hole through my body. I raised my eyes and meet her red ones, this time I got a better view of her face and was able to recognize her. It was Gloomy Ruby, one of the Charisma Duelists that Rocketeer introduced me to a few days ago.

I grabbed her arm with both of mine and tried to pull it out of my stomach, but she pushed it further, I screamed at the agonizing pain that ran through my system. Gloomy Ruby stared at me for a moment and opened her mouth, stabbing her fangs into my neck. My throat began to hurt while I cried out and slowly dragged myself to take a step back. Only for my body to completely fall from the edge of the building with the cyber vampire holding onto my wounds.

"Get off." I whispered and pried to push her again while we felt.

"Huuusssshhh!" The girl bite harder onto my neck, causing my body to stop move.

Her fangs paralyzed my account. I couldn't move a single part of my body let alone summon my D-Board. There were warnings that if you fall from too high in LINK VRAINS the damage caused to the brain would kill a person and I was descending closer to the ground with each second. I had no idea what to do, was there even a way to avoid death in this situation. Despite falling with me, Gloomy Ruby didn't seem to care, not even one bit. But I did… I didn't want to die here! I wanted to survive and go back home, meet with Elizabeth once more, so I needed to live.

"G-get…o-o-off…" I whispered and tightened my hold on her arm. "Get… off… G-get off… GET OFF ME!"

Using all the strength that I could muster I bend my body into a ball and then kicked her in the stomach with both of my legs at once. Ruby let go off my neck and cried out as she was completely pushed away from me while we were falling. Using the chance, I called for my D-Board which formed right under me and my body fell on top of it with a thud. I took a deep breath in relief and put a hand over the hole in my stomach which started to regenerate as soon as Gloomy Ruby let go. But why was she acting so weird and attacked me in the first place?

" _Speed Duel. On!_ " An automatic voice called and my Duel Disk came to live.

"Eh?" I jumped into a sitting position and looked at the screen of my Duel Disk.

 **『** **Proxy LP: 4000 Hand: 4 (VS) Gloomy Ruby LP: 4000 Hand: 4** **』**

Gloomy Ruby was surfing on a black, red and golden D-Board behind mine, holding her left arm out while she followed after me. I never accepted any duel requests so how did she force me into this?

"W-why did you attack me?" I asked her while trying to stand back up.

"Aaaaaaaaaaa!" Gloomy Ruby threw her head back and let out a deafening cry as her hair began to float and bloody red mist came out of her body. She looked eerie, like something right out from a horror story.

"I will destroy you!" She screamed and moved in front of me. "My turn! I set a monster, turn end!"

A facedown card formed between me and Gloomy Ruby. This sort of sudden aggression toward me and her attempt to murder me a while ago were puzzling my mind. My heart was beating faster from the adrenaline, Ai did mentioned that there were two of Hanoi nearby, so could Ruby be the second one? I gulped and looked down at my deck, my hand was trembling once again and I started to lose feelings in my legs. Come on, deep breath. I was already locked in this duel, so I had to give my best to survive it.

"M-my turn!" I declared, drawing a card.

 **『** **Turn 2 [Proxy] LP: 4000 Hand: 5** **』**

The hand that I drew wasn't strong at all! There was almost nothing serious that I could do with it at the moment. Damn it! But she had just one card on her field, so I didn't have any Spell and Trap cards to worry about for the moment.

"I summon _BrioGear Wave Crusade (Lv.4, ATK: 1700)_!" I pointed forward as the familiar warrior appeared before me, holding a sword. "I activate Wave Crusader's effect! With this I can discard Water monsters to increase his attack by 300! I discard _BrioGear Octobat_!"

 **BrioGear Wave Crusade, ATK: 1700 + 300 → 2000**

"Pointless! Raising attack points is useless!" Ruby shouted back at me.

I bit my lip, did her set card have more defense than my monster's attack? No, she was probably just bluffing to discourage me from attacking. But maybe she was using reverse philosophy and wanted me to attack her instead? What was I supposed to do in that situation?

"I activate the effect of Octobat that was send to my Graveyard." A small portal formed and a fish came out of it. "When it's discarded I get to Special Summon a _BrioGear Bat Token (Lv.1, DEF: 100)_!"

I looked down at my hand, there was still one more monster that I could discard to increase Wave Crusade's attack by 300, but if I did, I would be left without a good playmaker for next turn. My monster's attack was currently at 2000 so even if she had something with a stronger defense I wouldn't take more than 1000 damage. Ok, I'm attacking then!

"Battle! _BrioGear Wave Crusade_ destroy her face-down card!" I ordered.

My monster summoned a wave of water that build around its blade, increasing it in length and swung it down upon Ruby's field. The face-down card turned into a turtle with a pyramid on its back before it got slice in two by the attack.

"Pyramid Turtle's effect activates!" Ruby stated and a blue portal appeared before her. "When it gets destroyed by battle, a Zombie with two thousand or less defense can be Special Summoned from my deck. Appear, _Vampire Brood (Lv.2, ATK: 1200)_!"

A wolf jumped out of the portal and in front of Ruby. The left side of its body was white like snow, but the right was made of a black shadow with a glowing red eye and huge fangs filling its mouth. The beast stuck out its long snake-like tongue and licked its mouth staring up at me.

"When _Vampire Brood_ is Special Summoned I can pay five hundred life points to get a Vampire Spell or Trap card from my deck to the hand. I add _Vampire Territory_!"

 **『** **Gloomy Ruby LP: 4000 – 500** → **3500** **』**

'So she is playing a vampire deck?' I thought based on the cards she showed me so far.

"Now, I will enter my second Main Phase and set a card!" I declared, placing the card down on my Duel Disk, but it got rejected and returned to my hand. "What the?"

"There is no second Main Phase in Speed Duels!" Gloomy Ruby reminded me. "So, hurry up. Hurry and end you turn so I could destroy you!"

I gulped and looked at my hand again. The trap I wanted to set was meant to protect me from attacks and the rest of the cards were useless at the moment. Ok, no need to get stressed, if she declared an attack against me during the next turn, I would use my skill to discard _BrioGear Freakiver_ and increase _Wave Crusade_ 's attack for the turn. But it would be best if I succeeded to avoid this duel all along.

"Please, tell me why you want to destroy so much!" I pleaded her. "I don't even know you or what I could have done to you to ear such a deep hatred."

"You are in my way! Everyone… Everyone is in my way! You all enjoy to watch me suffer so now I will make everyone suffer because of that!"

I sighed and turned to look forward. There was no point to try and talk with her it seemed, Gloomy Ruby had completely snapped for some reason. And that red mist around her, staring at it gave me chills.

"I end my turn here." Not like I had anything else to do.

"My turn then. Draw!"

 **『** **Turn 3 [Gloomy Ruby] LP: 3500 Hand: 5** **』**

"I summon _Vampire Sorcerer (Lv.4, ATK: 1500)_!" A pale skinned human in witch clothes appeared on the field holding a bat-shapped rod.

Gloomy Ruby glanced back at me before bringing her hand to her mouth. She bite it and tore off the skin, revealing red data floating through the inside. The girl threw her arm upward and the red data flew out of the wound, opening a circuit in the sky; a Link Summon was coming!

"Appear, bloody circuit of death!" She exclaimed as her two monsters turned into bloody whirlwinds and flew in the arrows. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two Zombie monsters! I set _Vampire Brood_ and _Vampire Sorcerer_ in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Vampire Sucker (ATK: 1600, Link-2)_!"

A young blond girl with angelic wings and wearing a white sunny dress flew out of the circuit. She sat in the air over to Ruby and winked while a screen of her stats was shown to me.

"This is the card that will bring your death!" Ruby exclaimed. "Once per turn, _Vampire Sucker_ can user her effect to Special Summon a monster from your Graveyard in Defense Position, but it becomes a zombie. Bring back _BrioGear Octobat (DEF: 200)_!"

The said card came out of my Graveyard zone and I had no choice but to do as she asked me to, putting the card on my Duel Disk along with my two other monsters. At least I had bigger numbers than her and one stronger monster. Talking about strength…

"I activate _BrioGear Octobat_ 's effect!" I stated. "When it's Special Summoned all of your monsters lose two hundred attack for each water monster on my field. There was three monsters on my field so _Vampire Sucker_ loses six hundred points until the end of this turn!"

 **Vampire Sucker** **, ATK: 1** **6** **00** **–** **3** **x2** **00 →** **1000**

"Because of your own effect now your monster is much weaker than mine!" I smirked a little, there was no way for her to attack me now.

"When a zombie is Special Summoned _Vampire Sucker_ lets me draw a card." Ruby told me and added another card to her hand, bringing it back to 5. "Now, I will discard Vampire Takeover to activate the effect of _Vampire Brood_ in my Graveyard. It Special Summons itself!"

'She is going to search for a card again.' I thought, knowing that this was why she would bring back that monster. 'But to do so she must pay five hundred life points so during my next turn she will be down to just three thousand. That's perfect!'

"When _Vampire Brood_ is Special Summoned, I pay 500 life points to add a Vampire Spell or Trap from my deck to the hand." Ruby raised her hand forward and a card materialized in it. "I add Vampire Domination and then set it."

 **『** **Gloomy Ruby LP: 3500 – 500** → **3000** **』**

She got a trap ready for next turn. Is she planning to use it to counter my attacks?

"Now, I will activate _Vampire Territory_ from my hand!" A spell card materialized on the field just a moment before disappearing. " _Vampire Territory_ 's effect lets me pay five hundred life points to Normal Summon once again during this turn."

 **『** **Gloomy Ruby LP: 3000 – 500** **→ 2500** **』**

'She almost cut down her life in half during a single turn. If this keeps up I won't have anything to worry about.'

"Now, for the last effect of _Vampire Sucker_." The young girl winked and then several black spikes came out of her wings, all of which stabbed my _Octobat_. "If I'm going to tribute I can use a zombie controlled by my opponent as the tribute. So come out, _Vampire Red Baron (Lv. 6, ATK: 2400)_!"

My monster was absorbed by the spikes and a black coffin appeared on its place. A horseman in heavy black armor with a spear in its arm came out of it and joined my opponent's side of the field. That would be bad, but I had a counter if she chose to attack me.

"Battle. I will use _Vampire Red Baron_ to attack _BrioGear Wave Crusade_!" The black horseman charged at my monster which held its own weapon ready for the crash.

"Yes!" That was just what I wanted her to do! "I now activate my skill! Miracle of Life!"

I took the monster I wanted to discard from my hand and raised my hand to let _Wave Crusade_ absorb its strength, but instead of that my arm got zapped several times. I yelped and fell on my knees feeling the pain reaching all the way to my shoulder. The attack didn't stop through and my monster got destroyed.

 **『** **Proxy LP: 4000 – 400** **→ 3600** **』**

"W-why didn't my skill activate?" I looked down at my hand, what went wrong this time around?

"You are just pathetic." Ruby crashed her D-Board against mine, almost knocking me. "The skill that you tried to activate can be used only during your battle phase! Since this is my turn and my battle phase your ability can't be activated!"

No, I messed it up again!

"I'm not done yet." Ruby shook her head. "When a Vampire monster inflicts damage to you, I gain that much Life Points!"

 **『** **Gloomy Ruby LP: 2500 + 400** → **2** **900** **』**

"Moreover, when _Vampire Red Baron_ destroys a monster by battle, I can Special Summon it on my side of the field. Come to me, _BrioGear Wave Crusade (Lv.4, ATK: 1700)_!"

"You stole my monster!" Now I had a single token to protect me while she had three monsters that had yet to declare an attack against me!

" _Vampire Sucker_ , get rid of this token!" The blonde vampire fired her spikes at my monster once again, stabbing it several times before it got destroyed. " _BrioGear Wave Crusade_ , _Vampire Brood_ attack her directly!"

Both monsters jumped on me stabbing and biting me respectively. I cried out and collapsed on my knees from the pain that their attacks inflicted on me. There were red marks all over my body to show where exactly they hit me.

 **『** **Proxy LP: 3600 – 1700 - 1200 → 15** **00** **』**

"Since a vampire inflicted damage, Vampire Territory increases my life points by that amount!" the red mist around Ruby became larger as her life points increased.

 **『** **Gloomy Ruby LP: 2900 + 1200** **→ 4** **100** **』**

I grabbed my head with both of my hands and hit it against my D-Board. I messed up a big time and that could cost me the whole duel, or even worse, my life. Without help from Playmaker I would stand no chance in this or any other duel. My gaze averted toward the red mist that covered Ruby's body, was that how the face of my doom would look like? No, focus! I had to look at what was in front of me, not to win, but to try and survive this encounter for long enough to get help from Playmaker!

"Come on, I end my turn!" Ruby threw her arms to the sides. The attack of Vampire Sucker returned to its original values after the effect of Octobat ended. "Draw a card and make your move! Show me what you are made off!"

I clenched my fist and stood back up, putting a hand on top of my deck. I had to build a good defense to avoid any more direct attacks during her next turn, but with just one monster in my hand, even if I were to set it, Ruby would just destroy it and attack me with her remaining monsters. It all relied on the next card that I was going to draw!

"My turn. Draw!" I exclaimed, taking my next card.

 **『** **Turn 4 [Proxy] LP: 1500 Hand: 4** **』**

I looked at the card that I just drew, it was a monster alright, but it had five stars, therefor it was a level 5 and I needed to release something in order to summon it. Damn it! My hand was dead! The only options I had left was to try and gamble it all on Freakiver's effect and hope to get some good cards from the top of my deck.

"I set a card." I stared not wanting to forget setting my trap like I did last turn. "I Normal Summon _BrioGear Freakiver (Lv.3, ATK: 1100)_!"

The zombie appeared on my field and hissed while holding a dice in its arms. May the goodness of luck be with me for this roll!

"I activate _BrioGear Freakiver_ 's effect!" I exclaimed as two gears going through one another appeared in the monster's hands. "I roll a six-sided dice and reveal a number of cards from the top of my Deck equal to the number rolled! Then one of the cards I reveal will be added to my hand and another send to the Graveyard!"

"Useless, useless!" Ruby yelled while shaking her head to the sides. "When a card or monster effect is activated while I control a Vampire, I can activate the Counter Trap, _Vampire Domination_!"

The card she set last turn flipped face up and a hundred bats came out of it, flying over my monster and completely taking over it. I was only able to see one of its arms that wasn't covered by the bats and how it slowly began to get limp as they sucked out the blood of my monster.

"This trap negates the activation of your monster's effect and destroys it." Ruby explained to me as the red mist grew ever larger. "Then as a bonus, I gain life equal to its attack power."

 **『** **Gloomy Ruby LP: 4100 + 1100** **5200** **』**

"No, no, no!" I messed this up! "Come on, there has to be something that I could use!"

I looked at the cards in my hand once again. The level 5 monster was useless, but there was a spell that could add water monsters from the Graveyard to my hand. Right! I could use this to bring back Freakiver and use its effect again! She doesn't have any other counter traps on her field to negate it with.

"I activate the Spell Card, Salvage!" I exclaimed as the card formed next to me. "When this card is activated I can add two water monsters with a thousand and five hundred or less attack from my graveyard to the hand. I return _BrioGear Freakiver_ and _BrioGear Octobat_!"

"So you got them back, huh?" Ruby titled her head to the side. "Well, you already used your normal summon for the turn, so you can't use them anyway!"

My eyes widened, I remembered the rule about only one normal summon per turn. Ah, I completely messed this up! But at least my trap would be able to defend me for a single turn, so I still had a bit of hope left. At least if Ruby didn't have a second of that trap in her hand.

"Turn end." I muttered.

"Was that all? I expected that defeating someone like you would be more satisfying, but you are just another bug." I bit my lips at the insult. She was right, I was a weakling and stood no chance to defeat her.

"You don't have anything to respond with? How Pitiful." Gloomy Ruby brought her Duel Disk up to her chest level. "How about I put you down then? My turn. Draw!"

 **『** **Turn 5 [Gloomy Ruby] LP: 5200 Hand: 3** **』**

"Hm, I could end you with this field, but that set card… I don't like it!" I bit my lip, hoping that she wouldn't destroy my last card. "I activate _Vampire Desire_ from my hand! With this spell's, effect I send _Vampire's Curse_ from my deck to the Graveyard in order to increase _Vampire Brood_ 's level to six!"

For bats appeared around the beast and it absorbed them all, getting slightly taller than it originally was.

 **Vampire Brood** **,** **Level: 2** → **6**

"Further, I activate the effect of _Al Dhampir – Vampire Sheridan_ in my Extra Deck!" She exclaimed as her deck began to glow.

"An effect from the Extra Deck?!" Did such effects even exist?

"For its Xyz Summon, if I use a monster owned by my opponent, I can treat that monster's level as six!" Ruby pointed as two bats appeared next to my monster and infused with it.

 **BrioGear Wave Crusade,** **Level: 4** → **6**

"My blood and bones might turn to ashes but a vampire's dark soul will always live on!" A portal in the shape of a galactic formed in the sky as _Wave Crusader_ , _Brood_ and _Red Baron_ were absorbed by it. "The summoning conditions are two or more level six monsters! I overlay _BrioGear_ _Wave Crusader_ , _Vampire_ _Brood_ and _Vampire_ _Red Baron_! Xyz Summon! Rank six! _Al Dhampir – Vampire Sheridan (RANK: 6, ATK; 2600)_!"

A band of bats came flying out of the portal and fused into a tall man with blonde hair and red eyes. He was wearing a white, black and red outfit with a long black cape and a stick in his right hand. Three purple orbs were flying around its body.

"I activate _Al Dhampir – Vampire Sheridan_ 's effect!" The vampire grabbed one of the orbs and turned it into a bat. "I detach one of its Xyz materials to send a card you control to the Graveyard. I send your set card of course."

The little bat flew over to my set Drowning Mirror Force and bit onto it, making it disappear from the field. I fell on my knees in shock, the last line of defense that I had was taken out with the snap of a finger. The two vampires stared me down with their fangs visible, both of their attack values were higher than my life points it was just a question of which one Ruby would choose to attack me with. I took a deep breath and awaited for the end.

"Go, _Al Dhampir – Vampire Sheridan_ , kill her!" The monster turned into bats and flew straight at me.

"I'm sorry." I gazed at the cards in my hand one last time. I'm sorry, Playmaker, Kusanagi, everyone to whom I owed.

Wait, why were two of my cards glowing?

"AAAAAAAAA!" I didn't have much time to think as the bats flew pass me, biting me. I grabbed the glowing cards and well… did something with them…

"Well that was a pretty one-sided fight, huh?" I stared at Ruby and held a hand over my wounds as the bats passed through me, leaving me alone.

 **『** **Proxy LP: 1500 – 1200** → **3** **00** **』**

"H-how are you alive?" That was a good question, even I didn't know what the card was able to do.

"Um… let's see…" I opened my Graveyard and looked at the effects. " _ **BrioGear Bubble Sea**_ : When I take battle damage I can discard this card with one other monster to reduce the damage by their combined defense."

* * *

 **BrioGear Bubble Sea**

 **Level:** **5** **/Attribute: WATER/Type:** **Aqua** **/Effect**

 **ATK:** **2100** **/DEF:** **1** **200**

 **Effect:** **If this card is sent to the GY as material for a Link Summon: You can make all Link Monsters you controls gain 1000 ATK until the end of the next turn. At damage calculation (Quick Effect): You can discard this card and 1 other WATER monster in your hand to the GY; reduce the battle damage you would take by the combined DEF of the monsters sent to the Graveyard to activate this card. If you use this effect this turn, during the End Phase: You can Special Summon 1 of the monsters discarded for this effect and 1 monster with the same level from your Deck but they have their effects negated.**

* * *

"I used its effect to discard itself and _Octobat_ so the damage I took was reduced by one thousand and four hundred." Just enough to let me survive the attack. "Also, because _Octobat_ was discarded, a _BrioGear Bat Token (Lv.1, DEF: 100)_ appears on my field."

"Don't hurry to be happy. I activate _Al Dhampir – Vampire Sheridan_ 's second effect!" The vampire absorbed another of its spheres and a portal appeared before him. "If a monster is send to the graveyard because of a card effect I can use a Xyz material to Special Summon it in defense position. Come serve me, _BrioGear Bubble Sea_!"

The monster that appeared was a muscular blue humanoid with greenish chestplates and palms with large fins on the back of its neck and arms. Its legs were made of several tentacles wrapped together to form stronger limbs with two clock gears locked to them. A helical gear was stuck in the middle of its chest and grinding with white energy beating inside of it. The beast's head had two tentacles on its lower jaw like moustaches, but lacked mouth. Its eyes were yellow with sharp pupils and a golden spur gear was stuck on top of its head like a pair of horns.

As my monster appeared on Gloomy Ruby's side of the field it turned to face her and outstretched its arms forward, releasing a warm blue light from two holes in its palms directly into her face. I heard her scream and try to cover her face as the red mist began to shake uncontrollably.

"W-what?" The red mist around Gloomy Ruby became smaller as she grabbed her head. "Where am I?"

'She doesn't remember?' I thought and looked at Bubble Sea. 'Did my monster just brought her back to her senses?'

"Y-you are the girl that Rocketeer brought, right?" She asked me while trying to remain standing. "Why are you dueling me?"

"Don't you remember?" I asked her. "You just tried to push me off a building and then followed after me, forcing me to duel you."

"I would never do that!" She shouted at me. "I don't know even how-! Aaaaaaahhh!"

She cried out and fell on her knees, holding her head as the red mist began large once again. She crimson smoke flew into her mouth and she threw her head back as something began to happen. Her eyes lost all features remaining only two glowing red orbs and the black hair that covered her face began to float madly while small spark of electricity came from her body.

" _Vampire Sucker_ , destroy the Bat Token!" Her monster stabbed through my monster, destroying it. "I end my turn!"

'What is going on with her?' I wondered while her persona changed once again.

"Hurry! Hurry! End your turn!" She kept shouting at me while I was trying to figure out what was going on.

"Due to Bubble Sea's effect, during the end of the turn, I can Special Summon _BrioGear Octobat (Lv.1, DEF: 200)_ and _BrioGear Cryo Raptor (Lv.1, DEF: 100)_ from my graveyard and deck respectively with their effects negated!" I reminded her that two of my monsters came out to protect me.

The red mist that surrounded her body, the sudden changes in her behavior and her inability to remember any of it happening. What was wrong with this Charisma Duelist all of a sudden?

 _Maybe they are using her as lure to hook you._

Ai's words flashed through my mind. That was it! It sensed Hanoi in Blue Angel's Duel Disk, not on her avatar and there were two Knights of Hanoi nearby when it said that. In what way could they be able to use two Charisma Duelists as a lure to catch Playmaker? Blackmail would be possible, but Gloomy Rose seemed to be trying to fight something a moment ago. Could it be…

It was a crazy, maybe even insane theory, but what if the Knights of Hanoi controlled the girls' brains? Brainwashing, or just brain control. But if I was right about it, how would I be supposed to save Ruby from it and break whatever program was causing all of her suffering? Maybe the Greysons were right about the reality of how this place functioned after all. Even if I didn't duel out of fear from the Hanoi, they would stull use innocent people to try and lure out Playmaker. I couldn't fight them, my strength wasn't enough for that, but in order to save those whose lives were affected by their evil deeds…

I put two fingers on top of my deck and closed my eyes. I wasn't a skilled duelist but the mistakes I made were amateurs, I had to calm down and collect my mind. This wasn't Hanoi that I fought, but one of the people whom they victimized.

'I don't know your full capabilities yet, but please deck, answer to my desire and give me something that could turn this match around!'

"My turn!" I gripped the card and pulled it with all of my strength, drawing it. "DRAW!"

 **『** **Turn 6 [Proxy] LP: 300 Hand: 2** **』**

I turned the card to look at it, yet another new monster that I never got to use before. As I looked at it I felt something going in my head, it was like some sort of data transfer. For a moment a small and simple math equation popped in my mind: **2 + 3 = 5**

"I Normal Summon _BrioGear Freakiver (Lv.3, ATK: 1100)_!" The zombie appeared on my field once again.

"That monster again…" Ruby hissed back at me.

"I activate _BrioGear Freakiver_ 's effect!" I exclaimed as the two gears began to rotate around the dice in my monster's arms before it got thrown. "I roll a six-sided dice and reveal a number of cards from the top of my Deck equal to the number rolled! Then one of the cards I reveal will be added to my hand and another send to the Graveyard!"

The dice stopped rolling on the number 3 so I took three cards from the top of my deck and looked at them. A monster and two spells, if I added the monster I would be unable to summon it this turn so it would be a death card, but if I send it to the graveyard then Rub's vampire would steal it unless… The card I drew at the start of the turn, of course!

"Using the effect of _BrioGear Freakiver_ I will add _**BrioGear Storm Formation**_ to the hand and send _BrioGear Leviathan Dragon_ to the graveyard!"

"Is that all?" Ruby asked me.

"Um… Aren't you going to use the effect of _Al Dhampir – Vampire Sheridan_ to take my monster from the Graveyard?" I asked.

" _Al Dhampir – Vampire Sheridan_ can only use its effects during my turn." She hissed back at me.

"Oh… Well then… I will discard _**BrioGear Effect Slime**_ to negate the effects of a Special Summoned monster and halve its attack!" Thankfully my effect didn't need to chain in order to activate, but it was less dramatic this way. "I choose _Al Dhampir – Vampire Sheridan_ as the target of this effect!"

* * *

 **BrioGear Effect Slime**

 **Level:** **2** **/Attribute: WATER/Type:** **Fish** **/** **Tuner/** **Effect**

 **ATK:** **0** **/DEF:** **1500**

 **Effect:** **If this card is Special Summoned as a part of the effect of a "BrioGear" card or WATER monster, you can add 1 Level 4 or lower "BrioGear" monster from your Deck to your hand. (Quick Effect): You can send this card from your hand to the GY, then target 1 Special Summoned monster on the field; that face-up monster has its effects negated, also halve its ATK.**

* * *

 **Al Dhampir – Vampire Sheridan, ATK: 2600 /2** → **1300**

"With this everything is prepared. Come forth, circuit of life!" I generated two waves of water from my hands, grabbing _Octobat_ and _Cryo Raptor_ and then slammed my palms together, sending the BrioGears inside the arrows.

"Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two Level 3 or lower monsters! I set _BrioGear_ _Octobat_ and _Cryo Raptor_ in the Link Markers!" My monsters flew at the top middle and bottom middle arrows of the circuit. "Link Summon! The dancing spirit of storms! _Grand Ranger Serene (ATK: 2100, LINK-2)_!"

"Is that your ace?" Ruby narrowed her eyes. I couldn't tell how they always knew what my ace was, but everyone was right about Serene.

"I activate _BrioGear Leviathan Dragon_ 's effect from my graveyard. I banish _Octobat_ and _Cryo Raptor_ to Special Summon it!" The huge water dragon appeared on my field with 2600 attack points! "Now, I use its second effect to revive _BrioGear Effect Slime_ _(Lv.2, DEF: 1500)_ from my Graveyard!"

On the field formed a small pink half human girl, half dolphin with two phosphorescent lights on her head. A miter gear was attached to each side of her dolphin body allowing her to float over the ground. She wore a long sleeveless white dress decorated with yellow frills around the edges and gears off different sizes and colors over them. She wore a medallion with a silver spur gear on it around her neck and had a large yellow ribbon tied around her tail. She had glassy blue eyes and long aqua hair with a yellow headband with three small gear ornaments on top of it.

"When Effect Slime is Special Summoned I can add a level four or lower BrioGear to my hand. I choose _BrioGear Pale Crawfish_!" I showed the card to Ruby before adding it to my hand.

Now everything was in place. Time to try do something I never did in a duel before this. I clenched my fist and looked at my monsters.

"To the deeps of the ocean I call for the strength to protect this world!" I exclaimed taking the cards of two of my monsters off the Duel Disk. "Summoning conditions are a water tuner and one or more non-tuner monsters! I tune _BrioGear Freakiver_ to _BrioGear Effect Slime_! Synchro Summon! Slash through the endless waves of evil! _**BrioGear Howling Guardian**_!"

A beam of light shot through the sky and a mechanical monster came out of it. The creature's body was made of multiple small aqua blue, green and black plates covering its body in a seemingly random arrangement with some of them sticking out like spikes. Its head had two black circular gears attached to the top of its head and one single black blade coming out of its forehead. Its mouth was covered by a blue plate, its eyes were yellow and lacking any features other than their soft glow. Its shoulders were much larger than expected and the same of dragon heads, while the elbows had crystalized fins that seemed to functionate as blades. A glowing green crystal was coming out of the beast's chest, its kneels were shaped like dragon heads as well, a large armored plate came from the side of each one of them with a large fin attached, giving off the appearance of wings that were attached to the monster's knees. Below that its legs were bend backward and had black skin without any plating covering it. The monster held a long spear made of the same plates that covered its body and held a glowing blue crystal in the center with two golden gears rotating around it.

* * *

 **BrioGear Howling Guardian**

 **Level:** **5** **/Attribute: WATER/Type:** **Beast-Warrior** **/** **Synchro/** **Effect**

 **ATK:** **2400** **/DEF:** **1400**

 **1 WATER Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters**

 **Effect:** **Once per turn: You can discard 1 card, then target 1 card your opponent controls; destroy it. If a Water monster that you control inflicts battle damage to your opponent: Gain that much LP.**

* * *

"A Synchro Summon?!" Ruby exclaimed.

"When Howling Guardian is summoned, I can discard a card to destroy a card that you control! I choose _BrioGear Bubble Sea_! Scare Chase!" My monster raised its spear and a wave of data came crashing down onto Bubble Sea, destroying it.

"Lastly, I activate the Continuous Spell, _BrioGear Storm Formation_!" The card showed _Grand Ranger Serene_ , _BrioGear Freakiver_ and a knight in blue armor all creating a storm from inside a blue magical circle.

* * *

 **BrioGear Storm Formation (Spell) Continuous**

 **Once while this card is face-up on the field, when your opponent Special Summon monster(s) during the Battle Phase: You can return 1 face-up "BrioGear" monster you control with ATK equal or higher than the Special Summoned monster(s) with the highest ATK; shuffle the Special Summoned monster(s) into the deck. Once per turn (Quick Effect): If a WATER monster was send from your hand or Deck to the GY during the Battle Phase this turn, you can pay 1000 LP; Special Summon 1 of those monsters.**

* * *

"Battle! I attack _Al Dhampir – Vampire Sheridan_ with _BrioGear Howling Guardian_!" The shoulder pads of my monster opened and the gears inside began to build themselves together, creating two small cannons. " _Back Blast_!"

"I activate the effect of _Vampire Fraulein_ from my hand!" A black umbrella formed on the field followed by a woman in a black dress with 2000 defense. "When a monster declares an attack I can Special Summon this card from my hand!"

"Then I will activate the effect of _Storm Formation_!" I exclaimed. "I return _BrioGear Leviathan Dragon_ to my hand to return your monster back to the deck!"

My dragon opened its mouth and fired a stream of water that washed _Vampire Fraulein_ off the field before it returned to my hand as well. With this, the attack was able to continue and Howling Guardian's missiles hit the Xyz Monster, blowing it up.

 **『** **Gloomy Ruby LP: 5200 - 1100** → **4100** **』**

"As _Howling Guardian_ inflicted damage to you its second effect increases my Life Points by the same amount." My monster pointed its spear toward me and rain fell on top of my body.

 **『** **Proxy** **LP: 300 + 1100** → **1400** **』**

"Next, _Grand Ranger Serene_ will attack _Vampire Sucker_!"

Serene turned her left hand into a fist and pushed it forward. The shield opened and a small blue orb came out as the blades underneath were drawn out and obtained glowing writings which matched the orb. The orb turned into an energy string that connected the two ends, turning them into a bow. She grabbed the arrow I threw her and put it in, aiming at the vampire.

"At this point, I will activate my skill! _Miracle of Life_!" I blue arrow made of light formed in my hand as I threw it at Serene. "Once per duel, when a WATER monster I control battles, I can discard a WATER monster and transfer its attack power to the fighting monster! I discard _BrioGear Leviathan Dragon_ to give Serene its power!"

"W-what?!"

 **Grand Ranger Serene, ATK: 2100 + 2600 → 4700**

"Go! _Last Serenity_!" I threw my arm forward in time with my monster firing her bow. The blue arrow pierced through the Vampire Sucker's heart, making her body glow as chunks of it began to break off.

 **『** **Gloomy Ruby LP: 4100 - 3100** → **1000** **』**

"The effect of _Grand Ranger Serene_ activates!" My monster aimed her bow at Ruby. "When she inflicts damage to the opponent, I can send a monster she is linked to in the Graveyard and inflict its original attack to you as damage. I send _BrioGear_ _Howling Guardian_ to the Graveyard to inflict two thousand and four hundred points of damage to you!"

"Why you… AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" The red mist around Ruby's body bursted upward while she held a card in her hand. "I activate my skill! _**Blood Supply**_! By Tributing a Vampire monster on my fiend or in my hand I gain life points equal to its attack! I release _Vampire Grimson_ in my hand to gain two thousand life points!"

 **『** **Gloomy Ruby LP: 1000 + 2000** → **3000** **』**

 **『** **Gloomy Ruby LP: 3000 - 2400** → **600** **』**

I bite my lip and tried to look around the field. I had to find something to beat her with during this turn, but my monsters all had finished their attacks. Ah right, my spell! I looked at the information about the field and indeed my spell could still activate an effect.

"Yes!" I pumped my fists. "I activate the effect of _BrioGear_ _Storm Formation_. By giving up a thousand life points I can Special Summon a monster that was Special Summoned during the Battle Phase! I choose _BrioGear Leviathan Dragon (Lv.7, ATK: 2600)_!"

 **『** **Proxy** **LP: 1400 - 1000** → **400** **』**

"Attack her directly!" I pointed at Ruby and my dragon prepared to strike.

"You… I hate you! I hate you! I HATE YOU!" I closed my eyes and turned away as my dragon unleashed its attack, taking out the last of my opponent's life points.

 **『** **Gloomy Ruby LP: 600 - 2600** → **0** **』**

 **『** **Winner: Proxy** **』**

As the duel ended, the strength of my monster's attack send Ruby off her D-Board and she crashed into the roof of a building. I went over to her and kneeled down to cheek how she was. Since it was a virtual world avatars didn't have pulse, but she wasn't waking up.

"Come on, get up." I grabbed her and tried to shake her, but her body remained limp. "Hey… That's not funny."

Oh god please tell me that I didn't just kill someone with my dueling!

* * *

 **Skill:**

 _ **Blood Supply**_ **:** **If you would take damage or pay Life Points, you can** **Tribute 1 Vampire monster that you control or is in your hand and gain LP equal to its ATK.**

* * *

 **A/N: With 28 pages and more than 16k words, this is the longest chapter so far! Yey! *reaches out to grab the handgun and put an end to all of this***

 **A lot of important things happened in this chapter. Roxy learned a bit more about what is happening around her and Playmaker seems to be starting to thrust her a tiny bit. But not that much.** **We saw Roxy feel an emotion that isn't connected to self-pitty or a desire to do good. This is the first time she gets annoyed with someone and that are of course the Greyson siblings. Poor girl, but neither she nor you guys know her weird and crazy Evan and Avice can be.**

 **Talking about Evan, despite him being named in this chapter, he actually appeared many times before in this story. So as a small game, could you guys tell every chapter in which he showed up? Of course you can read back (which I'm sure you will) I just want to see if you could** **recognize him without the name. Tell me your answers in your reviews!**

 **On another topic, I'm planning to make a small 'side arc' set after Playmaker curing Blue Angel from the Hanoi virus. 'Technically' this chapter would be a detour from canon since no such thing happened in the anime, but not that much since it isn't connected to the story of the main characters. Not to spoil anything, but its going to be about Proxy, Evan and Ghost Girl dealing with the underworld of LINK VRAINS and it will probably be around 2-3 chapters long. I just bring that up because I wonder what you think about it and if you would mind me adding such little** **'side arcs' later on featuring my OCs and some of the less ultilized characters in VRAINS (Pretty much anyone that isn't Yusaku, Ai or Kusanagi tbh).**

 **I want to thank** Black Cat Angel **for favoriting this and** Perith99 **for following it.**

 **Now to the reviews.**

 **A response to** MusicianWish **: I find it a little funny how when you write a review I pretty much answer most of the things you affected in your review even though I didn't mean to!** **I don't know yet how Homura and Roxy would react to one another since they are pretty much like fire and water (Got it? Since their decks are... Ok I will stop now.) I actually think that I should name the cat Boob Cat since... well you should have noticed it in the last chapter. I'm actually not sure how much would be revealed about Evan and Avice in this story since they are the main characters of my Arc-V fic so most of their character would already be addressed there, but you won't need to read that story to understand them here. I won't say anything about the connection between the Ignis and the oGear decks, but pay attention to Evan and Avice about that.**

 **A response to** ScalchopWarrior **: Yeah, sorry, but there is a duel in this chapter so yay! Honestly, I'm a bit surprised myself by the amount of non-duel chapters this story has, but I guess its because of Roxy. She is more of a sociable character than a duelist, while in Arc-Tracers Evan and Avice just want to get stronger by defeating more duelists and hate humans in general, so that might be why there is such a difference between the two stories.**

 **Honestly, I don't think that Yuma forgot the lesson that he learned about monsters' feelings. He still treat them with respect afterward and tried to protect them when he could, but you have to admit that wasting your resources to protect your monsters because you want to have zero** **casualties isn't the best strategy. But I still understood what you mean by 'character decay' and I hope to not do something like that with any of my characters.**

 **Oh, also. You guys and girls might have noticed the arrows that I put to show a change in LP, ATK or Level, but lately I have a difficult time to keep those arrows in the chapters. They tend to disappear when I upload the chapter and when I update it, so any idea what I could do to avoid that?**

 **That's all for today. Thank to everyone for reading and I hope to see you next time!**

 **Diabolic Tracer out!**


	12. Chapter 12

Resolve and Despair

 **Proxy's POV**

"Come on." I shake Gloomy Ruby once again, but nothing happened.

After finishing my duel with the girl, she seemed to fall comatose, I wasn't sure why, not how that happened, but the guilt over it was all on me. She was acting crazy, I thought that if I defeated her that would cause her to snap back to reality, but instead I was left with an unconscious body of a Charisma Duelist. I didn't want to leave Gloomy Ruby there, alone, but it wasn't like I could do anything to help her condition if I stayed there, so I stood up and looked up for Playmaker's current location on my Duel Disk.

Once I found him, I jumped on my D-Board and surfed off to catch up with him. I had to tell about what just happened to someone with more experience at dealing with the virtual world of LINK VRAINS. At least Blue Angel would probably be in better condition because of Playmaker and Ai being her opponents, or so I hoped.

Following the map that pinpointed Playmaker's location for me, I found myself starting to leave the city's grounds and enter a small forest, or park. There were particles of data falling around me like show as I speeded past them and looked around for the familiar form of Yusaku's avatar. There was complete silence in the air the closer I came to reaching the red dot on my Duel Disk, but something about this quietness gave me chills. I couldn't tell what it was, nor why I suddenly felt that way, but there something horrible in the atmosphere around, it could be just because of what happened to Gloomy Ruby. The guilt for falling to save her was still weighting over my consciousness.

Once Playmaker came into view I jumped off my D-Board and landed next to him, but what I saw made me clench my fist in both anger and… despair? He was kneeling next to Blue Angel who lied on the grass with her ponytails undone, eyes closed, there wasn't a sight of life, just like how Ruby was after my duel with her. Playmaker held out his Duel Disk toward the unconscious body while his head turned and his cold green eyes glanced at me. His gaze made me feel uncomfortable to the point where I had to lower my head in order avoid seeing him.

"It's too dangerous to be here, you should leave." He told me and turned his attention back to Blue Angel.

"I defeat the second Knight of Hanoi that Ai detected." His reaction didn't came too late, as his shoulders flinched slightly at my words. "It was the Charisma Duelist Gloomy Ruby, she tried to push me off a rooftop and kill me before forcing me into a duel."

"So Hanoi went after two Charisma Duelists, but I don't see the point of it when they already have put their virus in Blue Angel's Duel Disk." Ai commented.

"We should go and remove the virus from Gloomy Ruby after this." Playmaker responded.

Yes, please do so. I wouldn't be able to bear it if someone ended up in comatose forever because of me. I stepped back and gave Playmaker and Ai space to work.

"I will eat Hanoi's program." Ai said and a huge monstrous black head with a single eye came out of Playmaker's Duel Disk.

The monster, which was in fact Ai itself, opened its huge mouth and began to suck in some sort of purple data from Blue Angel's body. The color was different from Gloomy Ruby's crimson red, but it was probably just an unimportant detail. Ai chew on the data that it swallowed and returned to its small form, but nothing happened. Blue Angel remained unmoving and no user activity was shown to come from her avatar.

"Wake up, Blue Angel!" Playmaker shouted, but that showed no result as well. "No good, she isn't responding."

Both Blue Angel and Gloomy Ruby were unconscious without signals coming from their avatars. I clenched my fists, it was pointless, not even Playmaker could break Hanoi's program. What were we going to do then?

At that moment I felt a surge of burning passion inside of me. I would say that the feeling that surged through me was anger, a strong sense of justice and a desire to destroy the Knights of Hanoi for what they have done to the Charisma Duelists, but it wasn't that. The only thing that I could think about was how disgusting it was to turn innocent people into victims of a conflict they had nothing to do with and how weak I was to not prevent it. My fear of Hanoi didn't disappear, quite the opposite, these thoughts enhanced it.

This incident showed me the true might of the people I was helping Playmaker to fight. Turning people's avatars mad and then sending them into a comatose was such a horrible and terrifying power. It was insane to want to say the words that were burning inside my chest, but seeing this made me want to be a bigger part of this conflict. I said it many times before, but I wanted to protect everyone from the evil malice that represented the Knights of Hanoi, even if this was a pointless virtual world. I found myself committed to finish this conflict and bring back everything this fight took away from the users while standing beside Playmaker.

"Playmaker, Proxy, look out!" I shook my head, returning my thoughts back to the present as Ai called out to us.

I could hear the sound of sirens coming from the distance behind my back. I turned around and noticed a few drones with bright red lights flying toward our area. These machines were something unseen by me before, but the sound they were making and the fact that I was standing along with Playmaker next to the body of the unconscious Blue Angel told me that I didn't want to stay there to understand what the purpose of the drones was.

"I'm logging out." Playmaker told me.

As he said that his body turned into blue pixels and disappeared. Not wasting any time I followed suit and logged out as well, leaving the area. Sorry, Blue Angel and Gloomy Rose, but I swear to find a way to save both of you!

The light that blinded my vision during logging out disappeared after a moment and I found myself lying in the comfort of my bed. Taking a few deep breaths I sat up and crossed my legs before focusing my mind to think everything through. My arms moved to wrap themselves around my body as I leaned my head forward and pressed it against the bed sheets. Such horrifying power was in the hands of the Knights of Hanoi that I had no idea how we could possible win against them. The only thing that was clear to me at the moment was that Kusanagi would be the only person who would be able to help us reach the end of this. I had to hurry and get to him as soon as possible!

* * *

 **3** **rd** **POV**

Den City's hospital was a huge building where the city's best doctors worked and saved the lives of people every single day. A black limo stopped in front of it and the driver walked out to open the back door. Before he could however, Akira Zaizen pushed it open and ran into the hospital as fast as possible. A few moments after that a second, black and red sport car stopped right behind the first. Evan walked out of it and took of his black sunglasses, carefully putting them in the inside pocket of his black coat he sighed and followed after SOL's security manager.

Going through the various corridors of the hospital, seeing all the patients that needed medical help and taking in the awful smell of medicine that was in the air, the white haired man found it enough to make even him anxious about Aoi's condition. Then there came the doctor and two nurses, pushing a hospital bed with the young Zaizen's fragile body lying on it. Seeing his little sister in such a condition would probably turn Akira mad, in fact, one of the nurses had to calm him down and pull him out of the way so the doctor could do his work and take her to the exam room. Seeing there was nothing he could do to help there, Evan leaned against the nearest wall and took out his phone, writing a quick SMS to his sister.

"You are the one who called me?" Evan stopped typing and glanced over at Akiza, as the older man approached a boy with blue and pink hair.

"Yes. I found her unconscious on the roof." The boy confirmed.

Evan had to put a hand over his mouth and turned away for a bit so the others wouldn't notice the small smirk. Even in a situation like this, with a girl that was like a sister to him in comatose, he couldn't help but smile at little things like the current conversation between Akira and the boy. The fun part about it was, he knew that the student hadn't found Aoi by an accident.

"Thank you." Akira said before turning away, his look showed that the next thing he was going to say was uncomfortable for him. "Um… I don't know if I should ask this, but are you and Aoi…"

Evan groaned and rubbed the spot between his eyes. Was Akira really going to suspect that every person that has seen Aoi at least one was her boyfriend? Yusaku felt where the conversation was going, but he didn't show any change in his poker face and answered straight.

"We are just classmates."

"I see." Akira nodded. "Things are fine. Go home."

"Ok."

Yusaku nodded and turned around to leave. He should go to Kusanagi after this, but there was nothing for him to share about the incident that the hacker didn't know about, so instead he would go back home and think about it on his own. Finding more information about Blue Angle's condition and saving her was his main priority at the moment due to three reasons:

First, since Playmaker was the last person she was with and Akira was head of SOL Technologies' security, the company might give him trouble that he didn't need. Second, the virus that infected her and made her go mad was created by Hanoi so solving a way to destroy it would not only give him an edge in the fight, but also help obtaining more information about the organization. Three, Blue Angel wasn't a part of his fight so she didn't deserve to suffer because of him. It was a conflict between Playmaker and Hanoi, innocent people shouldn't get harm because of that.

"Wait a second." Yusaku stopped as Akira called out to him. "What's your name?"

Yusaku turned around to face the grieving man and answered: "Fujiki. Yusaku Fujiki."

There was no point in coming up with face names and lying to the man. Yusaku Fujiki was just the classmate that found Aoi's unconscious body and took her to the hospital. The one that Akira would probably go after would be Playmaker, but if SOL was unable to unravel his true identity until now, they probably wouldn't be able after the incident either.

With that the conversation between the two was officially over and Yusaku knew it. He had no need to waste any more of his time in the hospital, so his legs began to move again and lead him toward the nearest exit.

"Now that his sister is in this status, Akira will definitely go after Playmaker with everything he got." Evan muttered as Yusaku walked past him.

The Cyberse Duelist stopped in his tracks and glanced at the older man from the corner of his eyes. That randomly dropped comment sounded like a threat, no a warning about what SOL would do next. A warning addressed toward Yusaku. His cold green eyes met with Evan's malicious red ones for a slight second after which the boy turned around and continued walking.

Evan followed the Cyberse Duelist with his eyes until he disappeared behind a corner, then returned his phone back into the pocket and walked over to Akira. He had no idea what to say to a man who saw his sister bedridden and surrounded by a medical team and feared that one wrong word could turned the situation ten times worse. Not just for him, but for Playmaker and Proxy as well, since Akira would definitely go after them.

"You sister is strong, she will come out of there just fine." Evan tried with reassuring words, but Akira wasn't even listening to him, so he gave up just after the first sentence. "I will make the person responsible for this pay, trust me on that."

Even Evan himself knew that those words were an empty promise that he would be unable to fulfil. He had no data on the real culprit, so he would have to rely on Playmaker to find the monster who caused this pain to Aoi. Evan looked down at his hand and clenched it into a fist thinking how he would crush every Hanoi that took part in Zaizen's suffering.

* * *

 **Roxy's POV**

"Did you find anything?" I asked Kusanagi, who was running through some data on his computer.

We were both currently in his truck, trying to figure out what caused Blue Angel and Gloomy Ruby to lose consciousness. For some reason, despite how important this was, Yusaku didn't show up and that would slow down the progress. I didn't understand what might be more important, Hanoi was definitely connected to the case, so that alone should have been enough of a reason for him to appeared and help out, but no such luck apparently.

"I can't identify anything the source of the problem and the hospital's data doesn't have anything about Zaizen's condition yet, so I'm unsure what I'm supposed to look for." Kusanagi replied while tipping on the keyboard.

"Is there truly nothing that we could do from here?" I asked him.

Wanting to help Blue Angel and Gloomy Ruby out from here was naïve and I knew that, but there should be something even we could do for them. I wouldn't forget the screaming I heard while dueling one of them until this case is closed and both Charisma Duelist were safe once again. It didn't matter what I would have to do in order to get it done, even if it meant to fight true Hanoi, I would do it. A virus that can steal people's consciousness, I didn't want to imagine what would happen if it gets used against my friends. Hanoi already showed with Ruby that it didn't matter whom it was, they would still hurt them, so liking it or not, I had to step up.

"I found something." Kusanagi finally said and moved aside a bit to let me look at his finding; several images of Blue Angel's and Gloomy Ruby's avatars… "I compared their avatars' data before and during the incident and this showed up."

Saying that, Kusanagi clicked a few more buttons and red areas appeared over the avatars. With Blue Angel it was on her Duel Disk, but with Gloomy Ruby, it was on her entire body, and most strongly on her chest.

"This red coloring shows new pieces of data that probably made up the virus they were infected with." Kusanagi gestured toward the screen before us. "I can't tell what sort of data they used since I don't have access to the avatars themselves, but you can see that there was a difference between the two."

"Blue Angle was infected through her Duel Disk." I noted and focused most of my attention of Ruby's avatar. "And Gloomy Ruby… she was infected through her avatar?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Kusanagi nodded to my guess. "They were infected with different versions of the virus, which would explain the difference in their behavior and why your opponent was much more aggressive than Blue Angel. That's all I can say until I get more information from the hospital's data."

I nodded and sat down on the chair next to Kusanagi. This data was useless, we needed a lot more to make a difference. Only if I was as good at dueling and hacking as Playmaker was then maybe things would have gone differently. I reached for my Duel Disk and took it in my hands while watching Kusanagi doing his work.

* * *

 **3** **rd** **POV**

Evan took a deep breath while staring at the unconscious girl, a single large glass dividing his room from hers, only this time it wasn't Aoi Zaizen that he was looking at. The seemed to be a young adult, probably in her early twenties with long raven black hair. Her face was pale, a sight that she didn't go out often and there were shadows under her eyes signaling for the long nights she must have spent awake. Her name was Ume Kita, but her real self was irreverent as most of the people she have meet in the last few months would know her as Gloomy Ruby.

Evan did watch Proxy's duel with her and saw everything that happened during it. After it ended and Gloomy Ruby was rendered unconscious he used his connections to look up her profile personal data and gave an anonymous call for an ambulance where she lived. He heard what the doctors had to say about Aoi's condition, that there was no damage, but something caused her brain to not wake up. That hit Akira hard, Evan didn't need to be a mind reader to see it, but when he got called to work and had to leave Aoi, the white haired man knew that something was going on.

"There you are." Dr. Souma called out.

"Is there any change in their conditions?" Evan asked.

The doctor paused for a moment and looked at Ume's room before handling Evan a folder. The white haired man looked at the item questionably, but finally took it and opened to look at the papers inside of it. Reading through them, he felt like cursing due to the information written on the documents, but held himself back. Finishing up, he handled the folder back to the doctor and pressed his head against the glass. When he learned that Aoi was hospitalized, he thought that it would be the worse new for the day, but in just a moment everything became ten times worse for him. Gulping hard, he asked the doctor a simple question.

"How long do they have?" He gritted his teeth in anger. "How long before complete shut-down of their organs and brain-function?"

"I don't know." Souma shook his head. "Zaizen's condition seems to be stable, so I think that her life is out of danger for the moment. But for Kita, we tried everything, all of our latest equipment. Nothing was able to stabilize her, my colleagues give her three days to live, at most."

"I see…"

"Her conditions are beyond or specialty." Souma put a hand on Evan's shoulder. "If there was a way to save her, only two people that I know of would be able to find it."

"Three." Evan corrected him and pulled out his phone. "Four, if we count on Playmaker as well."

Souma nodded and walked off, leaving the white haired man on his own. Evan looked down at his phone, watching the picture of himself, Avice and the girl with black and blue hair from when they were younger. He ran a finger over it and managed to smile a bit, feeling his confidence coming back. Strength and willingness to keep moving forward burned inside his red eyes.

"I know that you are there, so show up already." Evan narrowed his crimson eyes and turned around, coming face to face with Emma.

"You were able to feel my presence? Am I that special to you?" She teased him, crossing her arms under her chest.

Evan restrained himself from answering that question. He wasn't in the mood for playing or teasing, his mind was currently preoccupied for other, more important thoughts so that smirk on her face which he usually found charming and the holier-than-thou aura around Emma was enough to make his spit in disgust. They both knew each other well enough to not need any masks when talking with one another.

He knew that there was nothing holy about Emma, he was a treasure hunter that wouldn't hesitate to backstab even her own customers. She in return knew that he was a devil in a business suit, a man ready to throw anyone who isn't useful for him under the fire, all the sympathy that he showed to humans was just a pity in disguise and if there wasn't anything to pity them about, he would straight up ignore their existence.

"Akira already left, so why are you still here?" He asked her in a low tone that almost sounded like a hiss.

"Come on, can't I stay to see my number one employer?" She asked him with playfulness that the young man straight up ignored.

"I bet you already told Akira's bosses that their security manager's sister has connections to Hanoi, didn't you?"

"That's what they paid me for, so of course I did." Emma replied, not dropping her smug smile even when admitting that she betrayed someone who trusted her. "Do you actually have a problem with the way I'm doing my work all of a sudden?"

"I'm not interested in how you do business." Evan shook his head. "But Akira is making a huge mistake right now."

"Hm?" Emma titled head, confused as to why he would say something like this to her. "I don't think that I follow."

"Since Playmaker was the last person his sister dueled against, he is going to go after him." Evan responded. "I thought about it, infected exactly the SOL Technology security manager's little sister with a virus was too big of a coincidence, wasn't it? I don't have any prove, but this all seems to be going according to Hanoi's design."

"I don't know anything about that, but it's not part of my work, so it doesn't interest me." Emma replied and turned to leave.

"There was a second duelist along with Playmaker, you know about them, don't you?" Evan asked, causing the woman to stop and glance back at him.

"Depends, what is you interest?" She asked back.

"My interest if for you to not tell Akira about them." Evan crossed his arms. "That avatar known as Proxy is a source for lots of my data, so I can't have him going after her."

"I see… So what will it be for me then?" Emma asked back with her brilliant smirk.

"Your carrier as a treasure hunter won't prematurely end with the accidental erasing of your account."

"Geez." Emma shook her head and rested it in her palm, before glancing back at the white haired man. "You are truly merciless when you get serious, aren't you? Fine, I will play along but this is the only time I will make such a discount."

Evan turned toward the window once again and crossed his arms together. He wasn't as open mouthed as he used to be and Emma took note of that, but it wasn't part of her business. As long as he paid for her work, his personal life was none of her concerns, which was more than she could say about another person that she knew. She glanced at the unconscious girl behind the glass, then left the white haired man alone with his thoughts.

* * *

"It seems it went well."

Inside the dark room that was part of Hanoi's hideout Dr. Kogami commented at the events that were taking place in LINK VRAINS. Two Charisma Duelists were infected with a virus that only a genius like him could create. The chaos that would ensue after such a devastating move would lead Playmaker right into their hands and along with that so called 'hero', they would finally obtain the Dark Ignis – the only obstacle between them and their mission of saving humanity from the destructive force that represented the Cyberse and its creators, the Ignis.

"Yes. Now Playmaker will comply with our demands." Revolver stated. "But there is trouble among our ranks as well. I gave order only for Blue Angel to be infected, but I heard that someone has put our virus in another Charisma Duelist as well."

"That someone was me." Picaro raised his claw. "And it's not your virus, but a modified, better version created by me, so there is little you can do about that."

"I didn't gave you orders to act!" Revolver exclaimed. "Your disobedience to get revenge on that duelist could have compromised the whole operation!"

"That's enough Revolver." Dr. Kogami turned around to look at the two Knights of Hanoi. "Picaro wasn't disobeying orders. I gave him permission to use the advanced version of the virus for a test. His orders came from me, so there was no need for him to ask you for permission, was there?"

"No… but father…" Revolver didn't know what to make out of that.

He was the leader of the Knights of Hanoi, their face, Kogami's soon. All of his actions so far were to help his father, to save humanity. It angered him that his own father trusted more in a selfish recruit as Picaro than in his own biological soon.

"No but, Revolver. Ignis must be eliminated from this world and that's the mission I entrusted you with." Kogami replied.

"I know how important it's to eliminate Ignis and the Cyberse." Revolver stated. "But I don't understand what the necessity to create more chaos with a second infected was."

"Second infected?" Picaro titled his head confused. "Don't you underestimate me by thinking that I would be pathetic enough to put the virus in just one user?"

"What?"

"The modified version that I use has the ability to stop the brain and body function of the victim. I thought that if I put those in a few of the top Charisma Duelists the rest would get scared and leave LINK VRAINS. A few deaths to save the lives of thousands, doesn't that count as a noble sacrifice?"

Revolver didn't even want to respond to these words. A green circuit formed under his feet and he disappeared in a cloud of pixels, moving to another area. Picaro turned toward Kogami and bowed before him, putting a fist against his own heart, the demonic knight lowered his head.

"If you excuse me, there is something I have to take care of. Make sure that no one will get in Revolver's way." With those words, a circuit appeared under the demonic knight and he disappeared as well.

* * *

 **Roxy's POV**

"I broke into the hospital's data and checked a bunch of stuff." Kusanagi told us.

It was the day after Blue Angel and Gloomy Ruby's hospitalization and our team was finally able to gather to make a plan of action. As usually, Kusanagi and Yusaku were on the screens, commenting about the data they found while Ai and I acted like we understood what they were saying.

"Wow. You hacked into the hospital's records?" Ai asked and narrowed its eye. "You invaded their privacy. That's a crime."

"Hacking itself is a crime." Touché.

"So defiant!"

"Be quiet." Yusaku interfered before turning toward Kusanagi. "Did you look at her chart?"

"Yeah. Aoi Zaizen is in a coma." Well, that was pretty obvious since my opponent ended the same way. "The cause is unknown. It's not a physical issue and I tried to look at the additional data found on her avatar during your duel, but I found nothing."

"Then it's probably a virus." Ai stated. "A computer virus that invades the brain and controls people."

"Hey, that is what I thought as well!" I pointed out. "Gloomy Ruby was definitely not in control of herself when I fought her, so that must be the cause!"

"That doesn't exist." Yusaku pointed out.

"You saw it for yourself. The virus infected its victim vie the LINK VRAINS system." Ai continued. "When I ate Hanoi's program there was a strange taste. It tasted super gross."

"So that must have been it." I pointed out. "But if you ate the virus, why didn't Blue Angel wake up?"

"If it's a virus, then they wouldn't have made is so simple to remove." Yusaku held his chin.

"I guessed so." Of course it wouldn't be that simple, why would it be? "Is there anything I could do to help you out?"

"If we had a removal program I would have been able to remove the virus, but only Hanoi could have such a program." Ai looked over at Yusaku. "We will need to defeat the Knights of Hanoi in order to obtain it."

"I can do that by myself." Yusaku said and turned toward me. "You should go back and home and rest. If anything shows up Kusanagi will call you."

So in other words, I wasn't going to do anything once again. I didn't mind standing away from danger and possible coma, but Gloomy Ruby was in hospital because of me so I had to do something in order to help her out. Of course, Yusaku wouldn't let me do so if he knew about my intention so I would have to go back home and log into LINK VRAINS from there. There Avice would look after me as well, so I would be just as safe as if I logged in from inside the truck.

"Make sure to call me then." I told them and opened the truck, jumping out of it.

The sun was already starting to settle down, if I stayed around any longer the Greysons might get worried about me, so I made my move toward the nearest bus station. A fair amount of people already crowded the area as I walked pass them. A late day in the big city, it sounded like a dream for a simple girl like me, but not in a situation like this. The peace and quiet were nice for my mind, it almost helped me to stop thinking of most things.

No, not just Gloomy Ruby. I could cope with her condition, seeing how Blue Angel ended up, it was what Hanoi must have planned from the start. No different outcome would have changed this current situation, so I had only the choice of moving on from that topic. I pulled out my deck and look at the Monster Reincarnation card that was on top – the only thing I had left from my actual home. Not father, nor mother were here to encourage me. There wasn't a place for me to truly call home, nor a person for me to call a real friend. This simple spell card was the materialization of everything that I had left from my past.

 _ **Beep!**_

A sound came out of my Duel Disk while I wanted at the bus stop. A new contact was writing to me, its name was _Blaze Rose_.

 _[7:21:13 PM] Blaze Rose: I heard something about the incident from yesterday._

I wasn't surprised to hear that, there were many users in LINK VRAINS that heard about what happened. Most of them thought that the Charisma Duelists were embarrassed from their loses, so they left. The way Blaze Rose made it sound showed that she thought otherwise.

 _[7:22:34 PM] Blaze Rose: I learned that there was a virus involved and was able to track down information about how to neutralize it. If you want to know, come and meet with me in LINK VRAINS. Message me for coordination._

That was just what I needed, to deal with Blaze Rose at a time like this. But if she said that there was information about how to neutralize the virus, then maybe it would be worth the shot. I had to get back home and log in quick!

* * *

The login sequence was complete and I appeared on top the building that was apparently where Blaze Rose wanted us to meet. I walked over to the edge and looked over the city, gasping at the sight of buildings that were turned into giant red thorns with a church located in the middle of the ruined area. What the heck was that? Those ruins looked dangerous, actually, scratch that, they were definitely dangerous! There were no other avatars in the area, not on the ground or in the sky, I was completely alone.

"You missed a good chunk of what happened."

I threw myself away from the edge and turned my body completely around to stand against the new person. Blaze Rose was standing a few feet away from me with hands on her hips and a smirk that seemed to be anything but friendly. I gritted my teeth at how smug she looked despite the destruction around us.

"Was that you doing?" I asked her. "Did you destroy LINK VRAINS for this?!"

"Heh, aren't you one that gets fast to conclusions?" She chuckled at my question and threw her arms in the air over her head. "This is what SOL Technology was ready to do in order to catch Playmaker! In fact, you came too late to see them catching him."

"You are lying!" There was no way that SOL could have done something like that or that Playmaker would allow them to catch him; she was definitely trying to lie to me. "I have seen Playmaker in action, he was able to escape much harder traps that whatever this is. I don't believe that it's possible for him to get caught like this!"

"It's surprising, isn't it?" She grinned while saying that. "But t's the truth. I can also show you something more than that. Right in four… three… two… Look!"

Blaze Rose pointed at the sky and a bolt of lightning fell from it, hitting the church. I felt a sudden chill run down my spine and held a hand over my heart. Why? Despite how far away I was from the church and the lightning, when it fell I felt like my heart stopped beating. It was a gut feeling that I got from watching it about something or someone. It was weird, I couldn't explain what I felt with words, but it was something… Evil.

"Did you feel the surge of power that came from this lightning?" Blaze Rose asked and I heard her footsteps getting closer to me. "Did you feel the superiority of the one who coded it? Your body language says that you have. You felt master Revolver's presence."

"W-who is Revolver?" That name didn't speak anything to me.

"The man who is going to bury Playmaker into the ground. The powerful and noble leader of Hanoi, master Revolver!"

"The Knights of Hanoi?!" I turned toward Blaze Rose and held up my Duel Disk. "You are one of them, aren't you? You were the one who infected Blue Angel and Gloomy with that virus, weren't you?"

It made complete sense. She was a Charisma Duelist herself so of course she would have access to their servers and spend time with the other Charisma Duelists, giving her many opportunities to infect them with the virus. I just couldn't tell why she would join the Knights of Hanoi. True she was all about strength and was driven by a desire to defeat other Gear users like myself, but that couldn't be the reason for her to sell her soul to the devil!

She didn't respond to my question and instead raised her Duel Disk. "Let's duel. Once I defeat you, there will be no other Gear user to stand in my way. My teachers won't have a choice, but to respond to my desire and fall by the might of my dueling!"

"The last?" I gritted my teeth at those words. "What have you done to Rocketeer?"

She didn't reply, I understand what the silence meant. The wind blew between us as we activated our Duel Disks. I couldn't believe it, Playmaker was trapped, standing against the leader of Hanoi, Revolver, and my best friend, Rocketeer, was no more. I followed with the corner of my eyes the D-Boards that flew through the wind and toward us. I jumped off the building and landed on mine with Blaze Rose following behind me.

"You robbed me and many others from the important things that they had!" I pointed at the red avatar, then clenched my fist. "I will never forgive you for this!"

While I stared at the Charisma Duelist there was no fear of Hanoi piercing my chest. All I felt were the blazing flames of anger and hatred that fueled me. I felt my desire for revenge, it was filling me, making me feel whole, giving me energy to stand even against a dangerous member of Hanoi like Blazing Rose.

"If you want revenge then defeat me and get it!" Blaze Rose laughed at me. "Come on! My heart is burning with excitement! Allow me to show you the strength of a real Gear user!"

"SPEED DUEL!" We both shouted simultaneously.

 **『** **Proxy LP: 4000 Hand: 4 (VS) Blaze Rose LP: 4000 Hand: 4** **』**

* * *

 **A/N: So, there was a small change of plans with this chapter. It was originally going to be called "** **Gears of Water and Fire, Crash!" But I changed that both her and in Chapter 7 where I wrote the summaries for the chapters up to this point. The reason for the change was because originally I thought about putting their duel here, but then I gave up for the sake of... well... tension. Ok that's a bit of a lie. Really, I did it because the duel and the result of this outcome were connected to one another, so if I wrote the duel I would have to also write what happens after that, which will make this chapter a bit of a mess.**

 **I don't have anything to say about the chapter in particular. Though would also say something about Proxy and how she is starting to fight her fear of Hanoi, I'm putting it in the chapters themselves so that would be pointless.**

 **Also, [Spoilers Alert!] but apperently SoulBurner uses Ritual Monsters just like Playmaker, huh? I expected Fusions since the next Booster Set is called "** **Soul Fusion" but that doesn't really matter. The Ritual Monster doesn't make Salamangreat any less of a bad deck that they currently are. In fact, the fact SoulBurner doesn't have a searcher for his** **Ritual cards, unlike Playmaker, makes his Ritual worse by default.**

 **Anyways, thanks to** D3lph0xL0v3r **for the follow and favorite. Thanks to** Descendant of Flaming Dragons **for the follow.**

 **On the reviews, thanks to all for the positive responses, too bad that no one wanted to play the little game of catch from last chapter. However, I could still use a bit of advice when it comes to how to make the arrows (see last chatper's A/N for more info if interested) and, well,** **advice about the story in general. As many people that read this story might thing, I don't have much experience, so any critism is welcomed.**

 **I think that I will leave this Author Note at this.**

 **DiabolicTracer out!**


	13. Chapter 13

**I just want to put a disclaimer here that this chapter contains more sensitive material. But given how there wasn't any of it before, I guess that this chapter gives an excuse for the story to me rated T.**

* * *

Gears of Water and Fire, Crash!

"You can take the first turn." My opponent told me.

I and Blaze Rose speed through the data, avoiding the buildings that were in our way. I glanced back at Blaze Rose, she wasn't trying to race me, in fact, she was very collected and patient, something that I'm sure wasn't usual for her to do. That wasn't important! I shook my head and turned to look down at my hand and thought about all the options that I had on my disposal at the moment. There weren't many, even less of those were anything good.

The only thing I knew about Blaze Rose came from the duels I have seen her participate in. Her deck had a strong Synchro monster and her skill could destroy all monsters on my field; I would need to be extra careful dealing with her.

"I will take the first turn then!" I declared and looked down at my cards.

 **『** **Turn 1 [Proxy] LP: 4000 Hand: 4** **』**

"I will set a monster and end my turn!" I played a single card and ended it there; I couldn't utilize my Link Summoning to its full potential during my first turn, but the card I played would at least serve as a shield for my life points during her turn.

"Is that all you got?" Blaze Rose asked me mockingly. "I expected more from the performance you showed previously. How sad, this was such a letdown for me."

I bit my lip and tried to ignore her. She was just trying to mock me and hurt my pride to make me act irrationally and misplay. I wouldn't allow her mind plays to mess up with me, I had a clear purpose before myself and that was to save Blue Angel and Gloomy Ruby!

"You aren't going to respond? Perhaps you know that I'm right about you." My eyes widened as her D-Board moved right next to mine, catching up to my speed without a problem. "My turn then, draw!"

 **『** **Turn 2 [Blaze Rose] LP: 4000 Hand: 5** **』**

"Let's see what that set card of yours is, shall we?" She asked me and slammed her D-Board against mine.

"Kyyyaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!" I yelled and fell on my knees, grabbing the edges of my D-Board trying to keep balance and not fall from the shock that went through my board. She tried to push me out of the line, she won't play nice, will she?

"I will start by setting a card first, then I will Normal Summon _NitroGear Acid Lancer (Lv.4, ATK: 1700)_." The green demonic humanoid appeared holding a spear whose spike was set on fire.

I gulped and looked at my face-down monster, it had an attack power of 1400, so it would get destroyed if it was in attack position. I mentioned that because I hadn't forgot about _Acid Lancer_ 's ability to change the battle position of monsters, a perfect counter to more defensive strategies like the one I was using at the moment.

"Now, I will attack your monster!" Blaze Rose's monster raised it the sky and swung its spear, sending a wave of fire toward my set card.

"Why would you do that?" I asked her while the attack made toward my card.

My set card flipped face up and turned into _**BrioGear Geratorned**_ ; a humanoid in light pink, aqua blue and purple clams appeared on its place. Its shoulders were wide and sharp, its face looked like an open clam with a wide mouth and a single eye inside of it. The creature's legs were made of clams as well, using only the tips of them as feet. Its arms were made of aqua green skin and had a shield attached to each of them. Those shields were mostly dark blue but with golden borders and a winged lion on them as coat of arms.

* * *

 **BrioGear Geratorned**

 **L** **evel: 4/Attribute:** **WATER** **/Type:** **Aqua** **/Effect**

 **ATK: 1** **4** **00/DEF:** **1** **700**

 **Effect:** **While this card is face-up on the field, your opponent can't target other WATER monsters you control for attack or with effects. If this card is discarded, you can add 1 Level 4 or lower WATER monster in your GY to you hand. If you control a Link Monster, you can also return 1 Spell Card from your GY to the top of your deck.**

* * *

Its defense was 1800 so according to the rules, Blaze Rose would be the one to take all of the damage by her own attack! My monster swung its arms, returning the fire attack right back at Blaze Rose, burning through her shoulder. She winched and put a hand over the burned place, while I tried to remain calm and not show my joy that it was me who drew first blood in the duel.

 **『** **Blaze Rose LP: 4000 – 100** → **3900** **』**

"I was expecting at least that much." Blaze Rose said. "I will end my turn here."

"My turn, draw!" I declared.

 **『** **Turn 3 [Proxy] LP: 4000 Hand: 4** **』**

"I'm hoping that you will be able to entertain me this turn." Blaze Rose looked back at me. "Just be careful not to evaporate by accident, my flames burn hot. They aren't for water down third rate duelists like yourself."

"At least I'm not the one who forgot what my monster's effect does." I replied before making my play. "I summon _BrioGear Wave Crusade (Lv.4, ATK: 1700)_!"

The familiar warrior appeared before me, holding his sword. I had a monster to discard for its effect and increase its attack, but I believe there was something better to use the cards in my hand for.

"I will set a card first. Now, battle! _BrioGear Wave Crusade_ attack _NitroGear Acid Lancer_!" A wave of water appeared around my monsters sword as it fired it against the stream of fire that came out from Blaze Rose's own monster.

"Hmm, the same attack, level and similarity in term of appearance. Those bastards have been trying to make the references pretty obvious weren't they?" Blaze Rose asked while our monsters collided with one another. "But as I said, they have the same attack values so all you will achieve is mutual destruction. You can't hope to ever defeat me with such pathetic moves."

"I wouldn't be so sure." I shook my head and took another card from my hand. "I discard _BrioGear Pale Crawfish_ to activate its effect! Until the end of this turn all of my monsters will gain six hundred attack points!"

 **BrioGear Wave Crusade, ATK:** **17** **00 +** **6** **00** → **2300**

 **BrioGear Geratorned** **, ATK:** **14** **00 +** **6** **00** → **2000**

My monster overpowered Blaze Rose's blasting her monster and killing its flames, before removing it from it field as well.

 **『** **Blaze Rose LP: 3900 – 600** → **3300** **』**

"Ah, now that was something else." Blaze Rose replied and raised her head, flames burning in her eyes. "I almost felt that one."

"You will definitely feel the next! _BrioGear Geratorned_ will attack you directly!" I declared and my monster slammed its shield in the data we surfed on. A blast of water make from underneath Blaze Rose, sending her D-Board flying.

"Almost there!" I heard her shout with a card - whose art showed a creature coming out of a pit of fire - flowing over her head. "I activated my Trap, _**NitroGear Reignited**_! This can activates by paying eight hundred life points and it allows me to revive a Nitro monster that was destroyed during this turn. Come back _NitroGear Acid Lancer (Lv.4, ATK: 1700)_!"

* * *

 **NitroGear Reignited (Trap) Normal**

 **Pay 800 LP: Target 1 monster that was destroyed by battle or card effect and sent to your GY this turn; Special Summon it, and if you do, it gains 800 ATK.**

* * *

 **『** **Blaze Rose LP: 3300 – 800** → **2500** **』**

A stream of fire appeared underneath Blaze Rose's D-Board and she landed on it, surfing back to the original route, she slammed into me, knocking me back once again while her monster came out of the flames and stood in front of mine.

"And don't think of attacking my newly revived _Acid Lancer_." Blaze Rose shook a finger. "When it's revived by the effect of my trap, its attack power is going to increase by eight hundred, so you will only end up hurting yourself, got it?"

 **NitroGear Acid Lancer** **, ATK:** **17** **00 +** **8** **00** → **2500**

Damn it! I was hoping to inflict some big damage to her during this turn, but she was prepared for that as well. During the End Phase the attack boost of my monsters will run out and she will be able to take down either one of them.

"Why are you working for the Knights of Hanoi?" I asked her. It made no reason, why would a Charisma Duelist, someone from the top three no less, turn against everything that they were trying to build until now? "What will you get out of all this? Even if you defeat me here and everyone else, no one is going to love you when they find out that you were working with a terrorist organization! Everyone will start to hate you and SOL might even try to arrest you for what you have done!"

"All of that is part of what makes a duelist." Blaze Rose replied. "Winning at the cost of everything else; that is the way that I learned to live and duel. You think that I became a Charisma Duelist for the popularity, for the money and spotlight? I'm not some attention whore like the rest, I have a purpose!"

"Meeting with the ones who gave you this deck, right?" Those 'Devil' and 'Angel' that she talked about. I had no idea whom they might be, but listening to her description of the other Charisma Duelist, these two probably aren't that popular. "Is your hatred toward them so strong that you would hurt innocent people just to duel against them once again? Will destroying everything really make them think that you are worthy of this deck?"

"Hatred?" Blaze Rose titled her head to the side and put a finger under her chin. "You must have gotten the wrong idea. I don't hate them, my admiration for what they have done still hasn't disappeared. I'm thankful to them for everything they did, but I want them to learn about the pain that I have gone through! I got nothing left in my life, so even if I do something horrible, there is nothing left for me to lose! What I want is not revenge, but to teach them, make them understand my pain, have them lose everything that mattered to their lives!"

"Y-you are insane!" Only someone who have lost their mind would destroy for a cause like this!

"You just don't know what I have gone through!" Blaze Rose exclaimed.

* * *

 **3** **rd** **POV**

More than two years ago – In one of the poorest areas of Den City. Most of the houses had their pain taken down, showing the bricks underneath them, the windows of several were broken from the common attacks of small gangs and vandals who often came in those areas to disrupt the already bad lives of the residents. The streets themselves were in horrible condition as well with a lot of holes that made driving through those places a living nightmare. Probably one of the many reasons why police didn't bother to looked after those areas.

The front door of one house creaked loudly as it was pushed open and a girl was knocked out on the street with a whimper. She had short dark red hair with blue highlights on the back side of it which was unkempt and dirty. Her outfit was a grey short sleeved shirt with dirty spots on it and black shorts whose color has started to fade. Her feet were black from dirt due to her walking barefoot all the time with several wounds on her knees, most of which were left as they were to catch an infection.

The girl raised herself on her arms, the short sleeves revealing the large amount of blue spots over the skin, a small proof of the abuse that she has gone through every day. She turned back to look back at the house from which she was throw, her purple eyes filled with a strange mix of anger and fear with the sclera red from her crying and traces of tears dried up on her cheeks, which had the same blue spots as her arms and a fresh scar on her lower lip.

"That's what you get, you worthless bitch!" The old man yelled and walked outside, kicking the girl back on the ground. "You were up to no good again, weren't you? There isn't money for food and you spend the money you earned on some card?!"

The man kept yelling as he kicked the girl over and over. Screams and cries were coming from inside the house, a woman, just as beaten as the girl, came out and grabbed the man's arm to try and pull him back, only for him to push her on the ground and resume kicking the red-head. As curses and kicks came her way, the girl looked blankly at the ground. It was the same treatment as yesterday and the day before that, at this point she wasn't paying attention, the pain no longer matter, her stomach hurt so much from starvation that at this point it felt numb when the man kicked her there.

* * *

 **Proxy's POV**

"Every single day of my life was nothing but endless suffering." Blaze Rose clenched her fist, a ball of fire forming around it. "Dueling was the only spark that kept me alive during those long years. But someone like you wouldn't understand how important dueling for something could be. Tell me the truth, for you all of this is just a simple card game, isn't it? You got no attachment to it, no cause!"

I narrowed my eyes. She was right, I had no real reason to be here, to risk my own live in a game with cards. Playmaker was doing it to get revenge, to obtain back the time that the Knights of Hanoi stole from him, I was doing it to protect my friends and avenge those who fell, but right at the moment I was completely alone. There was no Playmaker or Rocketeer behind me, if it wasn't my feeling of guilt, I wouldn't have any reason to be here. Protecting LINK VRAINS because it's like a home to me, destroying the Knights of Hanoi for what they did to everyone. Those weren't my causes, were they? I just took them as an excuse, a way to shield myself from the question: Why am I doing this?

"I take it that you won't attack my _NitroGear Acid Lancer_ so your turn ends." Blaze Rose commented. I snapped back from my thoughts and nodded in response.

"During the End Phase of this turn the attack of my monsters return to normal." I explained as the attack of _BrioGear Wave Crusade_ and _BrioGear Geratorned_ returned to 1700 and 1400 respectively.

"My turn, draw!" Blaze Rose took her turn.

 **『** **Turn 4 [Blaze Rose] LP: 2500 Hand: 4** **』**

"Wait!" I raised a hand to show her to wait. "During your Standby Phase I will activate my Continuous Trap, _Eisbahn_! While I control a water monster, if you summon a monster with a different attribute it will immediately be changed to Defense Position!"

"A card that changes battle positions? How sad, that's exactly what my deck relies on." Blaze Rose blurted. "Oh well, I will activate _NitroGear Acid Lancer_ 's effect to change _BrioGear Wave Crusade_ to Defense Position."

A circle of fire burned around my monster, the extreme heat dropping it on its knees. Having only 100 defense it would be an easy target, but because of my trap card only the monster Blaze Rose currently has will be able to attack since all others would be changed to Defense Position.

"When a monster was changed to Defense Position, _Acid Lancer_ 's effect allows me to draw a card." She looked at her new card and nodded before taking another card from her hand. "While my opponent controls a Defense Position monster I can Special Summon _NitroGear Veteranion (Lv.5, ATK: 2300)_!"

"When a monster with an attribute other than WATER is Special or Normal Summoned, _Eisbahn_ will change it to Defense Position!" My trap fired a stream of water at the humanoid insect, dropping it down on its knees.

"When a monsters battle position changes, the effect of _NitroGear Veteranion_ will activate! I can Special Summon one level four or lower fire monster from my hand!" Blaze Rose called out and reached out for another card in her hand. "Come out, _**NitroGear Coarms Cicada**_!"

A huge black insect with two legs and two arms appeared on the field. Its skin was rocky with flames coming out of its back in the shape of wings. The creature had face that looked like a fusion between a man and an insect: a mouth filled with sharp teeth and two eyes, which were set wide apart like from one another.

* * *

 **NitroGear Coarms Cicada**

 **L** **evel:** **3** **/Attribute:** **FIRE** **/Type:** **Insect** **/Effect**

 **ATK:** **1** **00/DEF:** **5** **00**

 **Effect:** **Once per turn, If this card's battle position is changed by a card effect: Inflict 500 damage to your opponent. If this card is used as material for the Summon of a "Nitro" Extra Deck monster: You can target 1 FIRE monster in your GY that was used as material for that Summon; Special Summon it in Defense Position. You can only use the 2nd effect of "NitroGear Coarms Cicada" once per Duel.**

* * *

"At this moment the effect of your card will activate and change my monster to Defense Position, right?" A fireball appeared over her monster's head while Blaze Rose addressed my card's effect. "At this moment, since Coarms Cicada's battle position was changed by a card effect, you are going to take five hundred points of damage!"

 **『** **Proxy LP: 4000 – 500** → **3500** **』**

I crossed my arms in front of myself and let the fireball hit them instead. My body felt the burning sensation on the skin, which had to regenerate after the damage, well, damaged it. Blaze Rose hadn't entered her Battle Phase but I already took some damage from her monsters.

"Finally, I'm going to activate my Continuous Spell, _**NitroGear Active Force**_!" The card showed a bunch of goblins panicking while _NitroGear Warrior_ jumped high in the sky toward them.

* * *

 **NitroGear Active Force (Spell) Continuous**

 **Once per turn: You can target 1 face-up monster on the field; change its battle position. During either player's turn (Quick Effect): If a "Nitro" monster(s) was destroyed by battle or effect and send to the GY, you can target 1 of these monsters: Banish this face-up card on the field and 1 "Nitro" Synchro Monster in your GY, and if you do, Special Summon the targeted monster.**

* * *

"This spell allows me to freely change the battle position of a monster. I will use it to bring _NitroGear Veteranion_ to attack position!" The humanoid insect stood up and roared at me with flames burning on its shoulders and fists. "I will set a card. Now, let's battle! _NitroGear Acid Lancer_ will attack _BrioGear Geratorned_!" Blaze Rose's monster swung its burning spear, slashing through my last defense.

 **『** **Proxy LP: 3500 – 1100** → **2400** **』**

"Kyyaaaaahhh!" I yelped the stream of fire hitting me in the chest after it destroyed my monster.

"I'm not done yet! _NitroGear Veteranion_ will attack _BrioGear Wave Crusade_!"

The monster hit mine with strength enough to create a shockwave which pushed me back while my knight got thrown into a building and shattered.

"Because _Wave Crusade_ was in Defense Position during the battle I take no damage!" I breathed in relief. At least I avoided taking huge amount of damage for this turn.

That didn't calm me much though. Blaze Rose was playing with me, she could have finished the duel during this turn if she wanted to. The only reason why I was able to get some damage on her Life Points was because she let me do so. Fortunately, she had no Tuner monsters on the field, but I wondered if it was because she didn't draw any of them yet, or she didn't want to risk having them destroyed.

"You are dueling differently from before." I told Blaze Rose while I thought of a strategy that I could use. With her three monsters, setting a card and passing wouldn't be enough to protect my life points.

"You are wrong." Scoffed Blaze Rose.

"I'm not talking about this duel only." I shook my head. She probably didn't understand what I meant. "I have seen you dueling before. From what I saw, you were always giving your best to win as fast as possible!"

"Ah, right. The first rule of professional duelists. Minimum effort for maximum output." Blaze Rose smiled a bit saying those words. Was she reminded of something?

* * *

 **3** **rd** **POV [2 years ago…]**

The red haired girl was walking through the streets of Den City, the shadows of huge skyscrapers falling on her. The bypassers all looked at her ruined state, but none of them dared to say something. Everyone was trying to keep their distance, none of them wanting to come in contact with the red haired girl that was covered in dirt and bruises. As she moved, not knowing where to, she could hear the whispers coming behind her, some were pitying her, others were mocking her look, but she didn't care about any of that.

Was there anything that mattered to her life anymore? All the deprivations and abuse that she has seen during her short life already took away any expectations that the innocent little girl she once was might have had. There was nothing left, no carrying family to return to, no friends who could listen to her pain, even the cards she saved money to buy were all torn and burn by her father after he found out about them.

The girl suddenly stopped in her steps. There was no path ahead of her in this life, all of her education came from the books she scavenged while looking for food. That wouldn't be enough to enter college and find a good job, she didn't have connections either, and so what could she do with her life? Her father kicked her out, so there was no home for her to return to, her pockets were empty, she had no money for food either.

"Let's finish this!"

The red haired girl paused her thoughts for a moment and look up at the huge screens that were put all over the city and projected what was going on in LINK VRAINS. The screen she looked at was showing a place that looked like hell with bones and skulls covering the ground and rocks, lava running down the mountains and streams of fire shooting up into the pitch black sky. While the girl looked at the screen, her eyes meet with those of the avatar which was being shown. The man in black clothes that seemed to fit the field perfectly was standing with a malicious smirk written all over his face.

"Go! _Advent Skull Archfiend_ and _Darkest Diabolos_!" A black hell spawn dragon and a demon made of bones flew up and fired their attacks at the opponent, which was shown for a brief moment before getting hit by the attacks.

As the girl keep looking at the avatar on the screen, she didn't notice it, but something in her has changed. Her lifeless eyes got back that spark and with that, a new path in life appeared in front of the girl who had fallen in despair.

* * *

 **Proxy's POV**

"What are you talking about?" I asked her. Minimum effort for maximum output – what rule was that?

"It's the first and most important rule of a duelist." Blaze Rose replied. "At least that's how they taught me. Everyone can crawl like a worn and fight for their victory, but only a truly experience duelist knows how to utilize the maximal power of their deck with the smallest amount of effort! But for you, I don't need to use my absolute power in order to win. I have seen your skills, they are amateurs at best!"

"I know that." I wasn't a strong duelist like Playmaker or Blaze Rose, all my victories were a result of luck or my opponents underestimating me. "Even so… Dueling isn't supposed to be used as a fight! That's not what I believe in! I will never accept such an idea!"

"Too bad, because fight is exactly the meaning of dueling. A clash between two souls, every small amount of damage they deal to each other is a word unspoken." Blaze Rose boasted. "We aren't like the regular masses, fighting to have fun. We are here to fight for our believes!"

I bite my lip. What believes was she fighting for? Destroying LINK VRAINS, hurting real people, that was pure evil! Such behavior couldn't be right! I won't allow her to do as she please any longer. Not because of my believes, but because of Rocketeers; he believed that LINK VRAIN was a family and because of that it deserved to be protected as much as anything else in this world!

"Maybe that's why you are here, but don't put me in the same category!" I shouted. "I'm not here to fight for a cause or to defend someone's believes! I'm doing it because it's the right thing to do, fighting for those who can't fight for themselves! I'm sent here by Blue Angel, Gloomy Ruby and everyone else who you hurt for your cause!"

"Heh, then you were send here to lose." Blaze Rose mocked me.

"My turn, draw!" I exclaimed, drawing another card.

 **『** **Turn 5 [Proxy] LP: 2400 Hand: 2** **』**

I looked at the cards in my hand, good, there is something that I could do with them! If Blaze Rose didn't have anything to counter my moves with I might enough I might even end the duel

"I Normal Summon _BrioGear Freakiver (Lv.3, ATK: 1100)_!" My zombie monster appeared on the field with a moan and held out its claws with gears rotating inside of them. "I activate _Freakiver_ 's effect! I roll a six-sided dice and reveal a number of cards from the top of my Deck equal to the number rolled! Then one of the cards I reveal will be added to my hand and another send to the Graveyard!"

 _BrioGear Freakiver_ hissed and held out the rotating gears, a blue dice with white spots appearing inside of them. The cube rolled inside for a bit before it slowed down and then, completely stopped.

"Four!" A screen appeared before me showing the top four cards of my deck. "I will add _BrioGear Cryo Raptor_ to my hand and send _**BrioGear Madoor**_ to my Graveyard!"

"Lucky draw." Blaze Rose mocked me, but I tried to ignore her words.

"I activate _Cryo Raptor_ 's effect, Special Summoning itself from my hand and one Level two or lower monster from my Graveyard! Come, _BrioGear_ _Cryo Raptor (Lv.1, DEF: 100)_ and _BrioGear Pale Crawfish (Lv.2, DEF: 600)_!"

Two small portals appeared at each side of me as _Pale Crawfish_ appeared alongside _Cryo Raptor_. I had three level 3 or lower effect monsters, I could use them to call out my ace!

"First, the effect of _Pale Crawfish_ activates, adding another copy of itself from my deck to the hand!" I showed Blaze Rose the card before adding it to my hand. "Now appear, circuit of life!"

"A Link Summoning at this time?" queried Blaze Rose. "Hmm, ok then. Show me if you could make a comeback!"

"Arrowheads confirmed!" Two waves of water surrounded my monsters while I controlled them with my hands. "Summoning requirements are two Level 3 or lower monsters! I set _BrioGear_ _Pale Crawfish_ and _Freakiver_ in the Link Markers!" My monsters flew at the top middle and bottom middle arrows of the circuit. "Link Summon! The dancing spirit of storms! _Grand Ranger Serene (ATK: 2100, LINK-2)_!"

"If you combine it with the _Pale Crawfish_ in your hand, you will be able to deal some damage." Blaze Rose pointed out, her monsters forming a wall between me and her. "But if that was what you aimed for, you wouldn't have used your stronger monsters as materials while leaving a tuner on your field."

"It doesn't matter if you figured it out! I activate the Spell, _World Legacy Inheritor_!" I stated as the arrows of Serene's card glowed and highlighted my unused Monster Zone. "This Spell allows me to revive any monster in my Graveyard by putting it next to a monster's link. Revive, _BrioGear Wave Crusade (Lv.4, ATK: 1700)_!"

A stream of water burst underneath the zone to which Serene was pointing and my knight appeared holding its sword.

"To the deeps of the ocean I call for the strength to protect this world!" I exclaimed my monsters flying in front of me. "Summoning conditions are a water tuner and one or more non-tuner monsters! I tune BrioGear Freakiver to BrioGear Effect Slime! Synchro Summon! Slash through the endless waves of evil! _BrioGear Howling Guardian (Lv.5, ATK: 2400)_!"

"Synchro Summoning?" Blaze Rose looked puzzled, then she laughed. "So that was your trump card? Very, very, INTERESTING!"

"Battle!" I declared and gestured toward my Synchro monster. " _BrioGear Howling Guardian_ attacks _NitroGear Acid Lancer_! I discard _BrioGear Pale Crawfish_ to activate its effect! Until the end of this turn all of my monsters will gain six hundred attack points!"

 **BrioGear** **Howling Guardian** **, ATK:** **24** **00 +** **6** **00** → **3000**

 **Grand Ranger Serene** **, ATK:** **21** **00 +** **6** **00** → **2700**

" _Back Blast_!" I shouted as my monster's cannons popped out and it blasted the opposing monster.

 **『** **Blaze Rose LP: 2500 – 500** → **2000** **』**

"At this moment _BrioGear Howling Guardian_ 's other effect will activate!" I declared as rain fell over my body. "When a water monster I control inflicts damage I gain attack equal to that amount!"

 **『** **Proxy LP: 2400 + 500** → **2900** **』**

" _Grand Ranger Serene_ attack _NitroGear Veteranion_! _Last Serenity_!" My monster fired an arrow straight throw the humanoid insect and hit Blaze Rose in the shoulder.

 **『** **Blaze Rose LP: 2000 – 400** → **1600** **』**

" _BrioGear Howling Guardian_ 's effect activates!" My monster fired a second arrow, but this time it burst into rain which fell on top of me, healing the damage I took during this duel.

 **『** **Proxy LP: 2900 + 400** → **3300** **』**

"The effect of Grand Ranger Serene activates!" My monster aimed her bow at Blaze Rose. "When she inflicts damage to the opponent, I can send a monster she is linked to in the Graveyard and inflict its original attack to you as damage. I send _BrioGear Howling Guardian_ to the Graveyard to inflict two thousand and four hundred points of damage to you!"

"Hm, so you keep your ace's attack last in order to get the most out of its effect?" Blaze Rose narrowed her eyes. "At least you were smart enough to do that. But too bad, I have something as well. Counter Trap activate! _**NitroGear Explosive Heart**_!" The card showed NitroGear Warrior with flames coming out of its chest and eyes. "When a monster's effect activates I can discard a card from my hand to negate it and return that monster to the bottom of your deck!"

* * *

 **NitroGear Explosive Heart (Trap) Counter**

 **When a monster's effect activates that would inflict damage to a player: Discard 1 card from your hand; negate the activation and if you do, return that monster to the bottom of its owner's deck. If you would take damage: You can banish this card from your GY and halve your LP; negate the damage, then you take no damage for the rest of this turn.**

* * *

A ball of flames formed around Serene and burned her body, turning it into flames that flew back inside the card. She knew every move that I would make before I thought about it, didn't she? All the damage that I was able to deal to her until now was meaningless since she wanted me to do it. I was being treated as her plaything during this duel, she think that there would be no reason to go all out and chose to play instead.

"Oh well, your turn is over it seems." She sighed and put two fingers on top of her deck. "My turn then. I draw."

 **『** **Turn 6 [Blaze Rose] LP: 1600 Hand: 2** **』**

"Hehehe, look at what I got." Blaze Rose told me. "With all monsters on my field being Nitro monsters I will Normal Summon this card, _**NitroGear Mighty Slasher**_!"

A humanoid in heavy red armor appeared on the field. Its helmet was black and covered all in horns with no place for the eyes and only an opening for the mouth; it showed that the creature's skin was green. For wings were attached to its back, two on the top and two on the lower back with a rocket engine connecting them to one another. The monster held a huge black sword with a shield on the handle and a flamethrower connected to the blade itself.

* * *

 **NitroGear Mighty Slasher**

 **L** **evel:** **5** **/Attribute:** **FIRE** **/Type:** **Warrior** **/Effect**

 **ATK:** **200** **0/DEF:** **10** **00**

 **Effect:** **If you control no monsters, or all monsters you control are "Nitro" monsters, you can Normal Summon this card without Tributing. Once per turn: If the battle position of a monster is changed, you can Special Summon 1 FIRE Tuner monster from your GY.**

* * *

"When a monster other than a water monster is summoned, the effect of my continuous trap will change it to defense position." I reminded her, but the look in her eyes showed that it didn't matter that much to her.

"When the battle position of a monster is changed the effect of _Mighty Slasher_ activates." A burning right appeared in the sky above Blaze Rose. "I get to Special Summon a Tuner monster from my Graveyard. And lucky me, the card I discarded to activate _Explosive Heart_ was this one – _Nitro Synchro (Lv: 2, DEF: 100)_!"

"So you had this card in your hand during the last turn!" Damn it! She could have defeat me during her second turn with ease!

"Yep, but I didn't think you deserve to get finished out by my ace monster." Blaze Rose shrugged. "Oh well, you still aren't, but playing with you just isn't interesting to me anymore. No hard feelings, ok?"

"I won't fall here." I still had one last trump card lying in my Graveyard.

"Is that so? I can feel a soul burning for battle!" Blaze Rose shouted and threw her hand upward. "I tune my Level five _NitroGear Mighty Slasher_ into my Level two _Nitro Synchron_!"

The pressure gauge on Nitro Synctron's head went to the red as it turned into two rings. The warrior flew through the rings and a beam of light blasted through the sky.

"Synchro Summon! Level 7, _NitroGear Warrior (Lv. 7, ATK: 2800)_!" Blaze Rose's ace stood up and roared at me. Its huge and muscular appearance was so intimidating, I felt the air around me starting to get chillier despite it being fire attributed.

"When you summon a monster, it gets changed to defense position because of the effect of _Eisbahn_." My trap dropped _NitroGear Warrior_ to its knees.

"Pointless struggle. I use the effect of _NitroGear Active Force_ to change _NitroGear Warrior_ into attack position." Blaze Rose's ace stood back up and clenched its fist. "I also activate the Equip Spell, _Synchro Boost_! Equipping it to my monster, it gains five hundred attack and one level!"

 **NitroGear** **, ATK:** **28** **00 +** **5** **00** → **3300, Level: 7** → **8**

"Battle! Finish her off, _NitroGear Warrior_! _Nitro One-Hit_!" The warrior roared and clenched his fists, charging straight at me.

"I activate _BrioGear Madoor_ 's effect from my Graveyard!" A wall of ice appeared in front of me and took the attack instead, defending all of my Life Points.

The ice wall before me began to change shape and a humanoid came out of it. The monster had glowing blue skin made of ice and spiky white hair with a hokey mask covering its face. A black coat floated behind it, its arms were tied with bandages and a black belt with a gear emblem held its black pants. The monster looked at NitroGear Warrior and hissed at it.

* * *

 **BrioGear Madoor**

 **L** **evel:** **6** **/Attribute:** **WATER** **/Type:** **Spellcaster** **/Effect**

 **ATK: 1** **2** **00/DEF:** **30** **00**

 **Effect:** **You can Special Summon this card (from your hand) by Tributing 1 WATER monster, and if you do, it gains ATK equal to the Tributed monster's original ATK. When an opponent's monster declares an attack, while you have no cards in your hand and this card is in your Graveyard: You can Special Summon this card from your Graveyard, then end the Battle Phase. You can only use this effect of "BrioGear Madoor" once per Duel.**

* * *

"A new _BrioGear_?" Blaze Rose raised an eyebrow.

"Indeed. When you declare a direct attack while I have no cards in my hand, I can activate _BrioGear Madoor_ 's effect to Special Summon itself and end the Battle Phase!"

"Very well then. I will defeat you next turn." Blaze Rose told me.

"You shouldn't have wasted your previous chances." I told her. "Don't you think that this duel is pointless! If the Legendary Duelists haven't show up after all other Charisma Duelists were strike down, why do you think that defeating me will make them show up? You are making no sense!"

"SILENCE!" Blaze Rose commanded, a red mist forming around her body, while her eyes began to glow red. "If they are too scared to come out and face me, I will track them down myself! Right now you should focus on saving your own live!"

My shoulders dropped a bit while I listened to her yelling. I wasn't paying much attention to her words though, most of my focus was on the crimson mist that appeared around her body when she turned angry. It reminded me of the one radiating from Gloomy Ruby when I dueled her, the desire to destroy everything, the anger. The conditions were almost the same, but Gloomy Ruby acted much fiercer in my duel with her.

"Hanoi has infected you…" Blaze Rose was a victim as well.

"Shut up! Hurry up and take you turn! Hurry, hurry, hurry!"

There was no point in trying to talk with her in this state, the Hanoi's virus has infected her avatar and was controlling it. Many new questions formed in my head. Who was the true culprit if Blaze Rose is infected as well? How did they know about me and that I was trying to find a cure? How were they able to infect three Charisma Duelists without anyone noticing a thing? And so on, the questions wrote themselves inside my brain the more I thought about the answer. This could have been done only by someone who was close to Blaze Rose, Gloomy Ruby and Blue Angel, or at least knew them well enough to orchestrate it.

"My turn, draw!" I will think about it after I win this duel.

 **『** **Turn 7 [Proxy] LP: 3300 Hand: 1** **』**

"I activate the Spell Card, Salvage!" The spell materialized next to me, while I explained it. "According to its effect I add add two water monsters with a thousand and five hundred or less attack from my graveyard to the hand. I return _BrioGear Geratorned_ and _BrioGear Cryo Raptor_!"

Just a little more, I will save Blaze Rose from the agony that she was going through as a puppet of Hanoi.

"I activate _Cryo Raptor_ 's effect, Special Summoning itself from my hand and one Level two or lower monster from my Graveyard! Come, _BrioGear_ _Cryo Raptor (Lv.1, DEF: 100)_ and _BrioGear Pale Crawfish (Lv.2, DEF: 600)_!" The two monsters appeared on my field once again, ready to repeat what I did last time. "When _BrioGear Pale Crawfish_ is summoned I can add another _BrioGear Pale Crawfish_ to my hand."

If I summoned Serene, then used _Pale Crawfish_ 's effect and my own skill to discard _Geratorned_ and raised her attack, Serene would have 4100 attack points. Blaze Rose had no set cards on her field, only two monsters so the damage would definitely land and reduce her life points to 300, after which Serene's effect will send Madoor to the Graveyard for 1200 more damage, reducing her life to 0. With that combo I would definitely win!

"Come forth, circuit of life!" I called out, summoning a circuit before me. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two Level 3 or lower monsters! I set _BrioGear Cryo Raptor_ and _BrioGear Pale Crawfish_ in the Link Markers! Link Summon! The dancing spirit of storms! _Grand Ranger Serene (ATK: 2100, Link-2)_!"

My ace appeared on the field once again, clenching her fists, she stared at Blaze Rose's ace.

"Battle! _Grand Ranger Serene_ attack _NitroGear Warrior_!" My monster activated her bow and aimed at her target. "I discard _BrioGear Pale Crawfish_ to activate its effect! Until the end of this turn all of my monsters will gain six hundred attack points!"

 **Grand Ranger Serene** **, ATK:** **21** **00 +** **6** **00** → **2700**

"Also, I activate my skill! Miracle of Life!" I blue arrow made of light formed in my hand as I threw it at Serene who put it in her bow. "Once per duel, when a WATER monster I control battles, I can discard a WATER monster and transfer its attack power to the fighting monster! I discard _BrioGear_ _Geratorned_ to give Serene its power!"

 **Grand Ranger Serene** **, ATK:** **27** **00 +** **14** **00** → **4100**

"Go! Last Serenity!" I threw my arm forward in time with my monster firing her bow. The blue arrow pierced through _NitroGear Warrior_ and flew straight into Blaze Rose.

 **『** **Blaze Rose LP: 1600 – 1300** → **300** **』**

"The effect of Grand Ranger Serene activates!" My monster aimed her bow at Blaze Rose. "When she inflicts damage to the opponent, I can send a monster she is linked to in the Graveyard and inflict its original attack to you as damage. I send _BrioGear Madoor_ to the Graveyard to inflict one thousand and two hundred points of damage to you! _Madoor Arrow_!"

BrioGear Madoor glowed and transformed into a frozen arrow that Serene caught and put in her bow, firing it straight at Blaze Rose.

* * *

 **3** **rd** **POV [2 years ago…]**

The red haired girl was sitting in an alley all by herself. Wrapping her arms around her legs, she pressed them against her body and mainly her stomach, hoping to make it hurt from having her knees pressed against it. That way the soaring pain in her belly from the three straight days of starvation would go numb. She exhaled and closer her eyes, happy thoughts, think about happy things and all the suffering would just go away.

"So now you are lurking through the alleys, bitch?" The girl's eyes widened and she turned toward the source of the voice, only to get kick in the face.

Her strength was almost non-existing, she barely had enough to whimper from the hit which knocked her on the ground. Blood ran from her nose, the only sight in front of her was the despicable face of her old father. It was red and there was a weird smell around him; it didn't take her long to realize that he was drunk.

"We are starving to death and she is here playing city girl, eh?" The old man said and kicked her in the stomach.

"W-why?" The girl managed to mutter between coughs.

The man paused for a moment then kneeled next to her, grabbing her hair, he pulled her head closer to him, the full smell of alcohol hitting her senses. She would have vomited then and there if her stomach wasn't empty.

"You were able to survive until now." He told her. "I heard there is a man who would be interested in having a young girl like you to… serve him in certain ways."

Of course, he would look for her only if it was about money. She slowly shook her head, he has already kicked her out of the house; she wasn't his daughter any more.

"No?" The man stood up and kicked her again, the girl's lips parting away for a soundless scream. "Your family is starving and you won't do that much for them? Is that so, you selfish bitch?!"

Kick after kick, her body was already numb, she couldn't feel the pain any more. Of course, he wasn't going to kill her, she knew that he needed to drag her back and sell her. The girl closed her eyes and wanted for everything to end.

"AAAAAARRRRGGHHHH!" Suddenly, the kicks stopped and the scream of her father replaced his previous insults toward her.

Slowly, the girl opened one of her eyes enough to look forward. She felt a strange satisfaction seeing the face of her old man getting slammed against a wall and stayed there. A second passed, two, on the third the old man's body collapsed on the ground and someone stepped toward the girl. Sunlight beam in the dark alley, making it impossible for her to see the face of her savior who was standing right in front of the blinding light.

All she could make out of his image was the black pants and the matching short sleeved shirt along with the ponytail on the back of his head. The man, no, the boy leaned forward and gave her a hand, a smile on his face. Cautiously, the girl accepted his help and stood up, only for her legs to give up and for her to tumble forward into his arms.

"Hey, hey, could you stay awake for a little longer." The boy asked, wrapping his arms around her. "I will get your something to eat while we wait for the police and the ambulance to come."

Feeling like something was missing, the girl turned to the ground and saw her only card, Nitro Synchro, lying in the dirt.

"Huh?" The boy leaned and took the card from the ground. "Is that your?"

Looking up at the boy who just saved her the red haired girl was only able to give a weak note before reaching to take the card back from him. Only for him to take her arm into his own and look her in the eyes. Now she could see his face clearly, the white and red hair, his lively crimson eyes and the beaming smile on his face.

"Do you want us to duel after you get patched up?" The boy asked her with a strange tone that was filled with happiness.

For the second time in her life, the girl's own eyes had a lively spark and beamed with a desire to keep on living. She couldn't find the strength to answer him, but she was able to nod.

"Great! And what is your name?"

The girl looked away, wondering if it was right to tell her name to a complete stranger. But he helped her and she couldn't see any bad desires in his eyes, so he wouldn't hurt her, would he?

"V-Vermilya…" She whispered. "Vermilya Hayashi."

The boy nodded and held her against his body, keeping her warm until the ambulance came to pick her up. A few months after that meeting, the girl would be the one to take on an online persona of a ruthless duelist known as Blaze Rose.

* * *

 **Proxy's POV**

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" I put my hands over the ears to mute the agonizing sound of Blaze Rose's screams. Her hair began to float just like how Gloomy Ruby's did and the crimson mist that surrounded her body began larger the longer it went.

"I activate my skill! _Burning Spirit_!" Blaze Rose roared as flames burst all around her. "It revives the _NitroGear Warrior_ that you just destroyed!"

"But that won't negate the damage!" I pointed out, her effect wasn't stopping mine from resolving.

"I banish _Explosive Heart_ from my graveyard and pay half my life points to activate its effect!" A circle of fire appeared in front of Blaze Rose and melted the arrow.

 **『** **Blaze Rose LP: 300 / 2** → **150** **』**

"All damage I take for the rest of this turn is negated." Blaze Rose stated.

"Since _BrioGear_ _Geratorned_ was discarded its effect allows me to add a level four or lower monster from my graveyard to the hand. I will return _BrioGear Pale Crawfish_."

"MY TURN!" Blaze Rose shouted, drawing a card.

 **『** **Turn 8 [Blaze Rose] LP: 150 Hand: 1** **』**

"I activate the Field Spell, _NitroGear Junkyard_!" Blaze Rose's deck glowed when she played that card. "When it's activated, _NitroGear Junkyard_ lets me add a Nitro card to my hand. Next, I change _NitroGear Warrior_ to Attack Position!"

The gigantic warrior raised on its feet and roared with flames coming out of his fists.

"Next, I use _NitroGear Active Force_ to change _NitroGear Coarms Cicada_ to Attack Position!" The black insect raised on its feet and fired a wave of fire toward me and Serene, coughing both of us.

"When _NitroGear Coarms Cicada_ has his battle position changed by an effect, you take five hundred points of damage!" Blaze Rose reminded me. "Further, when a monster's battle position changed because of an effect _NitroGear Junkyard_ will destroy a card on the field. I destroy your ace monster!"

 **『** **Proxy LP: 3300 - 500** → **2800** **』**

"Ahh!" I yelped as the flames shot through my body.

My field was empty, the cards I had couldn't do anything either. So in the end, I stood no chance to defeat Blaze Rose?

"Die!" Blaze Rose yelled at me and her _NitroGear Warrior_ charged at me, hitting me in the guts with his burning fists.

"KKKYYYYAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" I scream in agony as the attack blasted me off my D-Board and in the sky.

Time seemed to slow down, I couldn't move my head and the only thing before me was the dark sky of LINK VRAINS. All I felt at those moments was fear… I was afraid what would happen to me after this…

 **『** **Proxy** **LP: 2** **8** **00** → **0 Hand: 1** **』**

 **『** **Winner: Blaze Rose** **』**

My body finally crashed on a rooftop. Not a single pixel in my body wanted to move from the intensive pain that was clouding my senses. It was agonizing, but I still felt like myself, for the moment at least. Blaze Rose jumped off her D-Board and landed in front of me, staring down at my lying form with those burning eyes of hers. Looking her I felt both quilt for not stopping her and fear of what would happen now. I was absolutely defeat, she completely destroyed me in the duel; my luck wasn't strong enough for this.

"Heh, just look at yourself."

My eyes widened at the familiar voice. I wanted to turn and see him for myself, to make sure that my mind wasn't starting to play games on me.

"R-Rocketeer?" Indeed, he was standing not too far away, slowly stepping forward. "W-what are you doing here?"

* * *

 **A/N: So, two chapters in two days? I'm really getting insane writing this story, aren't I? Well, don't get used to such** **frequent updates. Due to exams coming up, I won't be able to write anything during the next week.**

 **So this whole chapter was just a duel between Proxy and Blaze Rose. It was a last second decision to write the little flashbask about Blaze Rose's flashback, but I thought that since almost nothing is known about her and Rocketeer I could use these chapters as a way to further** **establish their characters, their motivations and etc. Also, poor Proxy, in the last three chapters she had to deal with almost everyone whom she knows in LINK VRAINS turning against her: Blaze Rose, Blue Angel and Gloomy Ruby all being victims of the Hanoi virus.**

 **Thanks to** D3lph0xL0v3r **for reviewing EVERY chapter until now. I appreciate it and want to respond to some of the things that I found the need to explain.**

 **First, no, this doesn't take place in any alternative Link Dimension or something. The Evan and Avice in this story are the same ones from my other story. I won't explain how they got in this world, nor will the story address it either. All I can say is that it will make sense eventually xD**

 **Second, Elizabeth appeared in Chapter 1. She most likely won't appear in this story any more, unless it's a flashback.**

 **That's it. I won't address other things because, well, they were either already addressed in the story or will be at a later point. Again, thanks for the reviews and I hope that everyone who reads this liked the chapter.**

 **Diabolic Tracer out!**


	14. Chapter 14

The First Gears! Time and Space Assemble!

"R-Rocketeer?" Proxy's eyes meet with those of her friend. Both happiness that he was unharmed and worry about his well-being from here on. "W-what are you doing here?"

An unrecognizable for the girl playfulness shinned in the boy's eyes as he took a step toward her, and then another, and another. Proxy's concern for the robotic avatar turned into confusion and then, as he walked past her fallen body, her mind came to the conclusion that he wasn't there for her. Rocketeer made his way over to Blaze Rose, the girl stood there, still and unmoving like a doll. Or more precisely, her behavior matched that of a puppet without a puppet master.

Raising his large robotic arm, the boy ran a finger over the chin of his prey. Blaze Rose of course, didn't respond with anything. Her eyes were lifeless and empty, her mind was under the complete control of the virus that infected her systems, but watching her emotionless face, Proxy could see something that Rocketeer couldn't or didn't care about. Blaze Rose's soul must be crying in pain and agony.

"This one turned out better than the last, didn't she?" Rocketeer suddenly asked, his lips raising up into a smile that was anything but well-meaning or warm. "I had to do some tweaking of the program to make sure she doesn't end up going berserk like the little blood sucker before her. But you have to admit, the extra work was worth it, since I was able to preserve most of her dueling skills."

Proxy gulped and glanced at the NitroGear user once again, before returning her attention to Rocketeer. Her mind couldn't comprehend what the robotic avatar was talking about, or why he was acting like Blaze Rose was his puppet. Actually, she could figure it out, but like some sort of defending mechanism, her mind didn't seem to want to accept to interpret the situation in that way. She didn't want to accept that Rocketeer could somehow be somehow involved with the virus of Hanoi.

Proxy was trying desperately to fight off any bad thoughts about Rocketeer, her only friend in LINK VRAINS - The man that helped her out so much and was there every time she needed a shoulder to lean on. She wanted this to be a misunderstand, to be able to believe in him, but somewhere deep inside both her heart and mind, the BrioGear used knew that those hopes were false and that was what hurt her more than the damage she suffered from her duel with Blaze Rose. Proxy closed her eyes and something that shouldn't be possible in LINK VRAINS happened; a tear ran down her cheek.

"It's not possible." Proxy muttered softly, catching Rocketeer's attention. "Y-you… You couldn't be part of this. You told me that LINK VRAINS was like a second home to you, that because of that it was worth to sacrifice yourself if it means protecting it! So, why are you helping the Knights of Hanoi to destroy it?"

Rocketeer stared wide-eyed at Proxy after those words. Taking a step back, like someone hit by a bullet, the young man put his robotic arm over his face, covering it out of Proxy's view. His hand began to tremble and his shoulders shook. A sole chuckled echoed through the air and after it came a loud laughter. The metal fingers of Rocketeer's arm parted away and his eyes looked down at Proxy while he keep on laughing at her naivety.

"Y-you... Hahaha!... You really – hahaha - believed my words?" Rocketeer asked her. He took a deep breath to calm himself down and straighten his posture. "Just how naïve can you be to believe in every single word that someone tells you? I don't care about LINK VRAINS, what will happened to it, or which crazy bastards are going to destroy it! I have only one goal to achieve and that is all that truly matters!"

"That can't be true." Proxy shook her head and tried to stand up. Her limps were trembling from the damage her body took, but despite that she keep on fighting the pain and raised herself on her feet. "Y-you could be that heartless. The Rocketeer I know would never join the Knights of Hanoi!"

"The Rocketeer you know, huh? So that's the problem, you still look at me as Rocketeer, don't you?" Rocketeer asked and held his robotic arm up. A mad grin formed on his face as his arm began to crack apart. "Then allow me to destroy all of your hopes by show you the true appearance of my account!"

Rocketeer clenched his metal arm into a fist and the cracks began to fall off until it all broke down and a slender claw came out to replace it. His outfit changed to a white royal outfit with green accents, a short cape and heavy metal boots. Finally, a black knight helmet formed around his head and his outfit produced a long hood. Seeing her friend's appearance take such a drastic change, Proxy felt a chill ran down her spine, not because of anything else but because he looked exactly like someone she hoped to never meet again.

"You know that one, don't you?" the knight asked her, holding his claw before her. "When the shell I call Rocketeer gets destroyed, I'm called Picaro."

"No." Proxy shook her head while keeping her eyes on the demonic knight before her. "But then that means… No, no, no, no, no, no, no! This can't be true!"

"Too bad for you then, because it is." Picaro mimicked a sad voice. "The reason why Rocketeer disappeared when Playmaker got attacked was because I'm Picaro!"

Proxy fell on her knees and looked down at the ground. Her entire being was shocked and devastated, she wanted all of it to be just some sick nightmare! Proxy put her hands over her head, thinking about everything that happened before all of this. Even before Picaro first showed up, she remembered about the day when Rocketeer took her to a server made for Charisma Duelists.

 _"Also, you haven't forgotten about our private duel later, right?"_ She remembered Rocketeer's words to Gloomy Ruby.

 _"But if you want a duel, then fine, I will give you one just to shut you up. We will do it two days from now, you can choose the server on which we are going to duel."_ And the way he used Blaze Rose's arguing in his favor.

"Playmaker will stop you." Proxy declared.

Even though she was too weak to fight him and stop Picaro's madness, there was someone far more skilled and stronger than her - LINK VRAINS' hero, Playmaker. He had fought many Knights of Hanoi before. So, even if she fell here, at least there would still be hope for the world of LINK VRAINS.

"Look." Picaro told her and raised his claw to point at the distance.

Following where the demonic knight pointed at, Proxy's eyes widened upon seeing what Picaro was referring to. With the ground torn apart and lava shooting into the pitch black sky, the rest of the city was a hell on earth. Buildings were destroyed and columns of smoke raised above the city, but most noticeable about the whole disaster was the huge Data Storm that tore through the center of the city. Its intensity was so high that it tore through the buildings it came in contact with and took their ruins with itself on its senseless path of destruction.

Picaro crossed his arms behind his back while looking at the hellish city himself. No one could tell what he was thinking about it all and his helmet did a good job to hide his expression.

"Playmaker and Revolver are dueling inside that Data Storm." Picaro informed the girl. "Revolver must have told him that if Playmaker manages to win, he will give him the removal program for the virus on Blue Angel's avatar. The hero you trust so much is right there, fighting the leader of the Knights of Hanoi, but he won't come out of there alive. Even if Playmaker somehow manages to score a win, the moment Revolver leaves the Data Storm I will use my program to close it. Due to being inside it outside of a duel, he won't be able to use Storm Access and the Hero of LINK VRAINS will be torn to little bits."

"N-no…" Proxy clenched her fist, while staring at the demonic knight. She couldn't allow him to hurt anyone else! "I won't let you… I will stop yo-!"

Proxy stopped mid-way in her sentence. She felt a sharp like her heart was being torn apart. Her trembling lips parted away, whenever she wanted to scream or say something was hard to determinate because no voice came out of her mouth. She blinked in disbelief, one of Picaro's sharp claws had pierced through her chest where a human's heart would be. The demonic knight leaned forward, his helmet a few inches away from the girl's face.

"The duel with Blaze Rose should have finished you, but I had mercy. However, if your choice is to keep fighting for Playmaker, then you can die with him." He whispered with a chilling voice and retraced his claws back.

The moment he did that, Proxy collapsed backward on the ground, gasping for breath. She felt the spot around the found like it was burning her skin off. The pain began to quickly crawl to the rest of her body, she wanted to move, scream, do anything, but her body wasn't responding. Even her mind was going off due to the intense pain, but if she could think enough to try and describe the feeling that ran through her body, she wouldn't be able to. It was an agonizing combination of burning, paralysis and suffocation.

"Does it hurt?" Picaro blatantly asked the girl whose body was shaking uncomfortable on the ground before him. "Don't worry, it will get better once my virus gets pass the anti-virus defenses of your avatar."

Proxy didn't reply to his reassuring words, how could she while also suffocating? If she had enough strength for one final move it would be to try and reach out to Picaro. Not to push or hurt him, but to try and reach to her friend whose heart she believed was held captive behind that demonic avatar made of iron and hatred. Unfortunately, the paralysis was too strong for her to fight against it.

"I know that what I'm doing here might look wrong or even evil to you, but I'm not in this for the mindless destruction." Picaro clarified. The demonic knight kneeled down next to the shaking knight and ran his claws over her cheek in an almost gentle motion. "Yes, right. I too was once a young and naïve person like you, someone with dreams."

Picaro's words seemed to drag some unknown weight with them. Like they were shackled to his previous sins, they came out painfully from his mouth. His face couldn't be seen because of the helmet, but his tone and gestures were enough to clarify that he wasn't too proud of his actions. Maybe it was because he knew that Proxy was just another innocent victim that was dragged in a fight which wasn't hers to begin with.

"I always wanted to be on the top, to sit on a throne above the whole world. I knew that making that dream a reality wouldn't be possible, not if I aimed to bring it to this world at least." Picaro gestured toward the town of LINK VRAINS; the ruins and clouds of black smoke that raised above them. "But there were legends in this world that could help me make my dream real within this digital reality. You know how the story goes from here on, don't you? They gave me my deck, taught me how to use it and I came to win my desire place as the number one. It was pretty exciting at first, winning duel after duel, proving my worth, but then I reached the top ten on the leader board and the ugly face of LINK VRAINS revealed itself to me."

Picaro paused for a moment, almost as if he was waiting for a reply from Proxy. Of course, in the condition that he had put her, the girl was unable to either more or speak. The demonic knight could see the torment in her eyes, but continued with his story.

"I saw many things. Angry fans attacking one another, it wasn't just once that I had to take responsibility for the actions of people I didn't know because they were fans of my dueling. The Charisma Duelists were even more greedy and selfish that I expected. I mean, did you think that they actually cared about those to whom they appeal? All they cared about was their place on the leaderboard and destroying any competition before it could endanger their sacred place on top of that corrupted pyramid that idiots like you and Playmaker are trying to save. This whole world is a lie build upon the unrecognized work of people whom SOL Technology threw in jail so they could monopolize LINK VRAINS."

Even with the extreme pain that her body was put through, Proxy was listening to Picaro's words. She didn't believe that half of the things he described were real, maybe he was exaggerating about them. But hearing that SOL Technology stole the work of people in order to gain money from LINK VRAINS shocked her. She could at least see somewhat a reason as to why the Knights of Hanoi hated this digital world, even if she didn't agree with their methods to deal with its problems.

"But it wasn't all bad, you know?" a hallow chuckle came out of Picaro's mouth. "During that time I found more about how my teachers were able to create their own cards within LINK VRAINS. A secret place somewhere within this fake world that could take you to a completely difference place. A well hidden completely new digital world that isn't run by greedy companies. A utopia where humans could finally let go of the limitation of their flesh and become something more! A completely new and better mankind with me sitting on the throne and leading it!"

Saying that Picaro clenched his fist triumphantly and look up at the pitch black sky. After that however, his head lowered, a hateful memory from his past flashed into his head reminding him why he joined the Knights of Hanoi in the first place. The demonic knight slammed his fist into the ground, making it crack underneath the strength of his hit.

"Of course, those bastards already knew about the existence of this better, superior world, but instead of sharing it with everyone else, they did something different, something evil! Using their knowledge, they manipulated the data to create a gate that can only be unlocked with the sixth oGear decks that they created. When they found out about my research, they gave up on teaching me and tried to take my deck, but I was able to run away from then and joined a group that wouldn't try to stop my research. Faking my loyalty to the Knights of Hanoi's cause, I was able to quickly raise in their ranks and obtain information about their true target. A different world hidden in the network known as Cyberse, a place created by A.I.s developed by the founder of the organization himself."

* * *

Inside Greyson's house – the quiet steps of someone echoed in the silence that had fallen over the rest of the building. Taking slow steps, Avice went into the corridor that lead to the bedrooms. She stopped next to hers and then turned to the right, where Roxy's bedroom was located. The green haired girl pressed her body against the door trying to hear something, but after being meet with nothing but silence, she slowly turned the handle and glanced inside, where Roxy's unconscious body was lying on the bed.

Avice took a deep breath and closed the door again. She pressed her body against the back of the door and reached into the pocket inside her school jacket. Pulling out a deck out of it, she sighed and walked into her own room.

* * *

"Through my research, I found the possibility for an alternative entrance, residing somewhere inside the Cyberse." Picaro keep on explaining to Proxy. "Of course, you might think that I'm a bad person for joining the Knights of Hanoi in the first place and for helping them destroy LINK VRAINS, but that isn't right. The moment I'm able to either collect all six oGear decks or discover the hidden Cyberse, I'm going to end the Knights using my own version of their virus. Since it doesn't respond to the removal program they have created, by the time someone manages to make a cure all of them will be death. Wouldn't that be a win-win for everyone? The evil terrorist organization was destroyed, LINK VRAINS is saved and I will create a utopia for humanity to live in."

Picaro's story ended and he turned back toward his victim. His sharp claws were moving and pressing against one another while he looked down at her.

"I don't mean to do badly to this or any other world, Proxy." The demonic knight told her and kneeled down next to her. "My friendship with you wasn't fake, even after I found that you were helping Playmaker I didn't immediately go after you, because I didn't want to hurt you. I still don't, so why don't you join me? You won't need to join the Knights of Hanoi or accept their beliefs, just… Just be by my side, ok?"

Proxy thought what response she would have given to this story if she had heard it by Rocketeer when they first meet, or before she knew that he was a member of Hanoi. Back before she had anything personal reason to fight in this conflict, would she have turned her back to everyone else and followed him? Frankly, she believed that it was exactly the thing that she would have done if the circumstances were different. But after she saw all the damage that he did to LINK VRAINS and how easy he would turn against her, her response was completely different from what a past version of her would have chosen. There was a determination to keep on fighting that burned inside her eyes and Picaro had no choice but to notice it. The demonic knight sighed in disappointment and raised his claws.

"I really didn't expect you to make this choice, but I won't judge you." Picaro's chilling tone reached something within Proxy. She was scared, but she still choose to stay by her choice and closed her eyes ready to take the final strike. "Farewell, Proxy!"

"Hiiissssshhhhhhhhh!"

Proxy's eyes opened wide and she looked in front of herself. The black cat with purple eyes that she meet several times before was standing in between her and Picaro's claw, hissing and the man in knight armor. This turn of events was just as surprising to the high ranked Hanoi who felt a chill run down his spine while staring the small carnivorous animal in the eyes. What scared him the most about the small beast, was how his claw and his whole body for that matter, froze right before he could destroy the cat.

"What the?" Picaro looked at the cat in confusion. After a moment however his confusion turned into anger; he found out the cat's secret. "You are…-! EVAN!"

The cat hissed back and purple electricity began to shot out of its fur. The small animal looked at the black sky, prompting the others to do the same. The black smoke that floated above the whole city was suddenly pierced as a white beam of light flew down and collided with the black cat. The collision released a large amount of energy which threw both Picaro and Blaze Rose and send them flying. That would have knocked both duelists off the building if it wasn't for the demonic knight sticking his claws into the ground and for the girl managing to grab onto her D-Board.

Two figures appeared within the white beam. First, the black cat which grew and stood up on two feet before turning into a tall man. The cat ears that were once resting on his head became part of a hood which the man pulled back to make his avatar's face visible. Short black hair with glowing purple edges that spike upward in the back covered his head. Matching purple eyes with two glowing red lines that started below his eyes and ran down his cheeks.

He wore a black short jacket that reaches just below his chest with a longer torn part that reaches below his knees and a black and purple sleeveless suit underneath the jacket. There were also long purple gloves that reach his elbows, a black and purple Duel Disk of the same model as Playmaker's merged with the left glove.

The second person that came out of the light was a shorter girl. She had long blue hair with green accents that was tied behind her into two long stands held with large white metal pieces. Her eyes were yellow with small blue markings on her cheeks and similar white metal parts attached to the edge of her chin.

The girl's outfit consisted of, a white choker with a green ribbon and a small jewel on the center was that went around her neck, a short white dress that only reached her thighs with a glowing blue gem attached on the center of it and lined with a gold frame. Her dress had attachable sleeves and had blue lines where her naked skin met the dress. Underneath she wore white, thigh-high boots with green accents and small golden spikes on either side of her boots.

"So, you bastards finally choose to show up?" Picaro hissed as he pulled himself back up.

The man and the girl looked at each other before turning back toward Proxy. The older one raised his hand toward her, causing the BrioGear used to scream as red mist came out of her body and flew into the man's hand, where it shattered to pieces. Proxy gasped for air and wrapped her arms around her body trying to calm herself down.

"The virus!" Picaro shouted. "How?"

"Heh, you really don't understand how your own program works, do you?" Avice's avatar asked.

"The reason Hanoi's virus is so hard to remove is because once it infects the target, its coding infuses with the one of the user's nerve system." Evan's avatar stated. "Since the data about a user's nerve system is supposed to be invisible, we wouldn't be able to detect the center of the problem nor know how to remove it without causing permanent damage to the victim. However, the story is completely different if we try to remove it while the virus is still trying to overcome the firewall and hasn't bonded with the user's data."

"Y-you bastards!" Picaro yelled at the two. "Are you really going to come between me and my goal when I'm so close to completing it?!"

The Greysons shrugged in response to the Knight of Hanoi's question. They hadn't been planning their actions that far, but a simple glance around the half destroyed city and the demonic knight's try to murder Proxy could answer Picaro's question. The BrioGear user pressed her arms against the ground and took a few deep breaths. With the virus removed from her system, the ability to move and talk was slowly coming back. She raised her head to look at the Greysons.

"H-he is… p-p-planning to… kil-kill Playmaker." Proxy informed the two duelists.

Evan and Avice glanced back at Proxy and nodded. Enough victims were already dragged it, they wouldn't allow another one to be taken. They would defend the Hero of LINK VRAINS, if for nothing else, because his presence was enough to calm down the users during times of crisis like this one. Playmaker was the embodiment of righteousness and courage for those within LINK VRAINS.

"Leave it to us." The Greysons' said in using and activated their Duel Disks. "We are going to thoroughly kick his metal ass."

"Red!" Picaro yelled and his puppet, Blaze Rose's avatar jumped off her D-Board to join her puppet master as they activated their own Duel Disks as well.

Proxy managed to force herself to sit up and watch the duel from a better angle. She noticed the black and white motive that each of the Greyson siblings seemed to adore, watching them from behind, they looked like an angel and a devil who were working together to bring balance and peace back to a ruined world.

"DUEL!" All four duelists shouted at once.

 **『** **PhantomFire LP: 4000 Hand: 5 & Silver Star LP: 4000 Hand: 5 (VS) Blaze Rose LP: 4000 Hand: 5 & Picaro LP: 4000 Hand: 5 ****』**

"Heh, so it has come time for the failures to try and face their teachers, huh?" PhantomFire (Evan) asked mockingly as he drew his first five cards. "Allow me to show you why you will never be able to surpass us then! I activate the Ritual Spell, _Advanced Ritual Art_! Using it I tribute the Level six, _Summoned Skull_ from my deck."

A hexagon shaped black abyss formed in front of PhantomFire as he reveled the tribute. His monster card burst into flames that flew to each edge of the abyss and a glowing red pentagram appeared in the middle of the abyss with a black mist raising from the darkness.

"The contract was accept. The demon wielder of lightning raises from the darkest pitch of hell and accept the dark soul I offer you! Gishiki Shōkan! _Advent Skull Archfiend (Lv.6, ATK: 2500)_!"

Out of the black mist raised a creature made of white bones with large bat wings and visible muscles. Its head had large horns bended to face downward.

"You are always using that monster when you plan on being serious." Picaro stated, staring at the white demon.

"A good duelist's always serious." PhantomFire responded and took two other cards from his hand. "You have never been able to beat me before, so you should be careful or you might lose on my next turn. I will then set three cards and finish there!"

"Come on, it's been a long time since I and Red were under your wing!" Picaro said. "Unlike you, we changed and evolved to become better, stronger. All of your strategies and the cards in your cards are known to us, we can both read through your moves like an open book!"

The Greysons glanced at each other and smirked before turning back to face their opponents. "Is that what you are truly thinking, Shin?" Silver Star (Avice) asked, titling her head to the side in a fake curiosity. "You poor boy, always trying to surpass everyone and everything. Always in a race against the world, you never stop to think about the consequences of your actions. You think that beating us will open your path to giving humanity a new world, creating a perfect species? Come on then, tell me how exactly do you plan to beat perfection itself in a duel?"

"What are you talking about?" Picaro chuckled and gestured toward the Greysons with his claw. "Perfection? You? The two of you are just some nobodies trying to play Gods! If you are so great, then why don't you tell Proxy the reason why you didn't stop the Hanoi virus earlier?"

"W-what?" Proxy's eyes widened as she looked at the two Greysons.

"Do you know why they were able to show up exactly when you needed to be saved?" Picaro continued. "These bastards have the whole LINK VRAINS under supervision! They know when something happens and who did it, they knew about all of Hanoi's attacks and how to stop them. Those two were following the Ignis' movements through the servers long before Playmaker showed up to take it, but never did anything to try and reserve it, nor anyone who got hurt, or even killed by Hanoi. Those two heroes that saved you from me, right there? They are nothing more than two siblings with a God complex!"

Proxy didn't know how to respond to that, none of the Greysons tried to deny those claims; they just stared at Picaro with bored expressions, like a pair of naughty kids that had to listen to a lecture by their parents for the thousandth time. She couldn't tell what reason they had to be there, duel against Picaro and Blaze Rose, but she felt that the questioning could way for after everyone was saved.

"So, is anyone of you going to take the next turn?" PhantomFire suddenly asked.

"I will be your opponent!" Blaze Rose exclaimed and took a step forward.

 **『** **Turn 2 [Blaze Rose] LP: 4000 Hand: 6** **』**

"Of course, our want-to-be rival." PhantomFire smirked.

"First, I activate _Double Summon_!" The flaming Charisma Duelist played a Spell Card that opened two burning rings on her side of the field. "With the power of this Spell, during this turn, I can Normal Summon twice!"

"Chain Link Two! The Quick-Play Spell, _Fires of Doomsday_!" One of PhantomFire's set cards flipped face-up. "I Special Summon two _Doomsday Tokens (Lv.1, DEF: 0)_ in Defense Position!"

The marks on PhantomFire's face began to glow and he pulled his arms behind his body. Two black flames formed in his hands and he threw them on the field. The demonic fire burst from each side of _Advent Skull Archfiend_ and two small monsters with a single green eye in the middle of their heads appeared on the field.

"Tokens with zero defense?" Picaro titled his head to the side. "Did you already forget how Red's deck works?"

"NitroGear, an archetype of FIRE attributed monsters with battle position manipulating based effects and a focus on Synchro Summoning with additional Link Summoning for support." PhantomFire described. "Its main strategy is Beatdown and because of that there are a lot of high level monsters in the deck. Blaze Rose has always been a rather difficult person to deal with, she gets heated up very fast and prefers the more simplistic and straight forward strategies, so her dueling style is brute by nature."

Proxy stared in awe as the young man gave a full description on not just the deck, but Blaze Rose as well. It probably shouldn't come as a surprise to her because he and Avice had to be the ones who created the oGear decks. They just fit the description that Blaze Rose and Picaro laid down about the legendary duelists so perfectly.

"Trap activate!" PhantomFire continued and his second set card flipped face-up to reveal itself. "Crush Card Virus! At the cost of you taking no damage until the end of our next turn, I can tribute a DARK monster with thousand or less attack to destroy all monsters on your field and in your hand with one thousand and five hundred or more attack points!"

PhantomFire reached out with his right hand toward one of the Doomsday Tokens. The black fire turned into a purple ball with spikes and flew in the duelist's arm, making it glow.

"Activate!" PhantomFire shouted and slammed his fist into the ground, creating several cracks underneath Blaze Rose.

The damaged parts of the floor began to glow in the same purple color as PhantomFire's hand and the virus burst upward, flying into the Charisma Duelist's cards, changing the color of three of them to a pale grey. Blaze Rose showed the cards in her hand before sending the infected ones to her Graveyard, their names were: _NitroGear Mighty Slasher_ , _NitroGear Acid Lancer_ and _**NitroGear Red Sword**_.

* * *

 **NitroGear Red Sword**

 **Level:** **3** **/Attribute:** **FIRE** **/Type:** **Pyro** **/** **Tuner/** **Effect**

 **ATK:** **16** **00/DEF: 600**

 **Effect:** **You can target 1 Spell/Trap your opponent controls and 1 face-up monster you control; that target's battle position cannot be changed until the end of your next turn, also change that monster's battle position, and if you do, destroy the first target. If this card is destroyed and send to the GY, you can add 1 "NitroGear" Spell/Trap Card from your Deck to the hand.**

* * *

"Then, I will use the additional effect of your trap to destroy _NitroGear Veteranion_ , _**NitroGear Molten Grotto**_ and _**NitroGear Sabre Hand**_ from my deck!" Blaze Rose took three other cards from her deck and put them in her Graveyard.

"So you figured out the rest of my trap's effect." PhantomFire smirked in amusement that the girl was able to figure that out.

* * *

 **NitroGear** **Molten Grotto**

 **Level:** **5** **/Attribute:** **FIRE** **/Type:** **Machine** **/Effect**

 **ATK:** **1800** **/DEF:** **1400**

 **Effect:** **If your opponent controls a monster and you control no monsters, you can Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower "oGear" monster from your Graveyard to Special Summon this card in Defense Position (from your hand). If this card's battle position is changed, you can add 1 "** **NitroGear** **Lesser Grotto" your Deck to the hand.**

* * *

 **NitroGear** **Sabre Hand**

 **Level:** **3** **/Attribute:** **FIRE** **/Type:** **Warrior** **/Effect**

 **ATK:** **1600** **/DEF:** **600**

 **Effect:** **If all monster that your opponent controls are in the same battle position (min 2.): This card can attack your opponent directly. If this card is destroyed by a card effect and send to the GY: You can target 1 FIRE Tuner monster in your GY; Special Summon both this card and that monster, and if you do, immediately after this effect resolves, Synchro Summon 1 FIRE Synchro Monster using only this card and that monster as Synchro Materials.**

* * *

"The effect of my destroyed _NitroGear Red Sword_ will now activates!" Blaze Rose exclaimed as flames appeared in her arm. "When it's destroyed, I can add a NitroGear Spell or Trap from my deck to the hand. I add _NitroGear Junkyard_. At the same time, the effect of _NitroGear Sabre Hand_ activates as well, by targeting _Red Sword_ in my Graveyard, I can Special Summon both itself and the targeted monster!"

The sets of flames burst beside Blaze Rose and her monsters materialized. The first one was a small robotic-looking warrior with a gas mask over its scarred head that had three holes on the back with flames coming out of them. Its body was covered in a silver armor with a black chest and waist. Instead of arms, the monster had several black gears floating next to its body with a stream of fire in them. Its legs were four, each of which ended with a golden spike for a feet. The second was, as its name suggested a burning black sword with a red skull on the handle.

"Next, the effect of Sabre Hand forces me to immediately use the monsters I summoned by its effect for a Synchro Summon!" _NitroGear Red Sword_ turned into three wings and _NitroGear Sabre Hand_ flew after it. "I can feel a soul burning for battle! I tune the Level three, _NitroGear Sabre Hand_ into my Level three _NitroGear Red Sword_! Synchro Summon! Level six! _**NitroGear Twin Blaster**_!"

Out of the beam of light came a monster that looked similar to _Nitro Warrior_ but a bit smaller in size. His skin was green with black armor on his shoulder, arms and legs along with several orange spikes. Two large horns were coming from its chin with several smaller ones on the back of his head. He had bee-like wings on its back and two large black cannons on its shoulders.

* * *

 **NitroGear** **Twin Blaster**

 **Level:** **6** **/Attribute:** **FIRE** **/Type:** **Warrior** **/** **Synchro/** **Effect**

 **ATK:** **2400** **/DEF:** **1400**

 **1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner FIRE monsters**

 **Effect:** **Once during each of your turns, if you activated a Spell Card, this card gains 1000 ATK during its next attack. Once per Battle Phase, when this card this card destroyed a monster by battle, draw 1 card. If this face-up card you control is destroyed by battle or card effect and send to GY: You can target 1 other "Nitro" Synchro Monster in your GY; Special Summon that target.**

* * *

"I have never seen that monster before." Proxy commented from the side.

She hadn't seen most of Blaze Rose's monsters until this duel and it amazed her to see the Charisma Duelist use a Synchro monster that was different from her ace. It wasn't that surprised though, unlike Proxy, PhantomFire and Silver Star were experienced duelists, so of course they would be able to push their opponent further that her.

"Hm, I see that you have finally learned how to properly use your deck." PhantomFire commented. "Usually you fail to do any further moves during the turn after I play _Crush Card Virus_."

"Why didn't you play the trap during the Battle Phase to stop her from making any further moves instead?" Silver Star asked with a smirk on her face.

"Heh, where would be the fun in that?" PhantomFire asked back.

He wanted to test Picaro and Blaze Rose, see if they had actually became better than the last time he meet them. If they could recover after he exploited their decks major weaknesses, then it would be worth to give them more than five minutes of his time.

"Next, I will activate _NitroGear Junkyard_!" An orange circular circuit formed under Blaze Rose's feet when she activated the Field Spell. "When this card is activated, I can add a Nitro card from my deck to the hand. I choose to add _NitroGear Laughing Doc_ , and I will immediately Normal Summon it!"

A nitro tank with armored body, and red cross symbol at the front jumped up and down behind _Twin Blaster_.

"Next, I Synchro Summon once again!" Blaze Rose threw her arms upward and _Laughing Doc_ turned into a single green ring which flew over _Twin Blaster_. "I tune my Level six, _NitroGear Twin Blaster_ to my Level one, _NitroGear Laughing Doc_! Synchro Summon! Level seven! _NitroGear Warrior (Lv.7, ATK: 2800)_!"

A blast of light flew into the sky and Blaze Rose's ace jumped out of it, landing right in front of _Advent Skull Archfiend_. The giant burning warrior stood up and roared at the tiny demon in front of it. PhantomFire realized that things changed for the worse. _NitroGear Warrior_ had the ability to inflict double piercing damage if it battled a Defense Position monster and his _Doomsday Tokens_ had zero defense, so the damage would be 5600!

"See? I told you that we evolved since your lessons." Picaro mocked. The demonic knight turned toward Blaze Rose and bowed at her. "Why don't you end this duel, Red?"

Silence fell over the four duelists. Blaze Rose didn't listen to her puppet master's words, her hands began to tremble while her eyes meet with those of Silver Star and PhantomFire. The Charisma Duelist had been dreaming of the day when she would defeat her old teachers for so long, but she couldn't actually bring herself to do it. For a moment, her soul was able to regain control over her possessed body.

"What's wrong, Red?" Picaro looked at his dueling partner.

"I… I…" Blaze Rose raised her hands and grabbed her head. The NitroGear duelist fell on her knees, the crimson aura that surrounded her body began to become smaller.

"I think she remembered." Silver Star stated.

"She remembered whom she is fighting against." PhantomFire continued.

"She is breaking out of the virus' control!" Proxy exclaimed.

"I… I'm…" Blaze Rose continued to mutter. Her grip over her own head strengthened as old memories replayed themselves in her head.

She remembered the boy who saved her from her abusive father in that alley all those years ago. She remembered how he stayed with her until the ambulance came to pick her up and then followed her to the hospital. She remembered that the boy later showed with his sister and helped her continue her education. She remembered the girl that helped her get accepted to live in the school dorms of Den City High School. The days they spend helping her to study, the fulfilment of their promise to teach her how to duel. She remembered all of those moments as well as the faces of the boy who saved her and his sister. The faces of Evan and Avice flashed into her mind followed by the faces of their online avatars, PhantomFire and Silver Star.

"Useless." Picaro pressed the palm of his claw and a sequence of 0s and 1s covered the skin.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Blaze Rose screamed madly and the crimson mist began large once again. The aura stared to enter her eye sockets and mouth, her final push to break free from the madman's control was meet with agonizing resistance.

"Stop this!" Proxy shouted at Picaro. "Stop it! This isn't right! Listen to me, Rocketeer!"

"When will you stop calling me that?" Picaro asked her as more codes ran through his claw and Blaze Rose's screams became louder. "Rocketeer was just a persona I created as a cover!"

"Battle!" Blaze Rose roared, red mist coming out of her eyes. " _NitroGear Warrior_ destroy _Doomsday Tokens_! _Nitro One-Hit_!"

Flames came out of NitroGear Warrior's shoulder and reached all the way down to his fists, engulfing them in the burning hot fire. The monster roared and slammed into the token with all of its strength, the attack raising flames and engulfing both PhantomFire and Silver Star in them.

"It's over." Picaro sneered and put a hand on his hips. "Taking down every single Gear holder within a single day surely feels nice. I hope that hell isn't too hot for you, teach."

"It's pretty chilly as a matter of fact." The flames burst apart freeing the two duelists and PhantomFire absorbed the fire into his hand. The Greysons' Life Points were still at 4000. "You didn't expect it to be that easy to beam us, did you?"

"How did you survive that?"

"Come on Pica, you know that I'm always thinking two moves ahead. I was the one who designed those decks and gave them to you, did you seriously think for a moment that I wouldn't foresee the possibility of Blaze Rose using her ace to attack my tokens? Hmm, I wouldn't have summoned the Doomsday Tokens if I didn't have a way to gain the fullest of benefit from them. That's why I activated my trap, _Dark Spirit Art – Greed_ right before the attack connected. This card releases my token to let me draw two cards from my deck. That's of course, unless Blaze has a Spell Card to show, hm?"

Blaze Rose gritted her teeth and looked down at the cards in her hand before shaking her head; she had played all of her Spell Cards before the Battle Phase started. Seeing that the girl had nothing to respond with, PhantomFire drew two cards from his deck, replenishing his hand for his next turn.

"Then, _NitroGear Warrior_ will destroy _Advent Skull Archfiend_!" The large warrior turned around and threw its burning fist toward the demon, only for it to catch the attack with its claws.

" _Advent Skull Archfiend_ can't be destroyed by battle or monster effects, unless it's by a Ritual Monster." PhantomFire explained as his monster pushed Blaze Rose's back. "Of course, I will take the three hundred points of damage."

 **『** **PhantomFire & Silver Star LP: 4000 – 300 **→ **3700** **』**

"I set a card, turn end." Blaze Rose said, angry that her One Turn Kill was reduced to just 300 points of damage.

"Picaro has really turned you into a good puppet, hasn't he?" Silver Star asked. "Only sad part is that a puppet can never duel as good as someone with a free will. Oh well, my words aren't going to reach you anyway, so I'm just going to beat you into the ground instead. Draw!"

 **『** **Turn 3 [Silver Star] LP: 3700 Hand: 6** **』**

The girl looked at her cards and moved on to make her move after just getting a glance of her cards. "I discard the Level six, **AstroGear Auslöser Tiger** , to Special Summon _Lightray Grepher (Lv.4, ATK: 1700)_ from my hand!"

* * *

 **AstroGear Auslöser Tiger**

 **Level: 6/Attribute: LIGHT/Type:** **Machine/Effect**

 **ATK: 2400/DEF: 1600**

 **Effect: If this card is in your GY, you can banish 1 other** **LIGHT monster** **from your GY: Special Summon this card, then banish 1 face-up card on the field. If this card is banished: Negate the effects of all face-up cards your opponent controls and reduce the ATK of all their Special Summoned monsters to 0 until the end of this turn.**

* * *

"Next, I activate Grepher's effect, I discard _AstroGear Lammabschließen_ to banish _AstroGear Beistand_ from my deck!" Silver Star dropped one card from her hand to the Graveyard and then took another one from her deck. "Next, I will use the effect of _Auslöser Tiger_ to banish _AstroGear Lammabschließen_ and Special Summon it back on my field!"

A white armored body with golden plates appeared on the field. Its belly and chest opened up with several gears showing from inside, all of which were spinning around a blue energy orb. The front of the monster's body opened and a yellow energy ball attached itself to it. Several plates came around and formed the head, which lacked any eyes or other features that weren't its sharp mouth which contained the yellow energy orb inside itself. A large spike came out of the body's back as a form while four large triangles floated underneath it acting like legs that weren't attached to the main part of the monster.

"The effects of _AstroGear Auslöser Tiger_ and _AstroGear Lammabschließen_ activate respectively!" The large machine beast opened its mouth, loading a beam. Silver Star pressed a button on the side of her head and the white plates around it came together into a white mask with green eyes. "When _AstroGear Auslöser_ is Special Summoned by its own effect, a face-up card on the field will be banished! Of course, the one I choose is _NitroGear Junkyard_!"

Silver's monster fired its beam through Blaze Rose's spell, vaporizing it. The Charisma Duelist screamed in anger with the crimson mist around her body reacting as well.

"Next, _Lammabschließen_ lets me banish a monster from the field until the end of the turn. I shall banish _AstroGear Auslöser Tiger_!" The machine beast roared as its body began to vanish in the light, until it completely disappeared. "Since _Auslöser Tiger_ was removed from the game, its other effect activates. Until the end of this turn, all cards you control have their effects negated and the attack of your monsters drops to zero."

Both Picaro and Blaze Rose looked at NitroGear Warrior, as the monster fell on its knees with 0 attack points. "Damn you." Picaro hissed.

"Do you see it now?" Silver Star asked. "Your formation is so easy to be broken apart, just like with a clock, if one of the gears doesn't function properly, the whole thing is going to stop working. This is why people like you would never be worthy to challenge us as equals. Go, _Advent Skull Archfiend_! _Devil's Thunder Strike_!"

PhantomFire's monster flew in the sky and raised its claws over its head. A lightning fell from the black smoke and hit the demon who charged the energy through its body and fired it at NitroGear Warrior. The monster screamed as the attack burned through its skin and destroyed it, but neither Picaro nor Blaze Rose reached to that.

"Due to the effect of PhantomFire's _Crush Card Virus_ , you won't take damage during this turn." Silver Star explained, setting one card on her field. "I set a card, then go toward the End Phase of my turn when the effect of _AstroGear Lammabschließen_ returns _AstroGear Auslöser Tiger_ to my field! Your turn to show me what you got!"

"You two really think that you are better than me?" Picaro hissed. "You think that you could play with me and get away with it? I'm the ultimate Gear user, you are just a bunch of relics that get in the way! I will annihilate both you and those smug looks on your faces! My turn, draw!"

 **『** **Turn 4 [Picaro] LP: 4000 Hand: 6** **』**

"Due to the effect of Crush Card Virus, I must reveal the card that I drew and if it's a monster with more than one thousand and five hundred attack points it will be destroyed." Picaro stated and a screen appeared before the Greysons, showing them Turbo Synchro. "You were able to come up with a perfect counter to Red's Aggro style, but TurboGears doesn't have high attack power monsters in the Main deck!"

PhantomFire and Silver Star rolled their eyes, as the ones who created the Gear decks, they both knew how each one was supposed to function and what strategies it could incorporate.

"I will start by activating the trap that Red set previously for me, _Descending Lost Star_!" A black portal formed under the card leading toward the Graveyard. "When this card is activated, I can Special Summon a Synchro Monster from my graveyard in Defense Position. As a cost, its effects will be negated, defense value reduced to zero and level reduced by one! Since in Tag-Duels the players share their graveyards, I will bring back _NitroGear Twin Blaster (Lv.6, DEF: 1400)_!"

The first Synchro monster that Blaze Rose summoned during her last turn came back from the death and kneeled in front of its new owner.

 **NitroGear Twin Blaster, Level: 6** → **5, DEF: 1400** → **0**

"Then I Normal Summon _Turbo Synchron (Lv.1, ATK: 100)_." The little green machine formed on Picaro's field with glowing red eyes. "I call forth the Wind to tear down the lies of this world! Come on! The Level five _NitroGear Twin Blaster_ will tune to the Level one _Turbo Synchron_! Synchro Summon! **TurboGear Warrior**!"

A slim red humanoid robot came out of the light that was emitted by the Synchro Summon. The monster looked more like a machine than a human though, it had long robot arms covered in red armor that ended with sharp claws. Its legs were long as well and had circular feet. Two wheels were attached to each side of the monster's hips and its head seemed to have a haircut with a large spike pointing forward. There were also several small spikes on its shoulders, similar to the ones one could notice on a motor biker's jacket.

* * *

 **TurboGear Warrior**

 **Level:** **6** **/Attribute:** **WIND** **/Type:** **Warrior** **/** **Synchro/** **Effect**

 **ATK:** **2500** **/DEF:** **1500**

 **1 "Turbo" Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters**

 **Effect:** **This card cannot be targeted, and is unaffected, by the effects of Level 6 or lower monsters. When this card attacks a Level 5 or higher Special Summoned monster: Halve the ATK of the attack target until the end of the Damage Step, also, negate its effects.**

* * *

"My preparations are almost complete! I will equip my monster with the Equip Spell, _**Turbo Claws**_!" TurboGear Warrior's claws grew longer and sharper as the spell affected it.

* * *

 **Turbo Claws (Spell) Equip**

 **When the monster equipped with this card attacks, your opponent can't activated Trap Cards until the end of the Damage Step. If the equipped monster destroys an opponent monster by battle, you can activate this effect: Destroy this card and the equipped monster can declare a second attack during this Battle Phase, but any monster destroyed by battle with it is shuffled into the Deck instead.**

* * *

"You already know what the Spell does, so I won't bother explaining!" Picaro shouted and outstretched its own claw. "Instead, I will attack your _Advent Skull Archfiend_ with _TurboGear Warrior_! _**Accelerated Crash**_!"

"Due to TurboGear Warrior's effect those of _Advent Skull Archfiend_ are negated and its attack power is halved." PhantomFire narrowed his eyes.

 **Advent Skull Archfiend, ATK: 2500 / 2** → **1250**

TurboGear Warrior slashed Advent Skull Archfiend in half, the demon hissed in pain as it was destroyed. PhantomFire and Silver Star took the full strength of the attack and their Life Points fell down.

 **『** **PhantomFire & Silver Star LP: 3700 – 1250 **→ **2450** **』**

"The effect of _Advent Skull Archfiend_ activates." A portal opened in front of PhantomFire and a scythe came out of it. "When it's destroyed, I can Special Summon one _Summoned Skull_ from my hand, deck or Graveyard. Come out, my servant!"

After the black scythe came out it was followed by a red demonic creature with bend backward legs, a long tail, huge crimson bat wings, black horns and no eyes on its face. The monster landed in front of PhantomFire with its 2500 ATK and let out a cry.

"Now the effect of _Turbo_ _Claws_ activates!" Picaro gestured toward his monster, whose claws turned back to their normal size. "By destroying the equip spell, TurboGear Warrior gets a second attack! I will use it to destroy _AstroGear Auslöser Tiger_! At this point, _TurboGear Warrior_ 's effect halves your monster's attack and negates its effects!"

 **AstroGear Auslöser Tiger, ATK: 2400 / 2** → **1200**

"Then I will activate _AstroGear Beistand_ 's effect!" A barrier formed in front of Silver Star's monster. "If a LIGHT monster would be destroyed, I can Special Summon this banished card to negate that destruction!"

The little robot appeared in front of Silver Star and her monsters with 700 DEF. TurboGear Warrior slashed _AstroGear Auslöser Tiger_ , but was unable to destroy it due to _AstroGear Beistand_. PhantomFire and Silver Star winched as the attack pushed them back.

 **『** **PhantomFire & Silver Star LP: 2450 – 1300 **→ **1150** **』**

"So you saved your monster?" Picaro shook his head. "Pointless! I activate the effect of _**TurboGear Accelerate Blast**_ from my hand! I discard it along with _**TurboGear Carrier**_ to inflict five hundred points of damage to you for each card discarded!"

* * *

 **TurboGear** **Accelerate Blast**

 **Level:** **6** **/Attribute:** **WIND** **/Type:** **Machine** **/Effect**

 **ATK:** **10** **00/DEF:** **10** **00**

 **Effect:** **(Quick Effect): During the Battle Phase, if a player took damage this turn, you can discard any number of "TurboGear" monsters from your hand, including this card: Inflict 500 damage to your opponent for each monster discarded by this effect. During your opponent's Battle Phase, if a WIND monster you control is targeted for attack while this card is in your GY: You can target 1 other "oGear" monster in your GY; banish this card and Special Summon that target, then it becomes the new attack target.**

* * *

 **TurboGear** **Carrier**

 **Level:** **5** **/Attribute:** **WIND** **/Type:** **Warrior** **/Effect**

 **ATK:** **12** **00/DEF:** **12** **00**

 **Effect:** **If you control no monsters, you can Normal Summon this card without Tributing. This card can't be destroyed by battle if it's attacking. When you take battle damage while this card is attacking: You can Special Summon 1 "Turbo" Tuner monster from your hand or Deck with ATK less than or equal to the battle damage you took, and if you do, immediately after this effect resolves, Synchro Summon 1 WIND Synchro Monster using only this card and that monster as Synchro Materials.**

* * *

Silver Star and PhantomFire screamed as they were blasted, the strength of that attack was enough to knock them off their feet and send them rolling beside Proxy.

 **『** **PhantomFire & Silver Star LP: 1150 – 1000 **→ **150** **』**

"N-no…" Proxy couldn't believe her eyes. Rocketeer, no, Picaro was able to reduce the Life Points of the legendary duelists to just 150 in just one turn. "Come on, stand up. Please!"

"I will then set two cards and end my turn." The cards appeared in front of Picaro for a moment before disappearing. "You aren't as talkative now, are you? To think that I was once so naïve that I thought of you as some sort of legends. I'm going to crush both of you and then no one in LINK VRAINS will ever be able to stand up to me!"

Proxy wanted to somehow turn down Picaro's voice, but she just couldn't. The BrioGear user crawled over to Silver Star and shook her, trying to get the duelist back to her senses. Proxy was weak, she didn't have the strength to face off against someone like Blaze Rose or Picaro on her own. She needed them, those weird siblings slash stalkers.

"Come on, get up." She shook Silver Star again. "If you lose, Playmaker will be killed! LINK VRAINS will be destroyed and Picaro will win!"

"Mhm, that was just awful."

"Huh?"

Proxy turned around and saw PhantomFire standing back up. His whole body was bruised from the damage it took, but he didn't seem to care about it. Actually, looking at his eyes, Proxy saw something that confused her, even scared her. The young man's dark purple eyes were beaming with excitement; he was enjoying the situation in which they were!

"Truly, truly awful." Hearing a second voice, Proxy turned back to Silver Star who was slowly getting back up as well. A smile was present on the female duelist as well.

"Those attacks were so blunt, no precision, no finesse in your monsters, or your own movements." PhantomFire criticized while readjusting his Duel Disk. "I heard what you told Proxy about becoming a King of your own world, tell me, how do you plan to reach that if you can't even do one good performance?" The iris of Phantom's right eye became light purple and opened up, his pupil turned red while the sclera became a darker color.

"You could say whatever you want about yourself, but there is no difference between you and Blaze Rose." Silver Star stated and took a step forward with electricity coming out of her back. "Both of you carve nothing but personal satisfaction and for others to be aware of your own goods. Like some little children you are trying too hard to get the approval of people you don't even know. That's just so low and pathetic that it's sad." The electricity that came out of Silver Star's back began to take the shape of six wings.

Seeing the two duelists like this shock Picaro. Both the demonic knight and his puppet, Blaze Rose, took a cautions step backward every time the siblings took a step forward. Even Proxy who believed them to be on her side was too scared to say anything or make any move. Silver Star and PhantomFire smirked and pressed their shoulders against one another, then, in complete synergy spoke as one.

"You two are the most pathetic students we could have had."

* * *

 **A/N: I would say that it's good to be finally back, but it was just a week and two days since the last update, so... Ehhhh. Honestly, I would have come updated earlier, but right after the exams ended I had to attend to a party that lasted much longer than I would have liked it to, so there is that. I'm really not sure what to say about this chapter though, Rocketeer turned out to be the big bad guy, but you guys really shouldn't be surprised by that. I mean, he disappeared before Picaro appeared and was the only person other than Proxy known to have meet with Gloomy Ruby and Blaze Rose in private. Some of you might not notice it, but I had also tried to give Picaro more WIND monsters during his first duel since Rocketeer was the holder of the WIND oGear deck.**

 **What I was more interested in talking for today however was Blue Angel's redesign in the anime. From what I heard, she had changed her name as well to Blue Girl (it surely isn't similiar to Ghost Girl or anything). I'm really happy that the writers have given her enough attention to change her avatar's appearance, of course as we learned from Yuzu and Arc-V a redesign doesn't mean shit about the character's revelance, but I just like the new look. The outfit itself looks a lot like that of Ghost Girl but with Blue Angel's colors, even so I enjoy it no less. What got my attention the most about this new look however is, weirdly, the hair style, it being shorter and stylized really gives me more of an 'Aoi' vibe than Blue Angel's old appearance. I honestly want to believe that Blue Girl's look will become pernament because I feel like it shows Aoi outgrowing her old Blue Angel persona and the problems that she used it to shield herself from. But that's just how I** **interpreted the change, what about you guys?**

 **Thanks to** wanderer097 **for the follow. Also, I want to use this chapter to give special thanks to** Romadrox8975 **for the favorite and follow! I can't believe that I forgot to do it until now, but I recommend you to check out her Vrains story with an OC. It's name is** Yugioh Vrains: The Thunder Hunter **and though it seems to have a good amount of grammar errors and others, it can be an interesting read.**

 **Finally, as always, I'm going to respond to your reviews!**

ThePLOThand **: Literally in this chapter!**

ScalchopWarrior **: No worry bud, though I'm not sure how good frequent updates are when my Arc-V story is suffering from them. Also, I want to make something clear about why Proxy lasted so long in her duel against Blaze Rose. It wasn't because of her skills, in fact, it was mentioned several times in the chapter as well that Blaze was just playing around and could have finished the whole duel in her second turn with just one attack if she wanted to.**

 **As for why Elizabeth won't be appearing. Well, her appearance in the first chapter was meant to be a symbolic passing the torch from her to Roxy. Her story is already finished in the time this story takes place and it wouldn't make sense for her to suddenly return. There is also the problem that making her deck is always a like a curse to me, I can never make it to not suck no matter what I try to make it work like.**

MusicianWish **: I wanted to leave my response to you for last because I really like respond to your reviews! First, yes, Proxy is going to lose her own share of duels in this story and what I think would be most interesting about those loses is that unlike other characters, she isn't protected from losing duels that would cost her live, so there won't be much Plot Armor for her.**

 **Also, about her motivations, well, I wouldn't be that sure. Despite dueling to save people, Proxy isn't a hero nor a duelist, she is just a 14 years old girl that was dragged from her home to a place she doesn't know, forced to learn to duel in order to help causes that she has no interest in. All she wants is to take the good side, however it's hard to decide which side is the better one, given the motives that drive Playmaker and Hanoi. On the on side we have someone driven by a desire for revenge and to hurt those who wronged him, but is saving others from time to time. On the other side we have an organization that tries to save humanity at any cost necessary.**

 **As I said before, or I hope I did, I will try to explain Evan's and Avice's characters in this story as good as possible, so you wouldn't need to read another story. Of course, if you want to, it's an Arc-V story named Arc-Tracers. Everything else that I'm going to say about that story and this one is that they don't exist in the same timeline, but they share the same characters. Weird, right?**

 **Also, sorry about Rocketeer, but he was meant to be a Vector since his introduction.**

 **And that's all from me for today. Fav/Follow/Review and see you next time!**

 **Diabolic Tracer out!**


	15. Chapter 15

Final Strike! Devil's Servants, ChronoGear!

PhantomFire and Silver Star stood opposite from Picaro and Blaze Rose. All four of them were staring down at each other with their monsters lined between them. PhantomFire and Silver Star had just 150 LP left, on their field were _Summoned Skull (Lv.6, ATK: 2500)_ , _AstroGear Auslöser Tiger (Lv.6, ATK: 2400)_ , _Lightray Grepher (Lv.4, ATK: 1700)_ , _AstroGear Beistand (Lv.3, DEF: 700)_ and one set card. Meanwhile, Picaro and Blaze Rose's LP was still at 4000, the only cards on their fields were TurboGear Warrior (Lv.6, ATK: 2500), which was in the Extra Monster Zone, and two set cards.

Proxy gulped, watching the four duelists facing each other like that was scary for her, but she knew that it saw something that had to be done. If only she wasn't so weak because of the virus removal, no, if she wasn't that weak all the time, she could have been useful, helped somehow. She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists, thinking about how different the scenario would have been if she was a better person.

If she had a third of the bravery and righteousness that Playmaker had, she wouldn't have carved like a chicken when things got dangerous. Because of her inability to defeat the fear of Hanoi, she tried to run away from dueling and that left her unable to help others when they needed a strong duelist to stand up for them. Instead of that now both hers and Playmaker's lives deepened on the outcome of a Tag-Duel that neither of them as participating into.

"You had finished your turn, so I will start mine." PhantomFire stated, raising his Duel Disk to his chest level. He placed his hand on top of the deck and drew. "My turn!"

 **『** **Turn 5 [PhantomFire] LP: 150 Hand: 3** **』**

The demon duelist looked at the card he just drew and his lips curved upward into a smirk. He had just gotten the card that he needed to make a comeback, but it wasn't time to play it just yet, but during his next turn, it would be the perfect timing. He put it among the other cards and then took a spell from among them.

"I activate _Trade-In_!" A hologram of the Spell Card appeared beside the duelist and flashed brightly. "With its effect, I discard _Darkest Diabolos, Lord of the Lair_ to draw two cards! Then once more, I activate _Allure of Darkness_! I draw two cards, then I banish _**ChronoGear Revolving Dragon**_ from my hand!"

* * *

 **ChronoGear Revolving Dragon**

 **Level: 8/Attribute: DARK/Type: Machine/Effect**

 **ATK: 2800/DEF: 2300**

 **Effect: Once per turn (Quick Effect): You can shuffle 1 "ChronoGear" monster on the field into the Deck to target 1 face-up card on the field; send that target to the GY. If this card is Special Summoned by the effect of a "ChronoGear" card, you can banish 2 cards from the field, GY or your opponent's hand. You must control 2 or more "oGear" monsters, expect this card, in order to activate this effect.**

* * *

"What's the point in drawing all of those cards if you aren't going to use them properly?" Picaro asked, mockingly. "Search through your deck as much as you want, but there couldn't possibly be a card that would change the tide of this duel!"

"That's weird, because I just found out the cards that I would need!" PhantomFire exclaimed and swiped one of the cards onto his Duel Disk. The crimson blade reached to the touch by materializing the card that he just played. "I Normal Summon _Lilith, Lady of Lament (Lv.3, ATK: 2000)_! And due to her effect, her attack becomes one thousand if she was Normal Summoned!"

 **Lilith, Lady of Lament, ATK: 2000** → **1000**

"Next, I tribute _Lilith, Lady of Lament_ to activate her effect!" The covered in black scales demon winked as her body faded away and was absorbed by PhantomFire's deck. "Tributing her, I can take three Trap Cards from my deck, then you must choose one of them at random and set it directly on my field. Go on, pick up the poison that's going to finish you!"

"Bastard." Picaro hissed as a hologram of three cards appeared before him. Too bad that he couldn't see what their effects were, or else he would have picked the worst one. "I choose the one at the left!"

PhantomFire took the card and his deck shuffled once again. He analyzed the current state of the field and what he could do. 150 LP was plenty from his point of view, but what worried him were the cards that Picaro send to the Graveyard during his last turn, those would be the ones that would create trouble, but luckily, he had _Darkest Diabolos, Lord of the Lair_ resting in his Graveyard!

"I activate the effect of _Darkest Diabolos, Lord of the Lair_ that I send to the Graveyard with Trade-In! When a DARK monster I control is Tributed, I can revive the mighty beast from my Graveyard!" PhantomFire pointed upward as the ground underneath his feet broke and a pitch black dragon came out, roaring. Its attack power was 3000, more than enough to take down _TurboGear Warrior_!

"Advent Skull Archfiend, Summoned Skull, _Darkest Diabolos, Lord of the Lair_ … It's not a coincidence that you are using those monsters against us, is it!" Picaro shouted. He remembered, all three of those monsters had dropped his Life Points to zero multiple times in the past…

* * *

 **1 year ago…**

Rocketeer and Blaze Rose were standing inside a simulator facing off against PhantomFire. _TurboGear Warrior_ and _NitroGear Warrior_ were both on the field with their owners, so far the duel was going in their favor. The two of them had 2400 and 2700 Life Points respectively while PhantomFire had just 1800 and the only cards on his field were his _Summoned Skull_ and a set card that he hadn't activated since the start of the duel. It was probably mean to be a bluff, but they had read past it and were able to avoid falling into whatever trap their teacher was trying to trick them into.

"Heh, what are you going to say about that teach?" Rocketeer asked, rubbing the edge of his nose. "It took us some time, but we finally got you on the ropes, didn't we?"

PhantomFire narrowed his eyes at the question, it was insult to him that those two could think that they stood some chance against him. Third rate duelists; that was the best thing they were in his eyes, some kids who were unable to learn the first thing about Duel Monster – never lower your guard down. It was about time for him to show them their deserved place: In the dirt!

"I will Normal Summon _Lilith, Lady of Lament (Lv.3, ATK: 2000)_! And due to her effect, her attack becomes one thousand if she was Normal Summoned!" Paradoxically, he played the same monster that he was going to play a year later against the same opponents.

 **Lilith, Lady of Lament, ATK: 2000** → **1000**

"Then, I release her to activate my Trap, _Crush Card Virus_! All of your monsters with one thousand and five hundred or more attack are automatically destroyed!" Purple markings formed on the monsters' bodies as they fell on the ground and shattered to pieces before their owners.

"After that, the effect of _Darkest Diabolos, Lord of the Lair_ in my Graveyard activates, Special Summoning itself!" The black dragon stood back up next to _Summoned Skull_ and roared toward the opposing players.

"It was a while since I stared training the two of you, yet you are still as pathetic as I remembered you being at the beginning." PhantomFire narrowed his eyes. Rocketeer and Blaze Rose looked down in disappointment after their teacher insulted their dueling skills. "I never expected you to beat me. That would be impossible even for duelists far better than any level the two of you could achieve, but I expected you to challenge me a bit more. Pathetic, _Summoned Skull_ and _Darkest Diabolos, Lord of the Lair_ finish this duel!"

The two monsters charged their attacks and threw them at both duelists. Rocketeer and Blaze Rose screamed as electricity and fire hit their bodies respectively, after which their Life Points dropped to 0 and PhantomFire was declared a winner of the duel. After the match ended, the losers fell on their knees and panted heavily, trying to catch their breath after experiencing such a strong pain from the final attacks. Rocketeer raised his head to look at his teacher who was staring back at him from the corner of his eye. The TurboGear duelist could clearly read the disappointment and mockery in PhantomFire's eyes, the old bastard was thinking that he was so much better than them!

"T-that hurt!" Blaze Rose shouted at PhantomFire. She was on her limits and was desperately holding back her tears, but then she broke and began to cry loudly due to the pain that ran through her body.

"That's what dueling in LINK VRAINS would feel like for you two." PhantomFire stood in front of the two, but didn't look down at them. "Dueling isn't just a game and you won't always use it just to entertain people. Sometimes a duelist has to stand up for their beliefs, for what they deem to be right and to fight the wrong. That's part of being a duelist as well and you can't turn a blind eye to it because you want to do so. You are either going to take the full responsibility, or walk out of here without a deck."

PhantomFire turned around and left the server. Rocketeer slammed his fist into the ground, how dared that old man talk about taking responsibility? Phantom was nothing more than a spoiled brat that is used to getting whatever he wants, whenever he wants it. He knew nothing about the meaning of the word responsibility, so how dared he use that word?

"I will get you back for that." On that day, Rocketeer swore his revenge.

* * *

 **Present day**

"I activate the Field Spell, _**Eternal Time-Shattering City**_!" For a moment the area around Phantom turned into a city made of gears before it returned to normal. "With this card's effect I reveal the top three cards of my deck and if there is a "ChronoDevil" among them I can add one of them to my hand."

* * *

 **Eternal Time-Shattering City (Spell) Field**

 **You cannot activate other Field Spells while this card is on the field. This card is unaffected and cannot be destroyed by card effects while there is another face-up Field Spell. When this card is activated: Reveal the top 3 cards of your Deck, then you can add 1 "** **ChronoGear** **" among them to your hand, also place the remaining cards on top of your deck in any order. If no "** **ChronoGear** **" cards were reveal by this effect, place the cards on the bottom of your deck instead. All face-up monsters on the field become DARK and are threated as "ChronoGear" monsters, expect "oGear" monsters.**

* * *

Phantom revealed the top three cards of his deck, which were _**ChronoGear Blue Plague**_ , _ **ChronoGear Time Leap**_ and _Ahrima, the Wicked Warden_. Two of them were monsters, which were useless during this turn since he already Normal Summoned and the other was a Continuous Trap, which meant that he wouldn't be able to use it until next turn…

"I add to _ChronoGear Time Leap_ my hand and then I will return the rest of the cards to the top of my deck. Also, due to the second effect of my Field Spell, all monster on the field, minus oGear monsters, become DARK and are treated as ChronoGear cards! That includes _Lightray Grepher_ , _Summoned Skull_ and _Darkest Diabolos, Lord of the Lair_!"

"You turned those random monsters into parts of your archetype?!" Rocketeer exclaimed while a gear symbol appeared on the chest of all three monsters that PhantomFire mentioned. Since he and Blaze Rose were using only monsters connected to their archetype, neither of them had witnessed this power of their teacher's Field Spell!

"Gears grind and spring locks be unwound, factory of nightmare come to live!" PhantomFire chanted as a huge gear appeared in the sky with the Fusion portal spinning inside of it. "The summoning conditions are two DARK oGear monsters! I Fuse _ChronoGear_ _Lightray Grepher_ and _ChronoGear_ _Summoned Skull_! Fusion Summon! _**ChronoGear Destiny Poisoner**_!"

Several purple and dark green vines came out of the Fusion Portal and began to wrap around one another, creating the monster's body parts. In the matter of a few moments, the creature creates long arms ending with sharp claws and a head whose lower chin can separate in two. Light green wood formed around the vines, creating an armor around its arms, chest and an elongated skull whose back side divided into several branches and twigs covered in yellow leaves that covered the back of its head like long hair. Out of its waist formed several long and strong black roots with more twigs and leaves covering them up.

* * *

 **ChronoGear Destiny Poisoner**

 **Level: 8/Attribute: DARK/Type: Plant/Fusion/Effect**

 **ATK: 2600/DEF: 2000**

 **2 DARK "oGear" monsters**

 **Effect: Must first be Fusion Summoned, or Special Summoned (from your Extra Deck) by Tributing the above cards. Once per turn** **(Quick Effect)** **: You can target 1 face-up monster on the field; until the end of this turn, that target has its effects negated, and replace this effect with that monster's original effects. If a monster you control attacks a Defense Position monster, inflict piercing battle damage to your opponent.**

* * *

Picaro raised his head, looking at the dark plant monster in awe. Not so much because of the monster as at the fact that it required oGear monsters, but PhantomFire was able to summon it without using any of those. Like a real devil, he knew how to bend the rules of the game in his favor and that was what scared the Knight of Hanoi the most!

"Battle! _Darkest Diabolos, Lord of the Lair_ attack that pathetic _TurboGear Warrior_! _Darkness Hellfire Miasma_!" PhantomFire ordered his dragon which fired a burning black mist at Picaro and his ace.

"Not so fast!" Picaro swiped his claw to the side. "When my WIND monster gets targeted for an attack, I can banish _TurboGear Accelerate Blast_ from my Graveyard to revive _NitroGear Twin Blaster (Lv.6, DEF: 1400)_ and make it the new target!"

Blaze Rose's monster appeared in front of Picaro's and took the attack instead. The green warrior scream as its body melted away in the darkness, leaving just ash and smoke after its demise. Picaro just smirked because that meant that the Synchro's effect would now activate in the Graveyard!

"Heh, because _NitroGear Twin Blaster_ was destroyed, _NitroGear Warrior_ _(Lv.7, ATK: 2800)_ will rise from the grave!" The ground before Picaro burst into flames which then shaped into a humanoid which turned into Blaze Rose's ace. "What are you going to say about this? I'm able to perfect use not just mine, but Red's oGear deck as well! You man should realize by now that I'm the truth prophet meant to wield those deck, not you, not your sister, and definitely not some angry Charisma Duelist! I'm the only one who can tame their power!"

"Is that so?" Silver Star finally spoke. "You really think that you could use our decks, the ones since we were kids, better? Don't make me laugh, silly boy! Shut him up, bro!"

"Heh, you just had to tell me that." PhantomFire smirked and gestured toward his Fusion Monster. "I activate _ChronoGear Destiny Poisoner_ 's effect! I negate _TurboGear Warrior_ 's abilities and then give them over to _Destiny Poisoner_! _**Torment Ivy**_!" _Destiny Poisoner_ 's claws stretched out and stabbed _TurboGear Warrior_ in the chest, turning the robotic warrior's armor to grey. "Next, _ChronoGear Destiny Poisoner_ is going to attack _NitroGear Warrior_! _**Poison Fangs**_!"

"Also, thanks to the ability of _TurboGear Warrior_ that PhantomFire's monster obtained, when it battles a Level Five or higher Special Summoned monster, that target has its attacks halved and effects negated!" Silver Star reminded the demonic duelist as his own effect was used against him.

 **Nitro** **Gear** **Warrior** **, ATK: 2** **8** **00 / 2** → **1** **4** **00**

PhantomFire's monster raised its arms forward and stretched out its claws, stabbing the giant warrior in the chest and eye sockets. The NitroGear Synchro had no choice but to take it and explode in a wild burst of flames that hit both Blaze Rose and Picaro, making them wince in pain.

 **『** **Blaze Rose & Picaro LP: 4000 – 1200 **→ **2800** **』**

"The attacks aren't over yet!" Silver Star exclaimed and swiped her hand across her Duel Disk's blade. "I activate my Trap, _Spiritual Light Art – Hijiri_! By Tributing _AstroGear Beistand_ , I can Special Summoned a banished monster! Of course you can negate that effect by revealing a Trap Card, but since you don't have any cards in your hand, come forth _ChronoGear Revolving Dragon_!"

The creature that appeared was more of a machine (like how its type suggested) than a dragon (its name, duh). Its whole body was covered in metal with gears working inside of the heavy armor that it wore. The dragon had large and heavy feet meant to hold it in place when it attacked. In a similar fashion, its shinning silver tail had spikes on the lower side meant to stuck themselves to the ground and help it keep itself in place while firing. The plates covering its chest were often moving left and right, sometimes revealing the mechanical insides of the creature while also pushing out the smoke and heat that was produced inside its body. When the armor on its arms moved to release the stream, it also showed the bullets that were carried over its body. Instead of a neck, the creature had a large cylinder where it stored the bullets. The lower parts of its head had a large mouth filled with metal teeth while the upper was a large barrel. The monster had no eyes or ears, only a hammer on the back side of the barrel.

" _ChronoGear Revolving Dragon_ , fire at _TurboGear Warrior_!" Both PhantomFire and Silver Star exclaimed as the machine dragon opened its mouth and a large gun came out of it, firing a bullet into the machine's heart.

 **『** **Blaze Rose & Picaro LP: 2800 – 100 **→ **2700** **』**

"Finally _, AstroGear Auslöser Tiger_ will attack directly!" The robot beast opened its mouth and fired several lasers at Picaro.

"Useless! I activate my Trap, _**TurboGear Re-Tuning**_!" One of Picaro's face downs flipped face-up and showed the art of Turbo Synchron getting its parts replaced. "With this trap, I can draw a card and if it's a monster, I get to Special Summon it, but if it's a Spell or Trap, your attack will simply be negated!"

* * *

 **TurboGear Re-Tuning (Trap) Normal**

 **When an opponent's monster declares a direct attack: Draw 1 card, then if it is a monster, immediately after this effect resolves, you can Special Summon it, but it can't be destroyed by battle for the rest of this turn. If it's anything else, negate the attack.**

* * *

Picaro drew his card, his helped was covering his face so the siblings couldn't see his reaction to the card, was it something he liked, or a death draw. They didn't have to wonder for long though because a green gear appeared right in front of Rocketeer and he threw the card through it.

"The card I just drew is _**TurboGear Wild Wheel**_! Therefore, I get to Special Summon it!" Rocketeer explained and his cards transformed into the monster itself.

A small yellow robot jumped on the field in Defense Position. Its body was made of a wheel with gears inside of it. Its insides extended to the sides of the wheel, forming two long, but skinny arms and two small, but bulky feet, all of which were covered in yellow armor. Finally, the robot had a small head on the top of the wheel with a mouth guard and other armor covering most of it, only the three green eyes of the machine were visible.

* * *

 **TurboGear** **Will Wheel**

 **Level:** **1** **/Attribute:** **WIND** **/Type:** **Machine** **/** **Tuner** **/Effect**

 **ATK:** **2** **00/DEF:** **6** **00**

 **Effect:** **Once per turn, this card can't be destroyed by battle. If you took battle damage while this card is face-up on your field, you can activate this effect: Draw 1 card for each 500 damage you took.**

* * *

"That doesn't matter, _AstroGear Auslöser Tiger_ will continue its attack!" PhantomFire pointed out, the trap wasn't able to negate his attack, so it would continue with a new target. "Also, don't think that your monster is safe in Defense Position, because _ChronoGear Destiny Poisoner_ gives all my monster the ability to deal piercing damage!"

 _AstroGear Auslöser Tiger_ 's lasers hit the little robot, throwing it back with an explosion that caused both Picaro and Blaze Rose to shout in pain from the attack, which pushed both of them back.

 **『** **Blaze Rose & Picaro LP: 2700 – 1800 **→ **900** **』**

"Heh, now my monster's effect activates." Picaro pointed out as the top card of his deck began to glow. "When I take damage, I get to draw a card for each five hundred points of it. Since I took one thousand and eight hundred, that makes three new cards for me!"

Silver Star narrowed her eyes, she had expected from Picaro to play a card which would fill up his hand, she just hadn't expected for it to be like that. Of course, the turn wasn't over yet and she knew that her brother still had a few things left up his sleeves.

"Then I'm going to tribute my _ChronoGear Revolving Dragon_ to activate _Darkest Diabolos, Lord of the Lair_ 's effect." PhantomFire gestured toward his monster. "You must take a card from your hand and return it to either the top or the bottom of your deck!"

"Giving me a choice, huh?" Picaro shook his head in disappointment. "Tch, tch, fine then. I will take this card and put it on the top of my deck, so that when I draw it next time, I will finish you off on the spot!"

"Big words from a small man." PhantomFire narrowed his eyes. "I know, you want us to admit that you are the superior one, but you choose to remain blind about the point of those deck that we made. You don't know their reason for existence, what they are supposed to stand for, and because of that, you will never stand a chance. I will set a card and end my turn! At this moment, _ChronoGear Destiny Poisoner_ loses the effects that it stole from _TurboGear Warrior_."

"So, are those going to be your last words?" Picaro asked.

"What?" Silver Star raised an eyebrow.

"You are going to spend your last words, saying how worthless I'm? How I'm unable to understand my own cards? You know NOTHING about me!" Picaro roared. "You were the ones who tried to stop time for my life, the ones who tried to get in the way of humanity's evolution just because it wouldn't be you that's on the top when it happens! You are nothing more than two narcissistic hypocrites that have no place on this world and I will prove it to you! You, Playmaker and everyone else who has the guts to come against me will be buried! Go, Red! Destroy them for me!"

Blaze Rose screamed again as the red mist around her body began to burn. She gritted her teeth and drew her card.

 **『** **Turn 6 [Blaze Rose] LP: 900 Hand: 2** **』**

"Destroy!" Blaze Rose yelled. "Destroy! Destroy! Destroy! Destroy!"

"W-what's happening to her?" Proxy asked.

The Charisma Duelist seemed to have been reduced to an animal, functioning on her primal instincts and nothing else. An animal; that was everything left from her after Picaro infected her with the Hanoi's virus. PhantomFire and Silver Star knew that the pain she was going through would only continue to increase the longer this duel kept going. They had to end it fast for the girl's sake!

"Equip Spell, _**Nitro Heart**_ , activate!" Blaze Rose exclaimed as a card that showed a burning mechanical heart appeared on her field. "Special Summon _Grotto_ and equip to it!"

* * *

 **Nitro Heart (Spell) Equip**

 **Activate this card by targeting 1 "Nitro" monster in your GY; Special Summon it and equip it with this card. When this card leaves the field, destroy the equipped monster. When the equipped monster is destroyed by battle or card effect and sent to the Graveyard, take damage equal to the ATK of the equipped monster.**

* * *

Several chains came out of Blaze Rose's card and flew into a black circuit, pulling out one of the monsters that was destroyed by PhantomFire's Crush Card Virus, _NitroGear Molten Grotto_. The monster was large and bulky, made out of black rock with flames coming from its elbows and knees. It didn't have head, but there was an opening in its chest with an orange orb that looked like an eye present inside the burning insides of the monster.

"Then, Summon _**Lesser Grotto**_!" Blaze Rose's other card showed to be the smaller version of the monster she had just resurrected.

A creature that looked like the last one appeared, only this time it was made of a light brown rock and had only flames coming out of its neck, creating some sort of a hood around it. Its legs were totally three in number and had spikes on the ankles. Lesser Golem had a slender build with spiky rocks on its arms and chest, as well, as a pointy head with two burning holes of different sizes carved inside of it, letting the flames that burned inside the monster to come out and form its burning eyes.

* * *

 **NitroGear Lesser Grotto**

 **Level:** **4** **/Attribute: FIRE/Type: Machine/Effect**

 **ATK: 1** **4** **00/DEF: 1** **0** **00**

 **Effect:** **If this card is Summoned while you control a "NitroGear Molten Grotto", you can add 1 "Nitro Fusion" From your Deck to the hand. Once per turn, you can Fusion Summon 1 FIRE Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck, using this card and 1 Defense Position monster your opponent controls as Fusion Materials.**

* * *

"When _Lesser Grotto_ Summoned while _Molten Grotto_ there, I add, _**Nitro Fusion**_!" Blaze Rose showed a card that looked like Polymerization, but with a red and orange vortex with _Nitro Warrior_ and _Nitro Synchron_ falling into it. "Activate!"

* * *

 **Nitro Fusion (Spell) Normal**

 **Fusion Summon 1 FIRE Fusion Monster, using monsters on your field and in your hand as Fusion Materials. If this card is in your GY and you control no monsters in your Extra Monster Zone (Quick Effect): Banish this card from your GY; Special 2 FIRE monsters from your GY who were used as Fusion Materials in this duel.**

* * *

Blaze Rose's two monsters turned into flames and combined into one, much larger monster made of fire that roared.

"Fusion Summon! _**NitroGear Lava Grotto**_!" The Charisma Duelist raised her arms toward the flames, gesturing toward her new creature.

A huge piece of rock crashed the rooftop and let out a loud roar. Its body was similar to that of the two Grottos that made it up, but instead of legs it had a long tail of flames that made up the lower portion of its body with multiple light brown and black spikes made of rock coming from inside them, some twisted to point upward while others to the side. The rest of its body was also made out of rocks from its fusion materials with the chest having a large 'X' opening in the middle of it and a heart made of flames beating inside it. The monster had four arms as well, the lower pair was made of black rocks and had huge palms, while the upper was made of brown rock with long and slender arms each of which had brass knuckles of cooled magma. Finally, Lava Grotto's head was Lesser Grotto's light brown one, but now it was torn opened and a tail of flames came out the top.

* * *

 **NitroGear Lava Grotto**

 **Level:** **6** **/Attribute: FIRE/Type: Machine/** **Fusion/** **Effect**

 **ATK:** **25** **00/DEF: 1** **5** **00**

 **"Lesser Grotto" + "Molten Grotto"**

 **Effect:** **Once per turn: You can target 1 face-up "Nitro" card that you control and 1 Level 6 or lower "oGear" monster in your GY; Destroy the first target, and if you do, Special Summon the second. If this card is destroyed by battle or an opponent's card effect: Special Summon 1 "Nitro" monster from your GY, except this card.**

* * *

"That looks eery." Proxy muttered, staring at the huge golem.

"Tell us, we are the one dueling against it." Silver Star pointed out.

"Now, I activate _Lava Grotto_ 's effect!" Blaze Rose exclaimed.

"Chain Link two!" Suddenly, several ivies raised from the ground and tied around Lava Grotto when PhantomFire spoke. "I use _ChronoGear Destiny Poisoner_ 's effect to negate your monster's effects and then steal them for the rest of this turn! _Torment Ivy_!"

"Grrrrrr!" The Charisma Duelist growled as her move was countered once again. It seemed to her that those bastards weren't stopping interfering with her and that angered her, more and more… "Battle! Battle! Battle!"

Reacting to the girl, Lava Grotto moved its arms together to form a fireball and then threw it toward _AstroGear Auslöser Tiger_ , destroying the machine.

 **『** **PhantomFire & Silver Star LP: 150 – 100 **→ **50** **』**

"Well, if nothing else, _Torment Ivy_ at least angered her more." Silver Star muttered.

"You think? That was just a hundred points of damage." PhantomFire pointed out.

"Yeah, but we now have just fifty left."

"We should worry when they drop our Life Points to zero."

"What, you don't have Relay Soul in your deck?"

"Wait, you do?"

"Of course no! That card sucks unless you want your opponent to kick your ass."

"Are you two going to take your turn?" Picaro finally asked them. "I thought we were in the middle of something important here!"

"Important?" Silver Star titled her head to the side. "We are here trying to prolong your defeat so you could show us something impressive, you know? Oh well, whatever. I'm going to take my move now. Draw!"

 **『** **Turn 7 [Silver Star] LP: 50 Hand: 3** **』**

"Hm, let's try something fun." Silver Star smirked, she currently had the cards to do something unexpected and, well, illogical. "Appear, circuit of the universe!"

Sparks and stars appeared in her arms as she threw them forward and a circuit opened right in front of her. _ChronoGear Destiny Poisoner_ and _AstroGear Beistand_ turned into a white and black vortexes which flew into the arrows on the sides.

"Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two oGear monsters! I set _ChronoGear Destiny Poisoner_ and _AstroGear Beistand_ in the Link Markers!" the two arrows on the side glowed as Silver Star and PhantomFire's monsters became one with them. "Link Summon! The holy machine of destruction! _**AstroGear Das Unknown**_!"

A monster that looked awfully similar to a Qli appeared out of the circuit. It was a small floating drone with white and yellow armor plating covering up the upper half of it. The monster had two halos attached to its sides with glowing blue crystals in the form of blades floating around them giving off the appearance of angel wings. The belly, or lower half of the drone was protected only by a black glass with blue lines of light occasionally running through it, illuminating the gears inside that powered the machine.

* * *

 **AstroGear Das Unknown**

 **Attribute: LIGHT/Type:** **Machine/Link/Effect**

 **L-Markers: L, R**

 **ATK: 1800/Link-2**

 **2 "oGear" monsters  
Effect: All LIGHT monsters on the field gain 500 ATK and DEF. During either player's turn, when your opponent activates a card or effect that targets a card(s) you control: You can banish 1 monster linked to this card; negate the effect, and if you do, inflict 400 damage to your opponent. If a LIGHT or DARK monster would be destroyed by battle or card effect: You can banish this card from your field or ****GY** **instead.**

* * *

"Now, the effect of _Das Unknown_ activates, increasing the attack of all my LIGHT monsters by five hundred!" The gears inside Silver Star's machine began to spin as its own attack increased.

 **AstroGear Das Unknown** **, ATK: 1800 + 500** → **2300**

"Huh?" Picaro looked at the new monster in confusion. "Why did you gave up on a higher attack monster that could deal piercing damage for this?"

"For the fun!" Silver Star smirked. "You should not lose until PhantomFire's next turn and that was a rule between the two of us. Now, I'm going to Normal Summon _**AstroGear Malnehmen**_!"

A white disk appeared on the field and floated above Silver Star's head, rotating around a yellow orb of light. Well not much of an amazing design, but that was to be expected from a simple level 2 monster, wasn't it?

* * *

 **AstroGear Malnehmen**

 **Level: 2/Attribute: LIGHT/Type:** **Fairy/Effect**

 **ATK: 100/DEF: 300**

 **Effect: If this card is Special Summon, you can Special Summon any number of "AstroGear Malnehmen" from your hand or Deck.** **If** **this card is banished, you can draw 1 card.**

* * *

"Appear, circuit of the universe!" Silver Star summoned it for the second time. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are at least two LIGHT monsters! I set _AstroGear Malnehmen_ and the Link two, _AstroGear_ _Das Unknown_ , in the Link Markers! Link Summon! The holy Seraph looking over this world! **Exotic Sola the Link Seraph**!"

A shot of electricity flew out of the circuit and landed on the ground, transforming into a young woman, or more likely a seventeen years old girl. Her eyes were blue with white stars in them while her hair was white and reached her lower back with a large black metal piece that looked like headphones attached to her ears. The girl wore an outfit that looked like a combination of gothic and a royal attire for a princess. She wore a white dress with white metal pieces that looked like petals of a lower cupping her small breasts on the front, while the back was mostly black with six golden bolts and sparks of electricity flying out of them. The dress' sleeves were black in color as well with white frill and had a white disk attached to the monster's left arm. The lower piece of the dress was made of two layers, with the outer one being made of black metal that had golden bolts attached to it and the inner which was white and ended with frills, just like the sleeves. Finally, the monster had a pair of black bulky boots on her legs.

* * *

 **Exotic Sola the Link Seraph**

 **Attribute: LIGHT/Type: Fairy/Link/Effect**

 **L-Markers: Left, Right, Botton**

 **ATK: 2300/Link-3**

 **2+ LIGHT monsters**

 **Effect: (This card is always treated as an "AstroGear" card.) Non-LIGHT monster(s) in the same column as a monster this card points to have its effects negated, also h** **alve its** **ATK. Monsters co-linked to this card cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects, also your opponent cannot target them with card effects. If a monster(s) this cards to is sent to the Graveyard: You can Special Summon 1 LIGHT monster from your hand or Banished Zone.**

* * *

"Then, I will use the effect of _AstroGear Auslöser Tiger_ to banish _AstroGear_ _Malnehmen_ and Special Summon it back on my field!" The machine beast formed once again and opened its mouth, firing a beam at _NitroGear_ _Lava Grotto_ disintegrating the monster. "As you know, when summoned by its own effect, _AstroGear Auslöser Tiger_ banishes one of your cards! Then, _Malnehmen_ 's own effect kicks in, letting me draw a card."

"You got rid of your powerful fusion just to summon your ace?" Picaro clenched his fist at that. "Stop mocking me!"

"I'm not done yet!" Silver Star swiped the card she just drew over her Duel Disk. "I activate _World Legacy Succession_! This card lets me return _AstroGear_ _Das Unknown_ _(ATK: 1800, Link-2)_ back to the field and put it under Sola's arrow!" The floating machine appeared behind the angel and its gears began to spin again. "Now, all of my LIGHT monsters are going to gain five hundred attack points!"

 **AstroGear Das Unknown** **, ATK: 1800 + 500** → **2300**

 **AstroGear** **Auslöser Tiger, ATK: 2400 + 500** → **2900**

 **Exotic Sola the Link Seraph** **, ATK: 2300 + 500** → **2800**

"Now to enter battle!" Silver Star exclaimed and pushed her fist forward. " _Darkest Diabolos, Lord of the Lair_ destroy _TurboGear Wild Wheel_! Darkness Hellfire Miasma!"

" _Wild Wheel_ can't be destroyed by battle once per turn!" Picaro pointed out as his monster was able to withstand the attack, which pushed it backward.

"Then I will have _AstroGear_ _Das Unknown_ finish the job!" Silver Star pointed out as the top of her own monster opened up and several missiles flew out of it, blowing up _Wild Wheel_.

"Now, _AstroGear Auslöser Tiger_ will attack you directly!" Silver Star declared as her monster fired its blasts at Picaro and Blaze Rose.

"Effect activate!" Blaze Rose took her Nitro Fusion card from the Graveyard and showed it to the AstroGear user. "Banish, revive _Lesser Grotto (Lv.4, DEF: 1000)_ and _Molten Grotto (Lv.5, DEF: 1800)_!"

"Heh, I knew that you would do that!" Summoning the two Fusion Material monsters to defend their Life Points at the last second. "Then, _AstroGear Auslöser Tiger_ and _Exotic Sola_ are going to destroy them!"

The two monsters both fired their respective attacks of solid light and electricity, cutting in half and electrifying the golems.

'Damn it!' Picaro cursed and looked up at the monsters that he had to face. 'If she hadn't used _Destiny Poisoner_ as a material, one of its attacks would have finished us off! They are definitely up to something and if PhantomFire gets his next turn… No! I already know what they are up to, the reason why Sola was summoned and everything else, he is going to try and call **him** out. Even if I fail to defeat them in this turn my set card is going to surely end them!'

"I won't set any cards this turn and just end my turn here." Silver Star raised her hand into a 'come on' gesture. She didn't have to worry about anything, her brother's two set cards would be enough.

"My turn then. I draw!" Picaro declared.

 **『** **Turn 8 [Picaro] LP: 900 Hand: 3** **』**

"I will activate the Field Spell, _**Turbo World**_!" Red data ran all over Picaro's body and a green gear began to rotate around his Duel Disk. "When this card is activated, I can draw a card, and if it's a Turbo monster, I can Special Summon one Turbo monster from my hand or Graveyard! DRAW!" Electricity floated all around the demonic knight's body; he was using all of his powers for this draw… "I drew **TurboGear Unicycle**! Therefore, I can revive _TurboGear Warrior (Lv.6, DEF: 1500)_ from my Graveyard!"

* * *

 **Turbo World (Spell) Field**

 **When this card is activated, you can draw 1 card: If the card you drew by this effect is a "Turbo" monster, you can reveal it; Special Summon 1 "Turbo" monster with a different name from your hand or GY in Defense Position. If you would use a Synchro Monster as Link Material, you can threat it was two materials. Synchro monsters you control can't be targeted by Spell or Trap Cards.**

* * *

"Next, I Normal Summoned the _**TurboGear Unicycle**_ that I drew!" A small red robot with large shoulder plates and spikes on both them, and its helmet, appeared on the field. It had a single green eye located in the lower part of its head, where the mouth should usually be and instead of legs it had a single metal cycle shaped like a gear.

* * *

 **TurboGear Unicycle**

 **Level:** **1** **/Attribute:** **WIND** **/Type:** **Machine** **/Effect**

 **ATK:** **400** **/DEF:** **2** **00**

 **Effect:** **Once per turn: If you took battle damage, while this card is face-up on the field, you can Special Summon 1 WIND monster with 1500 or less ATK from your Deck.**

* * *

"Appear, circuit of heaven's wind!" Picaro threw a triangle with his claw, which then turned into a circuit. Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are at least two oGear monsters! I set _TurboGear Unicycle_ and _TurboGear Warrior_ , in the Link Markers!" Both monsters turned into small tornadoes, with _TurboGear Warrior_ becoming two instead of ones. "Link Summon! _**TurboGear Speedstar**_!"

A monster similar to TurboGear Warrior dashed out of the circuit and landed in front of Picaro. Its body had a more slight and aerodynamic build that its Synchro counterpart. The machine's arms didn't have claws, but instead there were circular armor plates placed on the back of his hands. Its legs had three exhausts on the back of each one and a tire instead of a feet.

* * *

 **TurboGear Speedstar**

 **Attribute:** **WIND** **/Type:** **Machine** **/Link/Effect**

 **L-Markers:** **Bottom-** **Left,** **Top, Bottom-** **Right**

 **ATK: 2** **2** **00/Link-3**

 **2+** **"Turbo"** **monsters**

 **Effect:** **While this card is linked to a Synchro Monster, this card and Synchro Monster(s) linked to this card gain 500 ATK, also they can't be targeted by monster's effects. Once per turn, if this card is linked: You can target 1 monster on the field; negate its effects, also, halve its ATK until the end of the next turn. While this card is linked to a Synchro Monster, your opponent can't activate card or effects in response to this effect.**

* * *

"Um, he just summoned a Link three monster using only two monsters." Proxy pointed out. "Shouldn't that, um, be against the rules or something?"

"Heh, due to the effect of my Field Spell, if I use a Synchro Monster as Link material, I can treat it was two materials instead." Picaro shook his claws before his face. "Next, I activate _World Legacy Succession_! This card lets me revive _TurboGear Warrior_ from my Graveyard and put it next to my monster's link. In turn, Speedstar's effect will increase the attack of both itself _and TurboGear Warrior_ by five hundred! _**Wild Engine**_!"

 **TurboGear** **Speedstar, ATK: 2200 + 500** → **2700**

 **TurboGear** **Warrior, ATK: 2500 + 500** → **3000**

"Next, I activate _Speedstar_ 's other effect! While it's linked to a monster, I can target a monster you control and halve its attack, as well, as negate its effects! I choose _AstroGear Das Unknown_! Also, don't bother to try and negate my monster's effect. While Speedstar points to a Synchro Monster, you can't respond with anything."

Picaro's monster threw its claws at _Das Unknown_ , breaking a part of its armor and shutting it down. The robot flew liveless on the field and with it, all of the attack boost that it provided to its allies.

 **AstroGear Das Unknown** **, ATK: 2300 - 500** → **1800/2** → **900**

 **AstroGear** **Auslöser Tiger, ATK: 2900 - 500** → **2400**

 **Exotic Sola the Link Seraph** **, ATK: 2800 - 500** → **2300**

"Now, battle! _TurboGear Warrior_ is going to attack _AstroGear Das Unknown_! _Accelerated Crash_!" Picaro's monster jumped on top of the deactivated monster and brought its claws down to finish the work.

Silver Star looked at the cards in her hand and specially a monster that she hadn't used. It was the card - _Honest_ , if she discarded it to activate its effect, that would bring _Das Unknown_ 's attack to 3900. Picaro would be unable to stop the attack and they would take exactly 900 points of damage, winning the siblings the duel. However, she made a promise before coming here to try and not interfere with her brother's win.

"I activate my trap card, Demon's Barrier – _**Mirror Timeline Force**_!" Suddenly, everything in the area turned purple and black. _TurboGear Warrior_ was at first frozen in place, but then it quickly began to disappear along with all other monsters that were on the field.

* * *

 **Mirror Timeline Force (Trap) Mirror**

 **When an opponent's monster declares an attack: Banish all Attack Position monsters on the field. Return them during the next turn's Standby Phase.**

* * *

"What the?" Picaro activated a holographic screen of the field, every single monster on both side has disappeared. "H-how? I know every card that you had in your deck, every spell, trap and monster! _Mirror Timeline Force_? That was never in the data!"

"Well, you can add it now." PhantomFire crossed his arms behind his back. " _Mirror Timeline Force_ is a new Trap Card that I designed exactly for this duel. It will remove all our monsters from the field, only to bring them back during my next turn."

"So all of my monsters are going to be back next turn? Then it was all just a waste!" Picaro argued.

"Was it?" Silver Star titled her head to the side in confusion.

"Sometimes, there is just a moment that stays between a duelist and victory." PhantomFire pointed out. "One moment that could have changed everything. I just skipped our duel straight to that moment!"

"I'm ready to take you on!" Picaro shouted and set a card face-down. "My field is ready for your next turn, you already wasted your chance to defeat me when you choose to not use _Destiny Poisoner_ 's piercing ability!"

"We will see!" PhantomFire put a hand on top of his deck and pulled the first card. "My turn. DRAW!"

 **『** **Turn 9 [PhantomFire] LP: 50 Hand: 2** **』**

"During this turn's Standby Phase, the effect _Mirror Timeline Force_ of returns all of our monsters back on the field!" At that moment, lights burst from all around the building and shot up toward the sky, before exploding into a portal of various colors with multiple halos overlaying over one another. "Come back, _AstroGear Das Unknown_ _(ATK: 1800, Link-2)_ , _AstroGear Auslöser Tiger,_ _(Lv.6,_ _ATK: 2400_ _)_ , _Exotic Sola the Link Seraph_ _(_ _ATK: 2300_ _, Link-3)_ , _Darkest Diabolos, Lord of the Lair (Lv.8, ATK: 3000)_ , _TurboGear Warrior (Lv.6,_ _ATK: 2_ _5_ _00_ _)_ , _TurboGear Speedstar (_ _ATK: 2_ _5_ _00_ _, Link-3)_!

'He really returned them.' Picaro narrowed his eyes and looked at the screen on his Duel Disk, seeing that _AstroGear Auslöser Tiger_ was positioned between _Das Unknown_ and _Exotic Sola the Link Seraph_. 'Impossible! Did he knew what my set cards are? No, I obtained them after leaving that bastard's teaching club, so there is no way for him to know.'

"Now. Appear circuit of past and future!" PhantomFire threw his arm forward and the space before him cracked open. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two oGear monsters! I set _AstroGear Das Unknown_ and _AstroGear Auslöser Tiger_ in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Here comes one of my favorite! _**ChronoGear Time Timer Kitty**_!"

Out of the citcuit jumped a neko girl with yellow eyes and long black hair tied into twin tails with large bells tied to them with blue ribbons. Two cat ears on top of her head and a long black tail with a white dot on the end were enough for people to figure out why her name was 'Kitty'. The monster had a red cloth tied around her neck like a scarf. She wore short, sleeveless brown vest that left her belly and shoulders revealed. Her fingernails were all colored red and she had a long black fingerless glove that reached to her elbow on her left arm. Underneath that she had a heavy belt wrapped loosely around her waist with a black skirt that was, very, very short and had bells tied to it. Finally, her outfit ended with black tight highs and dark brown boots that had a clock attached to the front. The neko girl held an old rifle in her arms as her weapon of choice.

* * *

 **ChronoGear Time Timer Kitty**

 **Attribute: DARK/Type:** **Beast-Warrior/Link/Effect**

 **L-Markers: Bottom-Left, Bottom-Right**

 **ATK:1700/LINK-2**

 **2 "oGear" monsters**

 **Effect: When this card is Summon, Special Summon 1 DARK monster from the GY. Once per turn (Quick Effect): If this card battles, you can make this card gain ATK equal to half the ATK of one monster it's linked to (until the end of this turn), and if you do, your opponent can't activate Trap Cards for the rest of the Battle Phase.**

* * *

"A Link 2 DARK monster…" Picaro looked over at the monster and then back at PhantomFire. There was a smirk under his demonic helmet that the Greysons' couldn't see. It was coming closer…

"For the second time. Appear circuit of past and future!" A second circuit appeared in front of PhantomFire and his two dark monsters flew into the arrows. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two DARK monsters! I set _ChronoGear Time Timer Kitty_ and _Darkest Diabolos, Lord of the Lair_ in the Link Markers! Link Summon! The unholy Demon looking over this world! **Diabolic** _ **Phantomus the Link Slayer**_!"

A pair of sinister glowing eyes appearance within the circuit and then out of it came a human male. He had a purple right eye and a black cloth wrapped around his head in a manner that it covered his left eye like an eyepatch. His hair was white and short, ignoring its color it was like that of a normal human, but it was messy. The monster had a single purple horn pointing from the right side of his head. The monster's outfit consisted of a long, torn black coat whose collar was so high that it covered monster's mouth and nose. There were purple gear symbols on the monster's shoulders and his hands were in broken, rusty shackles with a modern-looking purple disk device attached to his left arm. Four rusty chains fell down from the back of the monster's coat and floated behind it like some sort of tails. Below, Phantomous wore black and purple pants with robotic-looking boots made from bronze and gold. The right one reached below the monster's knee and ended with a gear that held onto his left, while the left one was slightly bulkier and larger, having a kneecap instead of a gear. The last touch were several purple cubes and pieces of broken glass that floated around the monster for some unknown reason.

* * *

 **Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer**

 **Attribute: DARK/Type: Fiend/Link/Effect**

 **L-Markers: Left, Right, Top**

 **ATK: 2300/Link-3**

 **2+ DARK monsters**

 **Effect: (This card is always treated as a "ChronoGear" card.) This card gains the effects of all monsters it points to. If a** **linked monster you control** **battles your opponent's monster while this card is co-linked, any battle damage it inflicts to your opponent is doubled. Once per turn, during either player's Battle Phase: You can return 1 monster this card points to to the Deck, then Special Summon 1 "ChronoGear" monster from your Deck.**

* * *

"I knew it!" Picaro clenched his fist. "When you said that the duel would end on your next turn and then your sister summoned her own ace, I knew that this one was going to come out next! But tell me, was it really worth it? To waste your chance of victory like that for a bit of symbolism?"

"Waste? I did this to teach you something that you clearly didn't learn while our relationship was that of a teacher and student instead of enemies." PhantomFire put a fist over his chest.

"A final lesson?" Picaro chuckled at the idea. It was laughable to thing that someone like Evan or Avice could actually try to teach him something after everything they did previously. Trying to take away his deck - his destiny! "I activate my Trap, _**Link Deconstruction**_!" The card showed _Akashic Magician_ and _Clara & Rushka, the Ventriloduo_ screaming as their body disintegrated. "This card, if my opponent controls co-linked monsters will destroy all of your co-linked monsters and inflict damage for each! Be gone!"

* * *

 **Link Deconstruction (Trap) Normal**

 **Destroy as many of your opponent's co-linked monsters as possible, and if you do, inflict damage to your opponent equal to half the combined ATK of the monsters destroyed by this effect.**

* * *

The trap card shot lightings that hit the ground around the two Link Monsters. Phantomous and Sola moved closer to one another as a red circuit was drawn underneath their feet. The crimson lines began to glow and then the whole roof exploded, taking out not only the monsters but their owners as well. PhantomFire, Silver Star and Proxy screamed as the explosion engulfed their bodies and whatever remained disappeared behind a huge cloud of smoke. It was over, all of them were death and he had won at last.

Picaro took a deep breath and fell on his knees, all of his hardships would finally come to their end; he could open the door to the utopia that he dreamed about for so long! But why, why wasn't he happy that those who wronged him finally got what they deserved. Could it be because Proxy had to be sacrificed as well? The only person that he even thought of as friend was…

"That's exactly what I expected from you."

Behind his black helmet, Picaro's eyes were about to burst from hearing that despised voice once again. He looked back up and saw PhantomFire, Silver Star, Proxy and the two Link Monsters all standing together and unscratched.

"N-no…" Picaro pressed his claws together to form a fist, ignoring the damage that it was causing to his body. "Why are you still alive?!"

"Did you forget what I told you about the clock when were at the start of the duel?" Silver Star asked.

Picaro looked at the ground and tried to remember. Most of what they said was just taunting so he had tried to ignore it, but those words were still in his head. Repeating over and over, mocking him for failing to finish these duelists!

" _Your formation is so easy to be broken apart, just like with a clock, if one of the gears doesn't function properly, the whole thing is going to stop working. This is why people like you would never be worthy to challenge us as equals."_

"You remembered it now, didn't you?" Silver Star stepped forward and pressed a button on the side of her head, causing the helmet she had put on to slide away and reveal her face once again. "Gears, they need to be put together in order to create a working mechanism. If you take them alone, every gear is as useless as the last, the same could be said about these decks. If you trust in your own powers alone, you will never be able to reach close to the achievements we had as a team."

"A team? Is that why your aces weren't destroyed?" Picaro asked and looked up at the two monsters.

"Sola's effect, while she is co-linked, monsters she is co-linked to can't be destroyed or targeted by effects." Silver Star started to explain.

"And while Phantomous is linked to a monster, he gains its effects." PhantomFire finished. It was such a simple, yet effective combo between the two siblings. Sola protects Phantomous and Phantomous copying her effect, protects Sola in return.

"Even if that's so, their attack is too low to be of any danger for me!" Picaro pointed out.

"That doesn't matter!" PhantomFire responded and played another card from his hand. "I Normal Summon _**ChronoGear Blue Plague**_ and use its effect to Special Summon _**ChronoGear Bandwidth**_ from my hand!"

Two simple looking monsters came on PhantomFire's field once after another. The first was Blue Plague, which was the chest of a dark grey knight armor with ghostly blue flames coming out of it. The creature had a skull covered by the strange fire for a head, but it lacked any other limps and instead used flying, or more likely floating, as its main form of movement.

The second monster was an orange robot in the shape of a Bamboo-copter but with a head whose eyes were purple and in the shape of insect-eyes and exhausts on the lower ends of its body. The monster also spotted a single blaster on top of its head.

* * *

 **ChronoGear Blue Plague**

 **Level: 2/Attribute: DARK/Type:** **Zombie/Tuner/Effect**

 **ATK: 400/DEF: 200**

 **Effect: When this card is Normal Summoned: You can Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower DARK monster from your hand. If this card is Special Summoned by the effect of a "ChronoGear" card: You can target 1 face-up monster on the field; gain LP equal to its ATK.**

* * *

 **ChronoGear** **Bandwidth**

 **Level:** **1** **/Attribute: DARK/Type:** **Machine/** **Effect**

 **ATK: 0/DEF: 0**

 **Effect:** **This card can't be Normal Summoned or Set. Once per turn (Quick Effect): You can target 1 face-up monster you control (expect this card): For the rest of this turn, if that target battles this turn, your opponent takes any battle damage you would have taken from battles involving this card instead.**

* * *

"Next, because _Bandwidth_ was summoned next to Phantomous' link, my monster will gain its effects! _**Circular Archive**_!" The Link Monster raised its left arm and the disk glowed with purple data. "Now, I activate _Bandwidth_ 's effect through _Phantomous_! I target one monster on the field and this turn, all damage that someone would take from battles involving it is inflicted to my opponent instead! I target _Bandwidth_ so you will take damage equal to the difference between zero and whatever attack your monster holds!"

"But both of my monsters have over two thousand attack points!" Picaro shouted. No matter which monster his opponent was going to choose, if the attack connected, he would lose.

"Battle! I attack TurboGear Warrior with _Bandwidth_!" The little machine flew up and fired a small spark at the gigantic warrior that stood before it.

"Then I'm going to activate my Continuous Trap, _**TurboGear Burst Armor**_!" The card showed _TurboGear Warrior_ blowing away its own armor to stop a barrage of missiles. "When this card activates, I reduce the attack of a monster I control to zero and gain life points equal to the attack that it lost! Naturally, I choose _TurboGear Warrior_!"

* * *

 **『** **Blaze Rose & Picaro LP: 900 + 2500 **→ **3400** **』**

 **TurboGear Burst Armor (Trap) Continuous**

 **Activate this card by targeting 1 face-up "oGear" monster that you control. Reduce that target's ATK to 0, and if you do, gain LP equal to the ATK that it lost. Monster your opponent control who's original ATK is lower than the original ATK of the targeted monster can't declare an ATK while this card is face-up on the field.**

* * *

"I know what you are thinking at the moment!" Picaro boasted, holding up his claw. "It doesn't matter how much I raise my Life Points because the co-linked Phantomous gives our monsters the ability to inflict double damage, so one strike would be enough to finish me, right?"

"Actually-" The older duelist raised a hand to respond, but Picaro cut him.

"Well, while Burst Armor is face-up on the field monsters with less than twenty-five hundred attack can't declare an attack! And if you haven't noticed, none of the monsters that you control has enough attack points!"

"Not yet you mean." PhantomFire corrected him. "I don't have a monster strong enough yet, but in a moment I will."

"And how do you plan to achieve that?" Picaro asked him; there was no way he could pull something like that. "Your hand is empty and in order to summon new monsters from the Extra Deck you will need to go to your Main Phase two!"

"As you said, that would be true if I was going to summon a monster from my Extra Deck." PhantomFire held up his Duel Disk and purple sparks began to come out of it. "The beast I'm about to call out resides inside my Main Deck!"

"But how-! _Phantomous_ ' third effect!" The realized hit Picaro.

He couldn't have stopped them from winning no matter how many set cards he had on his field. It was just impossible because ChronoGears and AstroGears were working as one. With fifty life points, they gave both him and Blaze Rose a chance to prove themselves, to prove that either of them, on their own, could be better before the power of partnership. What irritated him the most about the situation was that the Greysons were going to prove their own point to be the right one.

"What the?" Suddenly, Picaro noticed something from the corner of his eyes, a glowing light coming from inside the Data Storm where Playmaker was dueling. Revolver was retreating! "D-… Damn you!" He held out his claw to activate the closing program.

"He's going to kill Playmaker!" Proxy shouted.

It was too late, Picaro closed his claws together and brought the Data Storm together. That was the end of LINK VRAINS' hero! Or so he thought.

A hallow gasp escaped Picaro's throat as his claws were suddenly pierced by some sort of dark purple hyper expanded claw or maybe even a tentacle. Tracing its origins, the demonic Knight of Hanoi came to stared at PhantomFire, the torn piece of cloth that the ChronoGear duelist wore on his back had turned into four long features that looked more like insect legs than anything else.

Picaro winched and felt the codes stored within his left arm starting to change and the data Storm that he was trying to close suddenly stopped to change its size. His legs began to lose strength and he fell on his knees, Phantom had managed to hack into his body, turn it against him!

"Now, the effect of _Diabolic Phantomous_ activates!" PhantomFire shouted and his monster threw its left arm forward, opening a space-time portal with the disk it carried. "I return _Bandwidth_ to my deck to Special Summon a different ChronoGear monster! Come out, _**Mad Phantomous the Time Slayer**_!"

Several purple lightnings shot out of Diabolic Phantomous' disk after which came out and the monster - a human male. His eyes were red and emotionless, white hair whose upper layer juts upward while the lower layer arches down similar to both Yusei Fudo and Timegazer Magician and a large black and red horns pointing from his head while a red scarf hide most of his face. The monster's outfit had a heavy steampunk feeling to it. He was wearing an open dark brown trench coat with yellow armor covering his chest and stomach, a half-clock mechanisms were present on both his arms and legs with wheels attached to the sides of his robotic boots and blades resting inside his heavy gauntlets. The monster also spotted golden arced blade-like frames which were wrapped around its waist like a belt. There was also a pair of jets attached to its back, similar to those of Junk Warrior.

* * *

 **Mad Phantomous the Time Slayer**

 **Level: 6/Attribute: DARK/Type: Fiend/Effect**

 **ATK: 2500/DEF: 1800**

 **Effect: (This card is always treated as a "ChronoGear" card.) Once per turn: You can** **Tribute** **1 other face-up DARK monster you; send all face-up monsters your opponent controls with DEF lower than that monster's ATK on the field to the GY, then you can have this card gains the effects of 1 monster send to the GY by this effect, until the end of this turn. If a "ChronoGear" card(s) you control is destroyed by battle or card effect: You can Special Summon 1 "ChronoGear" monster from your hand, Deck, or GY, but shuffle it into the Deck during the End Phase of your turn after it was Special Summoned. You can only use each effect of "Mad Phantomous the Time Slayer" once per turn.**

* * *

"Battle!" PhantomFire pointed toward his opponent and his monster leaned forward.

Pressing his arms on the ground, the new Phantomous took a started position and the large gears attached to its back opened up. The made-up demon wings came from the sides along with for jets, the metal boots' parts moved up to cover his knees as wheels took the lower part of its feet. The demon turned its jets on and got fired forward. It clenched its fists, the blades inside his heavy gauntlets coming out, he swung his arms over _TurboGear Warrior_ , slashing at the robotic monster. He left a V-shaped wound on its chest. _TurboGear Warrior_ pulled back, its arms fell off and then, its whole body exploded with so much energy that it launched Picaro and Blaze Rose.

 **『** **Blaze Rose & Picaro LP: 3400 - 5000 **→ **0** **』**

 **『** **Winner:** **Silver Star & PhantomFire** **』**

"Tell me, aren't we just the best?" PhantomFire asked and retraced back his insect legs which turned back to a piece of torn cloth. Only difference was that now he was also holding Picaro's claws. "Whops, that came off." The young man looked at the hand and then shrugged. "Eh, a trophy."

"You won again." Picaro was lying in the other end of the roof, his left arm completely missing because PhantomFire was holding it. "Or did you?" The demonic knight, despite the pain running through his body at the moment, managed to get himself to kneel up. "There is no removal program for the virus that I used on Blaze Rose and Gloomy Ruby. Heh, they are both going to die and that's because of you. Live with that, 'heroes'."

The black helmet on Picaro's head began to slowly break and the lower half of it suddenly fell off. Intentionally or not was unsure, but it did give Phantom, Silver and Proxy a glimpse on Rocketeer's smirking from underneath his suit, before the whole body disappeared and he logged out.

"So, all of this was for nothing?" Proxy turned toward the other two duelists. "I got here, was used as a bait to make you two show up for a mad man and after all of that we were unable to make a difference?"

The Greysons glanced at each other and smirked before grabbing the younger duelist by the arms. They both pulled her to get between them and then ruffled her hair. The BrioGear used tried to protest, but she was no match for the older duelists' strength.

"Silly, this isn't the end." Silver Star told her and leaned in, pressing their cheeks against one another.

"Thanks to you leading us to Picaro we were able to get his most important device." PhantomFire stated and pulled out the torn claws. "If that's what he used to control all of that data, there should be some information about the virus somewhere inside of it."

"Oh…" Proxy nodded, then rubbed the back of her head unsure what to say next. "So, what's going to happen from here on?"

"Well, now we all know about our online personas, that isn't such a big thing." PhantomFire shrugged. "But after all of this, I guess it wouldn't be bad if we teach you a few things. What do you say?"

"I don't really know." Proxy sighed. She logged in just because she wanted to help someone, not because she was looking for a duel or anything like that. "What about Playmaker? I'm his partner!"

"You sure are." Silver smiled and patted the younger girl's shoulder. "So, as his partner, shouldn't you be there when he gives Blue Angel the removal program?"

"R-right!"

* * *

 **Proxy's POV**

I surfed through the data back toward the church with PhantomFire and Silver Star following after me. As we began to get closer I noticed that a good amount of the building, probably an entire wall and some were, was completely destroyed. I jumped off my D-Board and fell through the large opening, landing a few feet away from a man in a suit and an altar with Blue Angel's body on it. As soon as I hit the ground, he both moved to block my path.

"Who are you?" The man in the suit demanded to know, he had Duel Disk, so it seemed that he was ready to challenge me.

"She's not a treat, Zaizen." PhantomFire said and he landed beside me along with Silver Star.

I glanced at the two legendary duelists and then back to the man in the suit. Zaizen – so he had to be Aoi's older brother. Blaze Rose had told me that SOL were going to try and capture Playmaker, but seeing the reason behind that now, I couldn't help but sympathize with Zaizen. PhantomFire and Silver Star walked over to the altar and looked at Blue Angel.

"What took you so long?" Zaizen asked them. His serious tone showed that he wasn't happy to see them for some reason.

"It's something beyond you." Silver replied and took Blue Angel's hand in her own. Both she and PhantomFire were looking at the unconscious Charisma Duelist with the love of siblings, if someone didn't know better, they might think that they and Zaizen were one family.

"Oh, are we having a family reunion here?" A female voice called out.

From the ruins of the church suddenly both Playmaker's body materialized as well as that of some woman with silver bangs, a black suit and a mask covering the lower half of her face. The appearance of them prompted Phantom and Silver to move away from the altar, but they both smirked and crossed their arms while looking at Playmaker. It made me feel awkward for being in the company of something that has such a goofy face, so I stepped back away.

"Here is the removal program." Playmaker said and raised his hand over Blue Angel. "With this she will…" His hand began to glow green and then the data began to fall on Blue Angel's body, getting absorbed inside her. After a moment, a small smile formed on the Charisma Duelist's face and her body disappeared.

"Where's Aoi?"

"Seems she was able to log out." The silver haired woman reassured Zaizen, and me in particularly.

"That means…" I smiled a little as Zaizen realized that his sister was back.

"So, Playmaker and the Dark Ignis." Phantom stepped toward him. At the same time, Silver pulled me closer to herself and shook her head, without saying a word, she told me not to interfere.

"What do you mean 'Dark'?" Ai asked furiously. "I'm a nice guy!"

"Heh, so you haven't realized that each one of you was designed after one of the attributes in Duel Monsters?" PhantomFire asked with a smirk, then raised his hand toward Playmaker. "Anyways, I don't think we had the pleasure to meet each other before."

I couldn't tell if he was trying to be hostile toward Playmaker or not with these gestures and the way he talked to him. But, PhantomFire and Silver Star never tried to interfere with Playmaker's actions before and they showed up in LINK VRAINS just to help me and not to hunt him down, or so I wanted to believe. After Rocketeer turned out to have been my enemy all along, I don't think that I would be ready for another betrayal so soon and by those who gave me a place to live nonetheless.

Playmaker glanced at his hand and then turned around. "I don't have time for such things."

'Well, I understand if you don't trust them, but not accepting a handshake is a bit rude, you know?' I thought as Playmaker made his way out.

"Oh? You're already leaving?" I head the masked woman asked after Playmaker, but he didn't respond to her and just logged out. "So cool."

"Yeah…" I nodded in agreement, despite how rude he was to people, there was something cool about Playmaker that just made people interested in him.

"Ahem." The masked woman cleared her throat and then glanced at me from the corner of her eyes. "It's not like I mind some girl company, but why are you still here?"

"Huh?" I titled my head to the side, true as Playmaker's partner people should expect me to stick closer to him, but I arrived were with Phantom and Silver, so I was going to-! "Ah, they already left too? S-sorry! I'm going right now!"

I waved goodbye to the masked woman and Zaizen, then pressed the log out button on my Duel Disk and let my body disappear from the virtual world. Overall, today was an absolute failure for me. I came to search for a removal program of the virus, yet ended up being a damsel in distress. Only Playmaker was able to cure Blue Angel, but the other two victims were unconscious. I was a failure today, but it wasn't so bad because finally I'm determined to do something. To save Blaze Rose and Gloomy Ruby as well as putting a stop to Hanoi's schemes. I might have lost several fights today, but it didn't matter because all of this was just the beginning.

* * *

 **Unseen cards:**

 **ChronoGear Time Leap (Trap) Continuous**

 **Once per Battle Phase, when a DARK monster you control battles: You can activate this effect; that monster isn't destroyed by the battle, and all damage you would have taken is halved. At the end of the damage step, shuffle your monster into the deck, then Special Summon 1 "ChronoGear" monster with a different Level from your Deck. If you control a Level 6 or higher "ChronoGear" monster, you can send this card to the GY; Special Summon 1 "ChronoGear" monster from your Deck.**

* * *

 **A/N: Well, that's the end of this chapter. I have to say, despite how much I love to write Tag-Duels, I really seem to suck at them. Funny was also how hard it was for me to come up with Picaro and Blaze Rose's card effects to make sure they will be able to survive until the end. You don't know, but PhantomFire's (Evan) ChronoGear cards and Silver Star's (Avice) AstroGear cards were made sometime around the time when I first began to write this story, so the cards that you saw them use right now? Yeah, all of them were made long time ago and I had no scripts for this duel, so they weren't prepared in advance. The only difference I had to make to any of the cards before publicing this was with PhantomFire's field spell because for some reason it had "ChronoDevil" writen in place of the "ChronoGear".**

 **This time I'm not going to talk about the latest episode of Vrains because there would be spoilers if I do, but it was pretty awesome! I'm only disappointed in Blood Shepherd's past. No, not because his backstory is bad, but because that guy was an idiot to trust 100% of an A.I. and then blame everything on the A.I.s when something bad happens. Actually, that reminds me a lot to Dr. Kogami, oh well.**

 **Thanks to** matthewszabo24 **for the follow.**

ScalchopWarrior **: Boooooo!** **Boooooooooo! BOOOOOOOOOO!**

 **Now that we have that out of the way, when talking about Evan and Avice I would rather give them the "Neutral Evil" title. "Chaotic Neutral" at best. Thanks, I'm happy to hear that giving Advent Skull Archfiend to Evan wasn't that bad. Of course, you probably guessed that the moment I stated that I will give the card to someone in this story. I was also originally planning to gove Avice a ritual in this duel, but I had to change that plan due to reasons. I hope that the conclusion wasn't too lackluster.**

D3lph0xL0v3r **: You probably already saw it in my responses in Chapter 14, but no, Elizabeth isn't hurt or dead. She did appear in Chapter 1 after all, but I don't want to bring her back because her journery is mean to be completed in this story.**

ThePLOThand **: Yeah, I do plan to have Proxy lose duels that would usually put someone in big trouble or even cost their lives if lost. I can't state firmly which duels she is going to lose, but there are going to be such.**

 **Before ending this chapter, there are some things I want to say. First, you guys probably remember about those special arcs I mentioned in previous chapters, so, the next few chapters are indeed going to be one of those "special" arcs that aren't canon to the VRAINS anime. Second, I want to ask you if anyone could suggest me a good alternative deck for Revolver. No, I don't want the generic Hanoi deck to be used by him, I'm wondering if there is a good deck in the current game that could work as the alternative or should I make a fanon one? I can't tell you the reason why I'm asking for your suggestions, only that it would become clear during the Tower of Hanoi Arc. So, if you guys have a good suggestion for a deck, tell me and if I like it, I will respond back. I will be open for your suggestions until the start of the** **Another Arc, which in the anime is Episode 022. So you are going to have a lot of time.**

 **Thanks to everyone who gave up on some of their time to read all of this and those who will respond to my guestion for Revolver's alternative deck.**

 **Diabolic Tracer Out!**


	16. Chapter 16

Crisis From Below!

 **Proxy's POV**

"Go, Gaya Drake, the Universal Force! Destroy BrioGear Howling Guardian and end this lowlife!" A huge robotic knight, attached to a white robotic horse with wings, swung its weapons and stabbed my Synchro in the chest.

For those wondering what was going on, after the duel against Picaro, and the not so shocking reveal that Evan and Avice were the legendary duelists who created my deck in the first place, they accepted to give me real tutoring about how to duel instead of that crappy tutorial with the overconfident A.I. duelist. Because of that I was given a better form of training in the form of… dueling the same overconfident A.I. duelist. Actually, scratch that last sentence, I wasn't trying to duel against it, but to not lose on my second turn and I was falling miserably. So far I had lost twenty seven duels and had won zero!

Back to the duel, as I was saying, the powerful Fusion monster pierced through my Synchro monster's chest and blew it apart. I covered my eyes with my hands, but the power of the explosion knocked me off my feet and I was send rolling over the white floor of Evan and Avice's private LINK VRAINS server. I screamed and then my back slammed into one of the floating cubes that the server was full with. They all came in various sizes and had different functions, some could open to reveal a portal leading to a different part of the server, others had computers inside them, the A.I. I was dueling came out of a cube as well.

 **『** **Proxy LP:** **7** **00 – 1** **1** **00** → **0 Hand: 1** **』**

 **『** **Winner: Masou** **』**

"Twenty eight." I muttered, the A.I.s winning streak kept on growing up while my self-esteem took another hit to the guts.

"You humans get more and more pathetic with each passing day." Masou laughed at me while sitting on top of a cube. "The last two could at least take a bit more damage that you, though they too were very pathetic. Hey, hey, you are a female specimen right? Why don't you give up on dueling and go doing something more lady-like, like playing with dolls? My calculations stated that the possibility of the existence of another female duelist with the capabilities of Miss Silver Star stands at zero point zero, zero, zero, sixty-seven percent!"

And that was when I stopped paying attention to the A.I. and walked over to see what PhantomFire - or Evan as I'm more comfortable calling him when we aren't in a crisis – was doing. He had several holographic screens opened before him and was entering different codes and commands, before him were two transparent cubes with Gloomy Ruby and Blaze Rose's bodies resting inside of them. He and Avice took their unconscious bodies from the streets of LINK VRAINS and put them in that server for monitoring and research.

"I'm not trying to sound ungrateful sir, but can't we change the A.I.s dueling mode from Hard to Normal? Maybe Easy?" I was really tired getting my ass handed to me by the machine and have the beating be followed by a barrage of warm insults. Plus that, I was a newbie so couldn't we start with baby steps first?

"The A.I. has always been on its easiest mode." Evan responded to me without breaking eye contact with the screens. "You are just too weak to beat it, but that isn't mine nor the machine's problem."

I put a hand over my chest, feeling my self-esteem getting beaten to death by chicken legs. "As… encouraging those words are… I find it hard to believe that I was dueling on Easy Mode. That thing would give even Playmaker trouble and we both know how skilled of a duelist he is. You know, being the hero of LINK VRAINS and all that isn't just for show."

"I would say that Playmaker is a second rate duelist on a very good day." I noticed how Evan narrowed his eyes while talking about Playmaker's dueling skills. "His dueling skills might be decent enough to beat a toddler, but this A.I. is made to challenge real duelists not some push overs. I mean, dear Ra, have you seen him how fast he burns through his hand for a single Link three monster? Give me his deck and watch me spamming at least three Link monsters using only two monsters!"

"I think I'm starting to see why Blaze Rose and Rocketeer disliked you so much." I muttered and sat on one of the nearby cubes myself.

Evan's expectations from a duelist were just monstrous, he wanted everyone to be either able to pull FTKs (It means First Turn Kills, Avice told me that!) one hundred percent of the time or they aren't worth the light of the day for him. Pretty ironic given how it took him three turns to beat Picaro and Blaze Rose in a Tag-Duel and that happened only after his Life Points dropped to 50, but I wasn't going to judge him like how he liked to do with others. I pressed my cube to float closer to that of the unconscious girls and ran a hand over the transparent material that separated them from us. It hurt me to know that they were in this condition because of the person that I used to call my best friend.

"How is the creation of a removal program going on?" I asked and turned back to Evan.

The man stopped typing on his holograms and grabbed the edges with both arms, leaning his head so that his hair was covering his eyes. It was a clue that things weren't going well. Asking that question was such a stupid from me to do. Evan and Avice had spent more time trying to find a cure than anyone else, for some reason they felt responsible because, well, I didn't understand it well myself, but they said that if they had acted sooner those incidents could have been prevented.

"This virus' coding is very similar to the one found in Blue Angel, it seems that Rocketeer has copied it, but the removal program that I copied from Playmaker could only work on exactly the same data sequence as Blue Angel's virus." Evan closed the holograms, which turned into a cube, then pushed it away from himself. "Using the data inside the arm I tore from Rocketeer's body, I was able to create a pseudo removal program that would stop the virus' secondary function of disabling the victim's organs from functioning. There isn't enough data to create a program that could completely remove it and wake up the girls."

"You aren't going to give up, are you?" I know that he spent a lot of his time trying to come up with a solution, but we couldn't give up on these Charisma Duelist, right? It wouldn't be right if we did that.

"Heh, never." Evan chuckled and leaned toward me, putting his hand on top of my head. He was five years older than me, so this felt like spending time with the big brother that I never had. "No matter how long it would take me, I'm going to find a cure for them, that's my responsibility after all. In fact… I think I know where we could find the data that we need in order to make a fully working removal program."

"R-really?" He could actually do something like that? That sounded amazing!

"Yeah, there is a part in the deeper area of LINK VRAINS were brokers of information, hackers and cyber criminals usually stay. SOL doesn't care enough about those criminals to try and ban them, so they are left on their own. There was once someone who had afflictions with the Knights of Hanoi, which he used to sell data about them. Zaizen had tasked me with protecting him during a period when the Knights tried to eliminate him and stop the leaking of data, but you could guess how well their little operation has gone."

I stared open mouthed at Evan while he explained everything to me. He was looking cooler and cooler to me the more time I spent around him. Or at least while he wasn't throwing insults around and calling people worthless.

"Great! Let's get there then!" I nodded eagerly and ran toward one of the cubes that could be used as portal. But something yanked me back before I could reach it.

"We are not going there today." Evan told me while holding me by the collar above the ground. It was embarrassing that he was able to keep me in the air like I was a rag doll.

"B-but, if there is the possibility to find what you need to get the cure, why don't we go there as fast as possible?" I couldn't understand his logic! Why did he tell me all that just then to follow with 'we aren't going'?

"You have been dueling straight for several hours without a break and I was trying to write new codes for twice that long." Evan told me and slowly set me back on the ground. "I agree that we must save the girls as fast as possible, but knowing when to fight and when to rest is a part of our job as well. There is no danger for their bodies to give up anymore, but if we remain logged in for too long without medical equipment, there will be lasting effects on our bodies. I know about people who had died online because they lost track of time inside LINK VRAINS."

"I-I see." I nodded to Evan. If we died while looking for the data it wouldn't help anyone, less to Gloomy Ruby and Blaze Rose, whose only hope was currently in the two of us.

"Good, then let's log out."

I nodded and the two of us pressed the log out button on our Duel Disks at the same time. My vision faded to black, then I opened my eyes again and found myself lying in my bed. I put my hands down and used them to support myself while raising up into a sitting position, but suddenly I felt a strong pain going through my back. In fact, my whole body tingled from the lack of movement I had in the last few hours. Never the less, I was able to force myself to stand up from the bed and head toward the door.

Taking the handle, I slowly turned and opened it opened. As I stepped outside, the sound of another door closing could be heard and I leaned my head to see Evan closing the door in the very end of the corridor. The boy noticed me and smiled before making his way toward me, I stayed there and watched him, while he raised his hand and put it on top of my head like he did in LINK VRAINS. Since I was a single child, I never knew that it could feel like to have an older sibling patting your head and though I always saw Elizabeth in the role of my older sister, we weren't related to blood or anything so it was weird to ask her to pat me.

"Come on, Avice is cooking dinner nothing." Evan told me and walked past me. For a moment, I forgot everything serious I had to take care of and followed after him with a careless smile.

* * *

The next day, I woke up very late, around 10 AM if not later, one of the positives of not going to school, though that didn't matter because today was Saturday, so even those who had school, weren't going to it today. When I walked into the living room, I found Avice sitting on the sofa with a laptop in her hands, writing something. She told me that Evan had some things to do today and would come back to take me for our special mission later today, so I had a few hours to waste fooling around.

After having breakfast, I headed out and walked toward the nearest bus stop. Den City was a huge place to be sure and the house I was living in was a bit too far away from the center that walking on foot to there could be seen as the more optimal option. Luckily, I didn't have to waste any of the money that Avice gave me for transport because while I walked down one of the streets, I found Kusanagi's truck parked near an edge. Strange, why did they change position now of all times?

Anyway, I walked over to the back of the truck and knocked two times on the door. There were several seconds of silence after which I hear something clicking and the truck opened with Kusanagi greeting me.

"Good day, Kusanagi." I greeted him and stepped inside.

"Good day to you as well, Roxy." He replied and closed the door behind me. Yusaku was already there watching something on the computer screens. "I didn't expect you to find the truck on your own. Unless Yusaku listened to me and warned you where we were."

"Sorry, that's a negative." I shook my head. "My house is two streets from here and I just happened to walk by. But why did you have to change the location? Did something happened that I don't know about?"

"Other than Yusaku trying to get me bankrupt, not much happened." Kusanagi replied and sat back on his chair next to Yusaku. "I came here to try and sell some hotdogs, warned Yusaku in case something shows up to know where he could find me, but instead he came here from the morning and I had to close for the whole day."

Yeah, I could imagine Yusaku pulling something like that, too bad for Kusanagi though since that wasn't a winning business plan that he was following there.

"Hey cutie!" I narrowed my eyes a little knowing who was the only person that would call me that, or to be more accurate, the only A.I. I turned to ask it what this was about, when suddenly out of Yusaku's Duel Disk jumped a small black humanoid with purple lines running down its body and made a pose. "Ta-da! What do you say, do I look cool!"

"Woah!" I clapped, the little Ai had a body on its own! "That's great! Did Yusaku made it for you?"

"As if!" Ai crossed its arms and turned his back to Yusaku. "He didn't even compliment me about it! If I were to hope on You-suck-o to do something nice for me I would be have been reduced to a Notepad program by now!"

I giggled at that and turned toward Yusaku. He wasn't paying any attention toward me as usually, but that didn't bother me. I took the last free chair in the truck and moved to sit beside Kusanagi, watching the two work and surf through the data they had acquired.

"So, does anyone know how Blue Angel is?" I asked them, trying to break the silence that was starting to form.

"I looked up in the hospital's data and found that she has awoken." Kusanagi told me and pressed some button that caused the screen in front of me to change and show some letters from the hospital's record – knowing Kusanagi, it was probably a private record as well. "She is going to be discharge by tomorrow. The other victims however…"

"I know." I sighed and leaned back in my chair. "None of them has woken up. The remove program that Playmaker won from Revolver could only work on Blue Angel, we will need a different one for the other victims."

"You seem to be well informed." Yusaku threw that line out and returned to pressing the keyboard.

Should I tell him that I'm now working in tandem with Evan and Avice? They didn't seem to be in good relations with Playmaker and he probably didn't like them as well because, well, it's Yusaku Fujiki that we are talking about here! I'm worried to tell him about my new partnership, would he and Kusanagi view it as a sort of betrayal, or since we are both fighting on the same side they wouldn't mind? I wanted to find out what they thought about that, but part of me was also scared that I might get kicked out of the group because of that. It will be what it will be!

"I'm currently helping PhantomFire and Silver Star to ending the saga with the Hanoi virus." I looked away from them and admitted it. "They also promised to teach me how to duel better. I'm sorry, but I had to do something about everyone else who got hurt from Hanoi's actions! You understand, don't you!?"

"Be careful."

"Huh?" I blinked in disbelieve. The two didn't even turn to look at me, their eyes were focused on the screens before them and nothing else seemed to matter.

Of course, that was how they were on a daily basis so it didn't surprise me so much their neglected attitude toward what I was telling them, as Yusaku's response. He didn't ask me question, nor tried to build some sort of logical bridges as to why I should have accepted the Greysons' offer and instead just wished me good luck. What the heck was going on? Did the Knights of Hanoi kidnapped the real Playmaker during the night and replaced him with some puppet that has his jerk-like attitude, but lacks anything else about Yusaku's personality. Well, given how far his personality goes, it probably would take Hanoi half a day to program a robot that acts exactly like Yusaku.

"Um, I don't think you listened to what I said." I rubbed my hands together nervously; they definitely haven't heard me clearly!

"You said that you found new people to be partner with." That was sort of what I said, yes… "So I told you to be careful because the Knights of Hanoi might be everywhere."

"So, wait. You aren't mad at me?" I asked him. "I mean, don't take me wrong, I will still be here to help you guys, but this is something important that I need to take care of."

"Don't worry." Kusanagi put a hand on my shoulder and nodded. "If we weren't busy looking for Hanoi, Yusaku and I would have helped you out with saving the other victims. Since we couldn't do that, it's good that at least you could."

Ah, yeah, they had a point there. This wasn't about dividing into groups, but about doing our best to protect LINK VRAINS. It didn't matter if I were with them or Evan and Avice, as long as our goals were the same, all of us would be allies! I smiled and nodded to Kusanagi; we would do our best to make Playmaker's job easier as well. I promise that we are going to do our best for everyone's sake!

"So, I got a few hours to kill. Do you need help with something?" I asked Kusanagi. Even though I wasn't good with technologies, I would make sure to give my best!

* * *

At the end of the day it turned out that I couldn't learn how to code properly for the life of me. After almost messing up some data extraction I spent the remaining time sitting on the chair – on a safe distance from the computers –watching Yusaku and Kusanagi working. After doing nothing for an hour, I finally couldn't take it any longer and excused myself before leaving. Also, let it remain between us only but I used the money that Avice game for transport to buy white chocolate.

"I'm home." I said once I got back to the house.

Leaving my shoes next to the door, I walked in the living room and found Avice still writing something on her laptop. She stopped for a moment and took a cup with some dark liquid in it from the table next to the sofa. The girl then turned her eyes toward me, looking at her green orbs that looked like they were filled with some sort of deep knowledge I quickly began to feel awkward around her. She must have realized it as well, but despite that Avice moved a bit to the side of the sofa and patted the spot next to her – she wanted me to sit down.

"Is this about… well, something?" I asked her and after some hesitation forced myself to sit down.

"No, I just thought that having some company while drinking my hot chocolate wouldn't be too bad." She shook the cup with the chocolate, making it move in waves inside. I tried to keep my eyes on her, but they always slipped toward her drink to watch her playing with it. "I saw some of your duels against the training A.I. It was horrible."

"Ugh." I groaned and threw my head back against the sofa. Why did they have to bring that up?!

"Not that it matters." Avice stuck her index finger into the hot chocolate and stir the liquid before licking her finger. Why was she acting so weird… "I want you to know that you will never be able to reach the dueling standard that I and my brother desire. No one ever could do that, so don't let us talking down on you to get to your psyche, ok? We are just horrible by nature."

I knew that last thing for a while now, but good that Avice confirmed it herself. That didn't make me feel less like a failure though. No, I didn't feel like someone who failed to do something, but as someone who has committed a crime! I was blindly believing that Rocketeer was a good guy and never noticed that he was connected to the incidents! He was a stranger, I should have been more careful trusting him, but I didn't!

"Despite your lack of knowledge and experience, you're the best student that we had so far." Avice smiled a little bit while she kept talking to me. "In fact, I would say the best that we would ever have. You are already understanding the truly important thing about your deck better than Blaze Rose and Rocketeer ever did. That makes me really proud."

"You can keep saying that but I don't think I understand anything." I replied. There was so much that I didn't know yet, I wasn't even sure if I would ever be able to learn it!

"Heh, that's because the lesson was pretty simple." Avice took a sip from her chocolate and set it down on the table. "United - that was how me and my brother faced every challenge that came before us. It was always us and our decks; that was everything we had. We were both prodigies and the more we won the stronger we became. Having the power, the possibilities that we had, it was an intoxicating feeling. We felt like Gods, would have acted as such as well, but there was something that still helped us remain level grounded. We both had something precious to hold on in the form of each other."

I listened silently to what she was telling me. It wasn't just their backstory, it was the story of my cards as well. I put a hand over the pocket where I held my deck and sighed in relief when I felt it there. Not because I was scared that I have lost it but… it was hard to explain it with words.

"The stronger we grew, the more or own decks began to change. It might sound strange, but our cards aren't like the rest, not even Playmaker's Cyberse monsters are as special and rare as our decks. They have a soul, the ability to evolve along with their user. I don't remember when it happened, but I remember that one day the ChronoDevil and Astral Angel cards that my brother and I always used just became ChronoGear and AstroGear."

"The archetypes changed on their own?" That sounded impossible to actually happen!

"They combined. You probably haven't noticed it, but all of our decks in addition to their separated archetypes fall into the combined archetype of oGear." Ah, yes, when she mentioned it I remembered that there were some cards in my deck that had only the second part of my archetype's name written on their effects. "That was ultimately what Rocketeer and Blaze Rose fail to understand. They both want to become the strongest for their own reasons, but neither of them wanted to listen when we told them that friendship and partnership are the most important power someone could have. There is an eternal truth in this world, Roxy. If you give a lot of power to a single human, he will eventually become power-hungry and turn into a monster."

"I understand that." I nodded. If you gave all the power in one person, they would want more and more until they finally destroy themselves, but if you gave it to several people, they would be able to balance each other out. "But doesn't it eat you from the inside to know that you gave a deck to someone who ended up betraying you? I mean, Rocketeer was my best friend in LINK VRAINS, I shared everything with him and he always helped me out when I needed him! I believed on those small acts and failed to see him for who he truly was."

"A Knight of Hanoi. A criminal. A killer? A monster that deserves to be put down, right?" I bite my lips when she began to list insults toward Rocketeer like that. Though she was right, he was a criminal and a monster that hurt innocent people, I couldn't bring myself to say that I'm agreeing with her. "To be honest, I didn't feel betrayed by his actions one bit. Was I hurt to see the decisions he made about his life? Of course! But we didn't gave him the TurboGear expecting for him to go out and do good think, save puppets, help elderly women to cross the street. Good and evil are subjective."

"If that's true, how am I supposed to know if my actions are right or wrong?" I asked her. "I want to do the things that are truly right!"

Avice sighed and then shook her head furiously. "Ah, I don't know how to answer to that! Nothing we do is going to be ever truly right. Every action we take is going to always have a positive and negative side. Just remember, nobody can tell you want you must do. If you want to blame yourself for trusting Rocketeer and are going to hate him for the rest of your life, so be it." Avice bit her lip for a moment and paused, then she put a hand on my shoulder. She looked me in the eyes and continued. "But if you believe that you could help him and make him see the mistakes of his ways, then you shouldn't give up on him just because others would."

I leaned my back against the softness of the sofa and thought about those words. I had no idea where I stood in all of this, let alone what I believed. All I knew was that I wanted to help Playmaker get his revenge so he could move on with his live, but I also wanted to help others because it was, well, the right thing to do! I had no personal grudge with Hanoi and Rocketeer, nor did I go through the things that Playmaker and Blaze Rose went through. I had a great life so far, unlike Blue Angel and I wanted to go back to it, not move to some perfect utopia that Rocketeer was dreaming of.

It was so hard to take a side, mostly because I never wanted to be a part of the conflict. I just had to stop thing about it and focus on other things for the moment. Looking at the clock wouldn't be that bad of a past-time until Evan came back home, right?

Just then, the front door opened and someone walked inside. Both I and Avice turned to greet as Evan walked inside in his black suit, but this time he also had sunglasses on.

"Come on." He told me and took off his sunglasses. "I couldn't get a clear reading on our target, but I have a general idea where we will be able to find him. I also input a location where the two of us are going to log in, so don't try to change it, ok?"

"Yep." I nodded and stood up to follow him, but Avice remained on her place with a small smile on her face. "Won't you come with us?"

"Sorry, but there are things on this end that have to be deal with as well." Avice replied and took her laptop. "Don't worry though, after all, you won't need more than one of us in order to deal with whatever you are going to encounter out there."

Well, I hoped that she was right. Despite them being 'legendary duelist' it took a lot of beating until they were finally able to turn the table against Picaro and Blaze Rose so excuse me if I felt a little unsure of their skills. Never the less, I followed Evan to the third floor. There was a large open area with series of doors on the left and right and a large metal wall right in front of us. Evan walked over to a growing blue circle in the middle of the room and turned back toward me, holding up his Duel Disk.

"I and my sister usually use the third floor as our Real Life base or a place to train and hold our… more important things, so don't mind it too much." He explained to me and the floor before him opened up and a slim metal table with two decks on it raised up to his waist level. "Well, never mind that. Let's do this!"

I nodded, he took one of the decks on the table while I pulled my own from my pocket. We raised our Duel Disk to our chests' levels and put our respective decks inside of them.

"INTO THE VRAINS!"

A warm light took over my body as I felt my body beginning to change. Or to be more accurate, my mind left Roxanna and entered Proxy. After just several moments, I could move my body again and a second later I was already logged in the server.

But the place that I came to was nothing like what I had expected. Unlike monster other servers, there was no sky her, just some extremely small white dot that was somewhere much, much above me. Instead of natural light (as natural as a light in a video game could be) this server was lighted by the large green orbs that were located on the higher levels of the metallic abyss that I was currently residing in, and some shiny billboards that floated over the buildings. Even from here I could tell that this was just a layer of the server I had logged into with many other layers probably staying above this one.

"It's it impressive?" The little boy that I meet on the day when Picaro first showed up walked up to me and crossed his arms behind his back. "If it wasn't for the fact that only cyber criminals and other scums like that were using this server, I would have made it my official residence inside LINK VRAINS instead of the boring personal server that I currently have."

I had no idea what exactly the kid was trying to talk with me about, but the talk about owning a personal server sounded awfully familiar to me for some reason. Then again, the same kid tried to play some mind games with me, telling me things that no one other than me should know about, so I had to keep my guard up now that he showed up before me again. The little boy's glance shifted from the metal buildings toward me and his lips curved up into a huge smile while his eyes stared at mine.

"Heh, you look confused." He pointed out the obvious, then sighed. "I guess it was my fault for not telling you about it earlier. I just hope that you won't get mad about it too much, but I'm PhantomFire."

Wait, wait, wait! What? I took another good look at the kid, his hair, the black and purple color scheme of his clothes and even the cat motive from PhantomFire's appearance were all present, but Evan's avatar was a twenty old man - sometime a demonic cat – not a little boy wearing oversized clothes.

"Is that really you?" I asked him. This wasn't a funny game, if the kid was trying to play me for dummy I would… I have no idea what I could do in fact.

"Yeah, a huge surprise I know." The kid smirked and then jumped on a metal cube before me, crossing his legs. "Someone like me can't just walk around LINK VRAINS and expect that no one is going to notice them, right? I designed this and my cat forms as ways to disguise myself while around unfamiliar people."

"That won't be funny if you are trying to play me up." I narrowed my eyes.

"Why must you be so troublesome?" little 'PhantomFire' sighed and jumped down, landing on his feet. "We got to find data needed to cure the victims of Picaro's virus and you lost twenty eight training duels yesterday. Does that prove anything to you?"

 _Beep!_

"Are you serious?" So the kid did receive the one letter message that I just send to PhantomFire to test him.

I narrowed my eyes and gestured forward. I still didn't trust in that little kid, but the PhantomFire avatar that I expected to see didn't appear, so it was the best that I had at the moment. Although it would have probably been easier to prove his identity if he turned into his adult form for a moment and then back, I wasn't going to press that issue.

"Thank you very much." 'PhantomFire' fixed his hoodie a bit and walked past me, muttering something under his nose. I couldn't hear it clearly, but it was some comment about 'working with autistic people'.

* * *

I had no idea where we were going, but 'PhantomFire' seemed to be taking me down deeper into the server. The places that we passed were… questionable at best. Most of the avatars that we came to pass by were either robotic in appearance or looked nothing like humans at all. There were penguins, aliens, and all the weird stuff that you could expect. I could understand that taste for an avatar in a way, after all, if you are going to be a cyber-criminal the avatar you make shouldn't resemble your real self or be able to be connected to the real you in any way. This was the type of rule that even non-criminals followed in order to avoid getting doxxed.

Despite our 'regular' appearances no one seemed to be noticing us, or even if they did, no one cared. The deeper we kept going, the more curious I became about how 'PhantomFire' learned about this place. He said that there was a job from SOL Technology once before, but never gave any details about it and from back here it appeared to me that he was far more familiar with this server than someone who had spent the time to do a single job here.

"You never told me before, but what exactly is your connection to SOL Technology?" I asked. 'PhantomFire' knew Akira on a personal level and had taken work from SOL before, so there had to be some history between them.

"I'm running a small game company." 'PhantomFire' replied. "Most time I created original games, but there are times every now and then when we get asked to support the servers of some huge VR game like LINK VRAINS. I was asked to create a new defense software that would protect from cyber-terrorists like the Knights of Hanoi. I also made several others programs that were added to the game, so I'm sort of connected to SOL through this world's development team."

"So you had to design a program against Hanoi?" I asked him since that part caught my interest. "It seems that you failed to make it work, huh?"

"Don't get the wrong idea. The program was perfect and was able to stop Hanoi from entering the servers for a full three months. Unfortunately, there is nothing such as a perfect code. Even my program, as advanced as it was, had holes in it, and with those weak spots, there were also ways that Hanoi could create a counter program to suppress my defenses. I use the same defense program to hide my server from preying eyes and update it every chance I get, but when I suggested to do the same for the version officially used by SOL, they declined and told me that they didn't want me to mess with their game's defenses."

"Wait, SOL stopped you from helping them defend their own creation?" That sounded hard to believe for me. I thought they cared more about LINK VRAINS than this. Since no one from the staff had even tried to stand up to Hanoi before, I guess it shouldn't be that surprising.

"The Knights of Hanoi and SOL Technology are two sides of the same coin." 'PhantomFire' stopped and turned back to look at me. "They both hurt people and destroy futures. The only difference between them is that SOL hides behind the good reputation they paid others to make for them and gain profit for the victims they create."

"And yet, you still help them out." I pointed out. If SOL were such monsters, then why didn't he stop helping them and let their own evil drive them in?

"What do you expect from me to do? Turn against the people that pay me so much just because they killed a few people?" I froze at those words. Did he just compared money to human lives and choose the former? "Yes, it's true that I'm personality getting no benefit from helping you cure Gloomy Ruby and Blaze Rose, but make no mistake. I'm not doing things just because of the good of my heart. I never really cared about humanity before… never liked them either. I and Avice get involved only when things get so screwed up that only someone like us could make everything right again."

"So what? You won't get involved if one or two people get killed, but you are going to if the number increased to one hundred or two?" How could he be so negligent about peoples' lives? "That… That's just evil!"

The only reaction that my words were able to pull out of 'PhantomFire' was a raise of one of his eyebrows and a light chuckle. "Maybe from your point of view it's just like that. However, evil and good, wrong and right, those concepts are subjective."

Right and wrong were subjective? Avice told me those same words earlier today and I thought that I agreed with her, but to think that someone could accept the idea of standing to the side while people get hurt and killed as the 'right' choice… I didn't want to accept 'PhantomFire' moral, but there was a point in it. Since I got into this conflict I tried to divide the sides in two; the good side – me, Playmaker, the Charisma Duelists and etc. – and the evil side which was Hanoi at the time. But, the only thing that Playmaker is fighting about is his own revenge. The Charisma Duelists have no interest in helping others and some even turned against LINK VRAINS. Even SOL Technology would end up being no better than the enemies I fight against!

I thought that conflicts were easy to understand. One side was evil and had to be stopped, while the other were the good guys that had to defeat the first. But I had no idea which side was supposed to be good in this fight? If I were to divide us based on morality, everyone would be in the evil category. None of us was truly the good side in the conflict, everyone was willing to destroy anything that would come in their path just to achieve their own goals. I had no idea which side was supposed to be morally superior to the others!

"My, my, if this isn't a surprise." The masked woman that I saw working with Akira during the incident with Revolver and Picaro suddenly came from behind 'PhantomFire' and patted the little kid on the head. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"I got some work to do, Ghost Girl." 'PhantomFire' narrowed his eyes, but didn't try to stop the woman from playing with his hair. "The one who should be surprised to meet the other here is me. Why would you show up here and at a time like this?"

"Jeez, is that the way to talk to a beauty like me, little boy?" Ghost Girl asked with a strangely playful tone in her words and then did something I didn't expect, nor wanted to see. She pulled the little kid toward herself so that her, ahem, breasts were pressing against the back of his head.

"I never expected you to be a shotacon." 'PhantomFire' maintained an uncaring and bored expression on his face while the older woman held his limp body.

"Heh, I don't think that someone who uses a little boy as their avatar while their actual age is nineteen gets to call others such nicknames." I wasn't interested in whatever these two were talking about, but that was an argument winner right there.

"Maybe you should try to change your age as well. It might make you look appealing." 'PhantomFire' gloated.

"Seriously, insulting a woman's look like this. You are the worst." Ghost Girl let go of the boy and he jumped away from her, dusting the back of his hoodie for a reason I couldn't clearly understand.

"Maybe I would be gentler toward you if you didn't resort to using your look as a distraction every single time I meet with you." After dusting his hoodie, 'PhantomFire' walked over to me and caught my arm. "Otherwise, you are just calling for it. Also, you forgot to answer my previous question: Why are you here?"

"Let's just say that I got a love life outside of you and Akira." Ghost Girl winked and pressed her back against a nearby wall.

"So, since you are a hopeless internet dweller that means that everything you got is another job, huh?"

"Come on, why must you insult her every chance you get." I pulled my hand away from 'PhantomFire'. "She seems like a nice woman."

"That's because you are stupid." I felt an anvil falling onto my self-esteem. While I waited for going to this mission with Evan, I didn't expect to be put under verbal abuse.

"My, my, are you going to bully this girl now?" Ghost Girl asked playing with a lock of her own hair. "You are right that I got another job to do, but aren't you going to tell me why exactly you are here? With the girl that always follows after Playmaker no less."

"You know who I'm?" I asked Ghost Girl. We had never meet before so that came sort of nowhere for me.

"Don't mind her too much." 'PhantomFire' crossed his arms and walked forward, past Ghost Girl. "She is a bounty hunter, knowing things like this is a part of her job. She isn't targeting you or anything like this. Also, to answer your question, Ghost Girl, I'm trying to find a user known as Blacloud."

"Now, that's a surprise. My job was to steal something from him" Ghost Girl crossed her arms. "Maybe we could help each other out, hmm?"

"Even now, you are planning how to backstab me. Don't bother, I know how pathetic that guy is. He would be an easy catch even for you." I followed after PhantomFire as we walked out on a large street and found some huge factory in front of us with two drones guarding the front entrance.

"I think we must have taken a wrong turn somewhere." I told him, there weren't any other users around these parts. It was a dead street.

"We didn't." PhantomFire crossed his arms. "I was never able to catch up a strong signature on him, but I found data similar to the one from the time I had to look after that guy, so he could probably be here."

"How probably are we talking about? Ninety percent? Eighty? Fifty-fifty?"

"I wouldn't underestimate Blacloud if I were you." Ghost Girl suddenly walked between me and PhantomFire. "He has gotten himself some sort of hacker network since the last time you had to interact with him. He has gotten into a huge criminal, I heard that he is being chased by several companies for hacking and blackmailing them."

"So it's going to be one of the fun missions, huh?" A twisted grin formed on PhantomFire's little face and he cracked his knuckles. "Ok, let-"

Those were the last words from PhantomFire that I heard before something… happened? I heard an extremely loud noise that would have made my ears bleed if I heard it in real life and at the same time some powerful force pushed my body with unimaginable strength. Everything went black and silent for me after that point. After I opened my eyes again, I found myself lying on the ground with pieces of metal around me, a heavy smoke in the air and a ringing noise inside my ears. PhantomFire and Ghost Girl were both next to me, trying to force themselves to a sitting position. I did the same and found that the factory we were in front of was all in flames.

Looking closely into the fire, I saw two extremely tall silhouettes with long limbs walking through the destroyed building. One of them raised his hand and threw a ball of metal into the air. The round object hit the ground and rolled a few times before stopping to let me get a better look at it. I gasped and put a hand over my mouth – it was a human head!

The object stayed there for a few moments before it got covered in static and disappeared. PhantomFire's and Ghost Girl's lips began to move; they were saying something. My ears were still ringing so I couldn't hear them, but I already had a feeling that I knew what they were going to say. The head that I just saw was Blacloud's.

Even then, I didn't have much time to think about it, or move either because the two figures stepped out of the flames. Both of them had purple skin, which was mostly covered by a silver body armor that left only their wrists exposed. A blue core was present on each of their chests and their heads had triangular shaped helmets with dark grey visors. The two of them raised their arms, some sort of high tech blasters forming around their wrists. They were aiming at us!

I closed my eyes and held my arms around my head.

I felt my body leaving the ground.

* * *

 **A/N: I thought that it was a while since the last update, so here ya go! This is mostly a non-dueling chapter, so Iknow that some people won't like that, but I hope that the chapter overall would be liked. I originally planned to have the, should I call it 'main conflict' of this mini-arc start in this chapter, but later I figured out that it would get too long, and I didn't want to make another over 10k chapter after the last two ones, so this ended up being more of a prologue than anything else. I'm honestly starting to get tired of these A/Ns since people don't seem to be reading them that much anyways. I might end writing them all together and just put the responses to people's reviews here since that's what I'm more interested into.**

 **Thanks to** Arran17 **and** Ghost of Magic **for favoriting this story.**

 **Now the responses.**

ThePLOThand **: Actually, I would love to put Madolche and Ghostrick in one of my fanfictions, but I will have to say no about that idea. Reasons is that... well, I want that alternative deck to act like some sort of final-boss for Proxy. While yes, Rokkets and that Extra Link that Revolver pulled at the end of Season 1 are final boss worhtly, I want Proxy to face something different. Also I'm going to give a small spoiler there to everyone but that alternative Revolver deck won't be used by Revolver himself. The real user is going to remain a secret for now...**

D3lph0xL0v3r **: Well, Elizabeth never really had any reasons to duel. The only reason she did was because of her siblings and her desire to be accepted by them. By now Elizabeth has already outgrown that desire to be accepted so I really don't see a point in bringing her back. On top of all of that there is also the fact that I suck at designing Elizabeth's deck, so I don't want to give myself unnecessary headaches by trying to make a deck for her, again.**

ScalchopWarrior **: I don't see why you mentioned the two Phantomous. If it's because he was two monsters with that name, then well, he had two Phantomous in my story as well. If it's about him using them at the same time, then I agree that it was probably an overkill.**

MusicianWish **: As usually, I'm leaving your review for last since I have most fun responding to you, I never had such a lively fan as you before!**

 **It shouldn't hurt you since Rocketeer is NOT a traitor. I did write it in this chapter as well that Good and Evil are subjective. Just because Rocketeer has a oGear deck that doesn't mean that he can't be a Knight of Hanoi. Officially, the oGear users have a neutral position on the whole conflict, so I believe that it could be said that you can be betraing someone if you were never with them. As it stand at this moment, they aren't a group but just a group of people each one of which follows their own dreams.**

 **I'm indeed planning to make more duels with partners and teams, because those are my favorite type of duels. Of course, I suck at them, so I probably won't be doing them as often as I would have liked to.**

 **I won't comment on your PhantomFire/Evan and Silver Star/Avice thoughts because of spoilers, but I will just say that neither Evan nor Avice like Playmaker. They both think that he is some brat with problems that doesn't know how to duel properly, yet is somehow the great hero of LINK VRAINS.**

 **No worries, I understand if the actual card game isn't your strongest side, not everyone who likes Yu-Gi-Oh! Animes and Mangas is a duelist and vice versa. Finally, I want to give you big, Big, BIG thanks for being such a loyal fan to my story! I'm really loving responding to you and wouldn't mind if I got to chat with you some times!**

 **That's the end of this chapter. Thank to everyone for reading this and hope you have a great day/night.**

 **Diabolic Tracer Out!**


	17. Chapter 17

Nebulous Intentions

The two avatars, or A.I.s, or whatever they were raised their blasters and fired at the three of us. I closed my eyes and held my arms around my head defensively. I didn't expected my existence to come to such an absurd ending and somehow… it didn't. Instead of blaster shots tearing through my digital body, I felt myself raising off the ground. In a way, I was correct about it, opening my eyes, the first thing that come into view was how the ground below me the two shooters that stood there were getting farther and farther away from me.

PhantomFire, whose avatar turned into its adult form, was holding both me and Ghost Girl by the waist and landed on one of the floating billboards before absurdly dropping us down. It didn't seem like he cared that we could have missed the chance to grab onto something and fell down.

"Stay here, I will be back in a moment." He told us and pounced toward a nearby building.

What happened next however was so surprising and amazing that I wished there was a camera for me to record it! Using the building's wall as a platform PhantomFire leaped over the two shooters he made a front flip mid-air and fired some purple energy threads onto their weapons before landing behind the attackers. He pulled the strings, causing the two to accidentally aim and fired at each other. The blasts carved a hole in each of the shooters' chest and they collapsed on the ground before turning to static and disappeared.

Once it all ended, I and Ghost Girl climbed back down and went to join up with PhantomFire again. He waited for us next to the burning building with his body back to its child-like appearance. I stopped for a moment to look at where the shooters had stood just a minute ago and how quickly they disappeared.

"Are they dead?" I asked PhantomFire. Did he just made two people shot each other in cold blood?

"I wouldn't bet on it." PhantomFire crossed his arms and kicked away some piece of metal that lied before his feet. "Those weapons were coded from a different virtual world so I can't analyze them. No worry though, even if they are dead, I could still find their avatar's history and cheek out if they had anything important on them."

"How can you tell me not to worry when we could have killed someone?!" I yelled back at him.

"Your partner is really oblivious about how this job goes, isn't she?" Ghost Girl commented from the side while she kneeled down and looked at some piece of metal.

I turned back toward PhantomFire looking for an explanation about what the woman meant by those words. What was I oblivious about? I knew that what we came here to do wasn't right, making business with some criminals and paying them for the data of other people was absolutely wrong, but just how deep was that corruption going? Although he didn't do it directly, PhantomFire shot two people in the chest in cold blood. Was that a part of the so called 'job' that Ghost Girl mentioned? To kill others… No, I would never accept that hurting others could lead to something good happening!

"This isn't some sort of game, as you might like to think, Proxy." PhantomFire divulged. "What we are doing here, what Ghost Girl is doing every day, there are people that wouldn't mind to try and kill us just to stop us from getting what we need. There are psychopaths out there that would turn a normal cube into a bomb meant to kill a bunch of people just because they can do that! When it comes to saving someone from those madmen I don't have time to stand there and think if my methods are going to put the attacker's life in danger or not!"

"You will have time to do the right thing if you care about it!" I shouted back at him. He could have used the strings to force the shooters to blast their weapons instead of each other, but he didn't put that much thought about it because he didn't care! "There were several other ways that you could have used to stop them, weren't there? You simply went with the easiest one to pull off because you didn't felt like trying to make a difference!"

"I'm making a difference!" PhantomFire protested and grabbed me by the collar of my suit. I yelped and tried to break free, but his avatar was far too strong for an 11-years old; probably because of his true appearance. "All that you are is just some naive little kid who thinks that hugs and kisses would save the world! I got no interest in being a hero, being the nice guy that everyone adores and other crap like that! All I'm looking for is finishing this madness as quickly and effectively as possible, do you get that?"

I narrowed my eyes and put a hand over his. "When I saw you and Avice showing up to protect me from Picaro, when I saw you standing all night look searching for a cure to save Blaze Rose, all the way until just fifteen minutes ago, I did adore you. I did look up to you and believe that you would be able to teach me how to be a hero! I'm… I'm such a fool to think that you were a good guy!"

"I'm not a good guy!" PhantomFire pulled me forward and then threw me against a fallen metal platform. I yelped when my back hit it and collapsed on the ground, but he just turned away from me. "If you think that I'm truly the evil guy here, then leave. I will find the cure by myself."

I took a few deep breaths and looked up at him while he walked away. I could do like he suggested and log out, leave him on his own accord, but I just wouldn't do that because of three reasons. First, I knew that I wouldn't be useful to him anyways and that by logging out I wouldn't prove anything, Second, this wasn't about me nor him, we were here to find a way to save Picaro's victims from eternal coma and bickering among each other would just make us take longer to reach that goal. Third, if PhantomFire was truly fine with killing off people just because he doesn't have time trying to save them, there should be someone to stop him from hurting those people.

"Hey, if the two of you are done arguing, there is something I want you to help me with." Ghost Girl called out and crossed her arms.

"I expected you to leave after the target of your job got blown up." PhantomFire walked over to her and crossed his arms. "You never stay for the encore after mind blowing performances like this one."

"My target wasn't Blacloud, but something that was in his possession." Ghost Girl shook her head. "People don't usually hide their treasures in plain sight, do they? I think your avatar's data manipulating skills could be of huge help here."

"I'm getting what you ask me to do." PhantomFire closed his eyes and raised his arms toward the destroyed factory.

Purple data formed in his palms and then shot out to cover every piece of the destroyed building, creating a complete holographic copy of it. Those copies flew off and put themselves back in the places where they were supposed to be, effectively creating a replica of the destroyed factory. After a few moments, some new care formed at the sides of the door and the two bots that guarded it were recreated as well; a perfect copy.

"Keep this up, I and the kid are going to look inside." Ghost Girl stated and looked over at me.

I glanced at the holographic replica of the building, despite the fact that its destroyed state was right underneath the fake one, we would still be able to enter it without a problem. I don't know how that worked, but we were in a virtual reality after all, here the rules of the real world didn't apply that much. PhantomFire didn't show any sight to be against the idea of me going with the woman, so I complied with her request and follower inside the building. I didn't know what program Phantom must have used, but it was able to recreate the insides of the place as well, or so I thought since I didn't get to walk inside before it got blown up.

"What exactly are we looking for in here?" I asked Ghost Girl. The place didn't seem so special, in fact, there were no machines or anything that would make it look like a functioning factory.

"Anything useful." Ghost Girl replied and began to scan the place with her Duel Disk. "I'm jealous of Phantom's coding skills, if I was able to create perfect replicas like he does, my job would have been so much easier."

"How long have you known PhantomFire?" I asked her. Ghost Girl and PhantomFire seemed to be able to easily work together, so they should have known each other for a while.

"For a year, or less." Ghost Girl shrugged to my question. "He is a cutie in the real world, but his personality is no better than what you see here. Such a letdown, but at least he always has well paid jobs for me."

I wasn't sure what good it would be to talk about this with that woman, everything she seemed to care about is making profit, so she wouldn't be able to understand me.

"What Phantom told me earlier. Is this what you work is like?" I still asked her the question that was on top of my mind. "You know, fighting against people that want to kill you and… finish them off like how he did? Sorry if I'm being annoying, I just can't understand why anyone would take such a dark job willingly."

"I get a good profit out of it and it's actually a fun job." Ghost Girl replied. "Well, my job as a Treasure Hunter at least is. Your partner's job is… a little different from mine, so I can't talk about it."

"I see…" I lowered my head and followed.

We walked through the empty replica, trying to find anything useful, but there was absolutely nothing. Someone must have cleared the whole place before we even showed up. The only thing that was there for us to inspect was a hologram of that Blacloud guy before the explosion and… well… his decapitation. The avatar, not whole and not just a head, was pretty huge and had the appearance of a cyborg with a gas-mask over his face and some jets on his back. In his left arm, he was holding an open cube, upon closer inspection it was empty.

"That's interesting." Ghost Girl raised her left arm, scanning the hologram with her Duel Disk. "Hmm, like I expected, he is holding an old communicator. He must have talked with someone before the assassins blew him up."

"The explosion has torn his whole body apart." I reminded Ghost Girl. "Do you think he is hurt in the real world?"

The woman turned to look at me and then sighed, her shoulders dropping a bit. I already had the feeling that the response she was going to give me wouldn't be a good one, so I braced myself for the news, or at least I tried to. Remembering how much damage I took from duels alone, I couldn't begin to imagine what it would be like to get blown up to pieces and probably buried under a burning building.

"I'm not sure how to tell you that, but he is probably… dead." Ghost Girl finally answered to my question.

I held a hand over my chest, feeling it getting tighter and harder for me to breathe. Even though I was trying to mentally brace myself for such answer, it was hard to prepare to hear that someone died. Even less after you saw their body. I could remembered that head's empty stare, the horror that it must have witnessed in the last second of existence, trying to imagine all of that made my hands tremble in fear.

"Why must I do the babysitting?" Ghost Girl walked over to me and put a hand on my shoulder. "You can cry later, Phantom won't be able to hold up the projection for much longer, we should leave."

I took a deep breath, trying to cleanse the horrifying thoughts that invaded my mind and followed after Ghost Girl. But even giving my best to forget, I couldn't stop thinking about how, the way things were going on, I could one day be in Blacloud's place. Not like I hadn't been in dangerous situations before, my first contact with the Hanoi, the first duel with Picaro, then the duel with Blaze Rose and Rocketeer's reveal all had put me in situations that I could have gotten seriously injured or even killed. No matter how many things I went through, accepting the dark possibilities was something that I was always scared to do.

We walked outside and PhantomFire dropped his arm, the holograms that he had created all disappearing once after another to leave only the true ruined state of the building. I walked up to him along with Ghost Girl and though I wasn't sure how knowing that Blacloud has talked with someone before his demise would help out with the investigation, there was some curiosity to find out what these two had in mind.

"Anything useful in there?" PhantomFire asked, crossing his arms while he spoke. He was definitely trying to act intimidating, but it was hard for me to feel any sort of intimidation from his young self.

"I believe that this could categorize as such." Ghost Girl replied and showed him a copy of the hologram we saw inside.

"An old communication device?" PhantomFire narrowed his eyes and rubbed his chin in thought for a bit before nodding. "Yes, that's indeed very useful."

"You are going to use the communicator to trace whom he called last?" I guessed.

"This is just a hologram so I can't do that." PhantomFire shook his head. "But if there was someone that he had to call, then I know the one person who would be able to give me the names of all his possible contacts."

I sighed, so we were going to get deeper in the illegal stuff that this server was infamous for. I was starting to see why PhantomFire told me that he liked the place so much when we first came; it suited him and Ghost Girl so well. Nevertheless, I nodded and followed after the two older duelists toward the deeper levels of the server.

"It's none of my business, but I think you should get yourself a better sidekick if you plan to work in team from now on." Ghost Girl said to PhantomFire while the two walked in front of me. The boy turned around to look at me, but I glanced to the side to avoid making eye contact with him.

"If it's her usefulness that you are concerned with, I didn't choose to take her with me because of that." I clenched my fist; he was practically saying that I was useless, wasn't he?! "I just thought that it would be about time to teach her a few things about being a grown up."

"But I'm just fourteen!" I finally yelled at him. "What am I supposed to learn from you? How to kill people without remorse? If you take me here to show me how cruel this game can be, then it's a waste because I already know!"

I had felt it first hand; the pain, the fear, the betrayal. I might have been in LINK VRAINS for just two weeks, but I had already seen enough to know that this reality had two faces. It might be naïve of me, but was it wrong to want to make things better?

"There was no need to start yelling." PhantomFire made a grimace and put a finger into his ear. "They aren't dead, don't worry about it! Geez, fine! I won't talk to you about it anymore! Is that ok with you?"

I blinked a few times to register his words. The men that he indirectly shot down weren't dead, but that didn't change the way he was treating the subject. Even then, I felt a little ashamed of myself for starting to yell at him like this. Even if he wasn't right, shouting at him wasn't helping prove my point that I could do better.

"I'm sorry." I lowered my head and apologized to him. "I'm sorry for raising my voice toward you, please forgive me."

PhantomFire stopped walking and turned back to face me. He put both of his hands on his hips and shook his head muttering something under his breath. After a few moments he looked up at me and reached out, grabbing my hand out of the blue. I was unsure what he was going to do, but didn't try to pull my hand away, so I just watched him pulling my arm forward before putting his own on top of it. After doing that he looked up, his purple eyes staring at my own while his mouth opened to say something.

"I don't really care what you think about me and my methods to handle things. If you hate me, that would be fine since I'm anything but a good person. There is only one thing that I'm going to ask from you, one simple request that I'm sure you will be able to fulfill, right? All I'm going to ask from you is to just stay with me until we get the program. You would do that for me, right?"

I looked down on PhantomFire, unsure how to respond to that request of his. In his child form I could see something that I wasn't able to see in the grown up version of his avatar, nor in Evan himself. It was weird, but I saw loneliness in his eyes, like, it looked so real that it was hard for me not to feel bad about him. It was extremely hard to tell if this lone look was genuine or he was using his child-like appearance to trick me, but I was still going to stay with him until the end of this journey.

"You have my word, but only under one condition." I told him. "Try to act more like a hero from here on, ok?"

Little PhantomFire narrowed his eyes after hearing my condition and pulled his arm away from mine, using it to fix his oversized hoodie. My request toward him seemed to have ticked him off because he grunted before continuing to walk ahead of me. At least I tried and hoped that he would listen to me, even if he didn't want to do so.

* * *

"Just letting you know, the person we are going to meet with isn't the most willing to talk for free data dealer, so let me take the lead for this one." PhantomFire informed the rest of us.

We had just walked out of an elevator that led us deeper into the strange server and to a more… darker part of it. And I don't use the word 'dark' metaphorically but literally. There was a significant lower amount of lights on this level, its total height was around 14 foot and because of that all the buildings in this region were very small.

"If that's so, why don't I use my charming personality to make him sing?" Ghost Girl winked.

"Yeah… I'm definitely going to be the one doing all of the talking." PhantomFire narrowed his eyes and walked past us.

"Is that how working together usually turns out for you two?" I whispered to Ghost Girl. From my point of view they didn't seem to be getting along all too well, but it could be just a temporal thing so I didn't want to jump to conclusions yet.

"We don't usually work together." Ghost Girl replied and moved ahead of me, leaving me to follow them both from behind. I asked myself why I kept trying to have a normal conversation with those two and there was no logical answer.

PhantomFire lead us through a large corridor inside the level itself and not some sort of building. There were several players around that place, some of them were sitting on the ground, others were standing next to the walls, all of them seemed to stop whatever they were doing and turned to look at the three of us. Their stares toward us were anything but well-meaning and some even reached to something hidden behind their backs. To tell you, I completely freaked out and tried to alert PhantomFire but he just pinched my arm when I tried to touch him.

"Just ignore them and no one is going to do anything." My eyes widened a bit at how he knew exactly why I was trying to get his attention. I bite my lip, ignoring those stares was harder done than said, but I nodded and followed the older duelists.

Like how PhantomFire said, no one tried to do anything to us as long as we ignored them and luckily I was able to keep my eyes away from those cold stares until we reached an opening followed by a corridor which lead to some room.

"There he is." PhantomFire turned around to look at me and Ghost Girl. "This place here is the hideout of Wakandot, a sealer of information and among the lowest kind of criminal scum that you could find in this server, or the entirety of LINK VRAINS. He is a rat that would sell you to the reapers of you don't watch your back, so we have to move and speak with extreme caution around him, understood that?"

"You are saying all of this like that Wakandot is some big shot despite calling him the lowest kind of criminal." Ghost Girl pointed and crossed her arms. PhantomFire's words indeed sounded to contradict at a few places.

PhantomFire rolled his eyes instead of responding and walked inside. The room was filled with all sort of broken gadgets that were probably more for decoration than anything else. Something among the broken pieces of technology began to move and a rat with a red cybernetic left eye came from underneath all of the trash.

"Hey, hey!" the animal jumped down in front of us and waved its arms. "You can't just walk in here like you own the place! Get out! Shoo!"

"You were serious when you called him a rat." Ghost Girl commented and took a step back. "Ok, I'm going to let you handle this one."

"Now you are starting to make sense." I saw a small smirk on PhantomFire's face before he pulled his right leg back and kicked the rat in the face, sending it rolling across the room like a football ball.

"Hey! You promised me!" I reminded PhantomFire. He promised me to try act a bit less violently!

"Come on, he was asking for it." PhantomFire walked over to the rat and grabbed him by the tail before raising it up to his eye level. "Did you already forgot me, Wakandot? It hasn't been a week since I last destroyed this place."

"Last desto-! Ah, I get it, I get it! It's you that Phantom guy!" Wakandot screamed and began to throw his arms around while also trying to point at PhantomFire. "I gave you all the data I had, why did you came back?"

"I want from you to tell me where I could find someone who has data about Hanoi."

"The only person who has access to such delicate information are Blacloud and his syndicate. But they are too dangerous for even someone like you!"

"Not after their leader got killed." PhantomFire threw Wakandot back into the trash before taking a step back to lean against a nearby wall. "Someone seems to have gotten annoyed with Blacloud because they blew him up less than half an hour ago. His brain-dead body is probably rooting somewhere within the city right now."

"You are joking." Wakandot jumped out of the trash. "Blacloud is a ghost, almost an urban legend. No one expect for his men knows where he is, or what his avatar looks like! You must have been tricked."

"If only his people know where he could be found then it's possible that someone betrayed him." PhantomFire crossed his arms. "I know what I saw Wakandot, I would be able to recognize that bastard's avatar even if it was blown up to pieces. And I'm saying that because he was indeed turned to small bits by an explosion."

"Ha! Even if I believed that what you said is true, I still don't have a reason to tell you anything!" Wakandot crossed his arms. "So if you don't mind, leave this place before I call someone to kick you all out! Shoo, shoo!"

I sighed in defeat. That man wasn't going to tell us anything, it was a waste to come all the day to down here. But PhantomFire didn't seem so convinced because he turned to look at me with a small smile on his child-like face. We didn't say a word to each other during that short moment in which our eyes meet, but the message that he wanted to send to me was clear. I didn't want to agree to his silent suggestion, but both Gloomy Ruby and Blaze Rose's lives were on the line, so I had no choice but to agree and give him a nod for confirmation.

The hat hood merged with his head and the fabric of his hoodie became fluffier within a moment as in the place of the little kid appeared the demonic looking black and purple cat. The animal jumped onto the trash and with two leaps it landed right on top of Wakandot, pushing down the rat with its claws before opening its mouth to take a bite.

"Ok, ok! I'm going to talk!" The data sealer raised his arms in defeat and PhantomFire's jaws stopped a millimeter away from his head. "The floor below this one! There is a huge area with giant buildings and what not, you couldn't miss it! I heard that after the Knights of Hanoi tried to get rid of him once, Blacloud turned that place into his personal fortress! A big fish like him surely wouldn't keep all the data he has on himself so it would be most logical if he used the fortress as a storage room as well!"

PhantomFire jumped off the trash and landed on the ground in front of me before transforming from cat to little kid once more. He dusted his jacket once more and turned back to face Wakandot once more.

"See? It wasn't that hard now, was it?" I put a hand on PhantomFire to pull him away, he didn't need to gloat over this small victory.

"Come on." I said, trying to pull him out of the room, building, whatever Wakandot's hideout was.

"No need to pull me like I'm some little kid." PhantomFire put his hand on top of mine, removing it from his shoulder. "Seriously though, you really lack any sort of understanding how conversations in this server go. To get some info here you must either pay them some huge amount of money, or push them against the wall like just how I did."

"Yeah, I will make sure to remember that for next time." I lied to him; the last time I wanted to learn from PhantomFire was how to treat other people. "But now that we have a location, how do you plan for the three of us to infiltrate it."

"Two." Phantom raised two fingers before me. I titled my head in confusion about what he meant by the word two. "There is only the two of us here."

"What do you mean, Ghost Girl-!" I stopped halfway through my sense when I noticed that the older woman was nowhere in sight. Did… did she just abandon us in the middle of the operation?!

"She is a treasure hunger, so obviously she left right after Wakandot said the location in order to get ahead of us. She got her own job to finish there after all, though if I know her half as good as I do, she might try to steal the Hanoi program as well in order to sell it to me for some extra money. That would be so much like her to do."

I bit my lip while listening to PhantomFire's explanation. There was no way to be sure that she was going to try and bargain with us for the program instead of selling it to someone else. Heck, she might even go give it back to the Knights of Hanoi; I'm sure that they wouldn't want one of the removal programs for their virus going around LINK VRAIN. If such a scenario would be to happen then the last chance to cure the still infected Charisma Duelists would be as good as gone!

"What are we waiting here for then?" I asked PhantomFire and grabbed him by the arm. "We must get there before Ghost Girl does!"

"I told you not to pull me around like some little kid!"

* * *

After using another elevator, the two of us found ourselves in an area made of huge builds which stick out from the dark abyss that was the lowest part of this server. I had absolutely no idea what could lie down there and honestly, I didn't want to find out as well. I noticed that the lower we got, the worse everything around us seemed to get and this level was no exception to this rule. There were huge piles of junk and broken machines, some of which were drones and such. The whole place looked like a junkyard put in the middle of the city. In addition to the junk, there were also some platforms that stick out from the buildings. I was just lucky that whoever designed these levels didn't make them smell as bad as they looked.

We walked through one of those platforms that was put to be used as a bridge to the other side of the abyss where a large building, that could probably rival the size of a skyscraper if it was above ground, was located. Unlike the higher levels, this one didn't have any lights or billboards to illuminate it, so the only source of light we could count one were the lights of the buildings in this area. The front door of 'Blacloud's fortress' was side open and no one seemed to be standing on guard there. Heh that was going to be easier than expected.

"So, are we really going to enter through the front door?" I asked PhantomFire. Since he had more experience than me, it would be easier for him to figure out if this was a trap.

"My Duel Disk is currently scanning for other entrances." He replied showing me his Duel Disk. "But since the front door is open, we could as well use it."

"I wouldn't be s-s-so s-s-sure!" The two of us raised our heads as some guy with green skin jumped in front of us. He had a hunched stance with claws at the end of his fingers and a metal mouth shaped like that of a snake. Right after that next to him landed two bulky white robots with a single blue dot on their heads.

I bended toward Phantom's smaller statue and whispered into his ear. "Ok, this is the weirdest thing I have seen all day."

"Who are you?" PhantomFire crossed his arms while facing the snake guy that was standing in front of us.

"My name is-s-s Toxic, but that's-s-s not important right now." The snake guy (name Toxic) stepped aside to let a hologram show up where he stood just a moment ago.

The projection showed a large man covered in red armor and robotic parts that were ingrained into his body. The right part of his head was completely robotic with a green circular eye, he had a gas-mask over his mouth and no hair on his head. Seeing this avatar took both me and PhantomFire by surprise, I even took a step back in both awe and shock, because the hologram that stood before us was of Blacloud himself!

"I take it back, this is the weirdest thing that I have seen all day long." I pointed at the hologram.

"It seems we met once again, PhantomFire." Blacloud seemed to ignore me for the moment and instead he turned toward Phantom. "Although… You seem shorter from last time that we met."

"Ha-ha, very funny." PhantomFire stepped forward and raised his arm toward the hologram in a gesture that left the rest of us wonder what he was doing. "I came here to buy data about the Knights of Hanoi from you. So, might we come in to make the deal?"

"Do you really think that I'm as naïve as to let you come inside?" I turned toward PhantomFire with a questionable look; what was Blacloud referring to?

"I don't think I get what you mean. I saved your life from the Knights of Hanoi during our last encounter, so you are indebted to do that much for me!"

"That might be true." Blacloud nodded before crossing his arms behind his body. "But I really hate being indebted to others and I got a recording of you destroying one of our spots at the higher levels of the servers, so letting you in after seeing you destroying my stocks would be stupid, right? Instead of that I think to give you something else in return. Toxic, make sure neither of them gets way alive!"

With that said, the hologram disappeared and the large door that Toxic was blocking our path toward suddenly closed itself with a few gears clicking to show that it had locked itself after which some sort of red energy field also formed around it. The platform we used to come here also shrunk back, leaving no path to escape either.

"I'm going to have fun with this-s-s." Toxic replied and clicked a button on his Duel Disk which caused the two large robots to charge straight at us.

"Phantom Mode activate!" The grown-up version of PhantomFire shouted as some purple coding came around my body and suddenly both robots began to change at only him.

"W-what did you do?" I asked. Seeing that neither of the machines had any interest in attacking me, I could guess that he used some sort of concealing code.

"This program is going to protect you from being noticed by the A.I.s!" PhantomFire shouted back at me. "I can use only one though, s-"

Before he could finish the sentence however one of the robots was able to slam its metal fist into his chest and launch him off the platform on which Blacloud's fortress was staged. But that did just as much because PhantomFire fired the same red strings from the back of his wrists against the walls of the buildings and pulled himself back in, kicking one of the robots in the head with so much force that it slammed against the wall.

"Ok, let's dance then, bitches." PhantomFire wiped his mouth with the back of his right hand as the torn parts of his jacket raised up and turned into the four insect legs that he used to tear Picaro's arm off not too long ago.

"You friend s-s-seems-s-s pretty good." I turned back to face Toxic who had raised his Duel Disk toward me. "This-s-s door won't open unles-s-s-s-s-s I get beaten in a duel. Mind trying your luck?"

I glanced toward PhantomFire from the corner of my eyes, seeing him blocking a strike from one of the robots with the insect legs before throwing the machine away. As soon as he did that, the he had to jump into the air as the second robot slammed its fists into the ground. He was too busy dealing with the machines to duel, so that part would fall down to me.

"Ok then." I nodded and activated my own Duel Disk. "Let's go!"

"DUEL!"

 **『** **Proxy LP: 4000 Hand: 4 (VS) Blaze Rose LP: 4000 Hand: 4** **』**

"My turn!" The cards appeared before Toxic and he pressed one of them, making it disappear and then reappear once again on his field. "I Normal S-s-summon _Goblindbergh (Lv.4, ATK: 1400)_!"

A green humanoid piloting a red airplane appeared on Toxic's field carrying a large box, which it then dropped on the ground between me and my opponent.

"When _Goblindbergh_ is Normal S-s-summoned I can S-s-special S-s-summon a Level 4 or lower mons-s-ster from my hand by changing it to Defens-s-se Pos-s-sition! I S-s-special S-s-summon _Goblin of Greed (Lv.4, DEF: 1800)_!" A monster in red and yellow clothes with purple pants appeared on the field holding two pots with faces on them; one green and one red.

"Wait, you are playing goblins?" I titled my head in confusion. "Don't take me wrong, there was nothing wrong with that, but with all the hissing and the snake appearance I expected something… more reptilian?"

"It's-s-s a long s-s-story s-s-staring with a lack of money to buy a better deck. I have gotten us-s-sed to this-s-s one though." Good think that my deck was for free then or otherwise I would have ended up using something with only normal monsters. "Back to the duel, I activate _Goblin Thief_!"

I suddenly felt a pain in my back and yelped while some sort of light shined on top of Toxic and the amount of our Life Points changed in an instant, putting him with 1000 points ahead of me from the start!

 **『** **Toxic LP: 4000 + 500** → **4500** **』**

 **『** **Proxy LP: 4000 – 500** → **3500** **』**

"W-what just happened?" I winched, still feeling the after effect from the damage that I took. It wasn't fair, I haven't ever drawn my first card yet!

"The effect of my S-s-spell Card happened. When _Goblin Thief_ activates-s-s the opponent takes-s-s five hundred points-s-s of damage and my Life Points-s-s get increase-s-sed by the s-s-same amount! I'm going to s-s-set a card and end my turn."

"My move then, I draw!"

 **『** **Turn 2 [Proxy] LP: 3500 Hand: 6** **』**

I looked at the card I got along with the five in my starting hand. I almost never have a Master Duel unless it was against and A.I. and even then I was never been able to score a win. With the larger field and the existence of Main Phase two, I had to forget everything I knew about Speed Duels and focus exclusively on the rules for Master Duel.

Currently, neither of the monsters I had access to were very strong and because I didn't drew many Level 3 or lower effect monsters it was impossible to call forth my ace at the moment. Even so, this hand wasn't all that bad and there were a few moves that I could still do.

"First off, I'm going to start by Activating the Continuous Spell, _Water Hazard_!" A card whose artwork depicted waves of water raising up appeared on my field. "With this Spell's effect I can Special Summon a Level four or lower WATER monster from my hand! Using this effect, I will Special Summon _BrioGear Wave Crusade (Lv.4, ATK: 1700)_!"

My familiar warrior monster appeared on the field and swung his blade before putting it to rest on his shoulder. _Wave Crusade_ had the ability to increase its attack by 300 points at the cost of discarding a WATER monster from my hand. With one discarding I could make him stronger than _Goblin of Greed_ 's defense!

"Now I activate my monster's effect to discard a card from my hand and-! AAAHHHH!" Before I could finish my own Duel Disk suddenly zapped me, forcing a scream out of my mouth while my body stumbled back. I held my right hand over the left one which has gotten stinging from the electricity. "Why… Why were I electroshocked when I tried to use my monster's effect?"

"You don't get it, do you?" Toxic titled his head, then pointed at _Goblin of Greed_. "While _Goblin of Greed_ is-s-s on the field, neither of us-s-s can activate effects-s-s that require dis-s-scarding!"

My eyes widened when I heard that. My entire BrioGear deck was based around discarding cards, so an effect like this was effectively locking away all of my combos. But if that was so, then dealing with _Goblin of Greed_ would be my top priority.

"If that's so, then I'm going to Normal Summon _BrioGear Platosteus (Lv.2, ATK: 300)_!" A small fish covered in armor and gears appeared next to my warrior.

"Come forth, circuit of life!" I cried out and opened the portal, flying in with my monster. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements is a WATER monster with a Level! I set _BrioGear Platosteus_ in the Link Marker! Link Summon! Link One, _BrioGear Lotaxol (ATK: 600, Link-1)_!

Calling forth my link 1 monster, I put it in the Left Extra Monster Zone. I had a plan how to deal with Toxic's wall of monsters and then inflict some damage as well, but I didn't want to jinx myself, so I was just going to do my move without any more inner monologuing!

"I activate _Lotaxol_ 's effect to Specical Summon _BrioGear Platosteus_ from my Graveyard!" I announced my monster came back from the Graveyard next to my link's arrow. "Platosteus adds a monster with 2000 or more attack from the deck to my hand."

A screen appeared before me to choose which monster I would like to add. There were several good ones, but in order to summon them I would have to either discard them or tribute something so no matter which one I choose, they would most likely be a brick.

"Now… Come forth for the second time, circuit of life!" I pointed in front of me as the familiar circuit formed once again. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two BrioGear monsters! I set _BrioGear Wave Crusade_ and _BrioGear Platosteus_ in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Link Two, _BrioGear Enhance Mermail (ATK: 1700, Link-2)_!

Landing underneath my first Link Monster, was a second one. Still not strong enough to take down the defense of 1800, I was getting a little closer thanks to its effect and the remaining cards in my hand!

"I activate my Spell Card, _World Legacy Succession_! With this Spell, I'm going to revive _BrioGear Wave Crusade_ next to _BrioGear Enhance Mermail_ 's Link Arrow!" My warrior raised from the Graveyard once more to join my Link Monsters for the next act.

"I s-s-see…" Toxic narrowed his eyes and rubbed his arms together. "You s-s-summoned three mons-s-sters-s-s, but neither of them is-s-s s-s-strong enough to defeat mine."

"Not for long." I narrowed my eyes and clenched my fist, pointing toward him. "I'm going to activate _BrioGear Enhance Mermail_ 's effect! By halving the attack of _BrioGear Wave Crusade_ that she points to, I can increase her own attack by the same amount!"

 **BrioGear Wave Crusade, ATK: 1700 / 2** → **850**

 **BrioGear Enhance Mermail, ATK: 1700 + 850** → **2550**

"Let's go!" I shouted as my mermaid created a bubble of water between her arms. "I attack _Goblin of Greed_ with _BrioGear Enhance Mermail_!"

"I activate the Quick Play S-s-spell, _S-s-shrink_! Your mons-s-ster has-s-s its-s-s power cut in half!" Just as my monster threw her bubble of water at the opposing monster, the attack got cut in half.

 **BrioGear Enhance Mermail, ATK: 2550 / 2** → **1275**

The attack hit before I could cancel it and I winched, feeling pain soaring through my body once again.

 **『** **Proxy LP: 3500 – 525** → **2975** **』**

"Damn it!" I cursed then pointed toward my other monsters. " _BrioGear Wave Crusade_ , destroy _Goblindbergh_."

The opposing monster had to switch to Defense Position because of its own effect and its defense values were zero, so that attack easily went though. However, the destruction of that monster didn't make me feel calmer at all since it didn't matter that much anyways. As long as _Goblin of Greed_ lived on, the combos that I could possibly make would continue to decline. I sighed, seeing no other cards in my hand that could be used at the moment.

"I'm ending my turn." I sighed. "During the end of this turn, the effect of Mermail returns all of my monsters' attack back to their original values!"

 **BrioGear Wave Crusade, ATK: 850** → **1700**

 **BrioGear Enhance Mermail, ATK: 1275** → **1700**

"It s-s-seems-s-s that your combo has-s-s failed you." Toxic grinned and drew another card from his deck. "My turn!"

 **『** **Turn 3 [Toxic] LP: 4500 Hand: 2** **』**

I heard the sound of something heavy slamming against the wall and glanced to where PhantomFire was fighting against the robots only to see him pushed against a dent in the metal wall, using his arms to try and stop one of the robots' fists from hitting him, while the four insect legs of his suit were unsuccessfully trying to push him away from the wall where he was cornered. Both of us were in a lot of trouble at the moment!

* * *

 **A/N: So, another chapter out. As the title might have hinted for you, this chapter deal a bit with PhantomFire/Evan's more anti-hero view about how bad guys should be dealt with and how Proxy views those ideas. I hope you didn't mind that I used the chapter to also show a bit more of the various abilities that the avatar PhantomFire has, to showcast them better I also included some action scenes. I'm not sure how those came out to be since I haven't written action scenes in a long while.**

 **Some of you might also wonder why the heck I used a Goblin deck instead of an actual archetype and well, the story is actually pretty funny. I was, literally yesterday, playing Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Generation where I had to duel against a goblin deck and there I found out that there was a card Scrounging Goblin from where I learned that Goblin is an actual archetype. Interesting right? Looking for more info about all the cards inside the archetype I found that there is actually a monster called Goblin of Greed, which just so happened to be a perfect counter to Proxy's entire deck! Because of that, I choose to use this archetype for the duel.**

 **Lastly, I wanted to share with you guys, something weird... I had a dream last night, which was about Soulburner and Blue Girl's duel. It's probably not going to happen as in the dream because there I could only see the duel field which was that for Master Duel and not speed Duel, but I saw something weird in that dream. It was how Soulburner summons a bunch of Link 2 monsters making an Extra Link and then attacks Blue Girl's monsters with all of them, though no monster got destroyed, there was some weird effect damage that dropped both of their LP to 600 after which another effect damage dropped Blue Girl's LP to 0. The weirdest part of this was that in the dream I saw the new Trickstar that was shown in the preview for next episode and it was a Synchro Monster, like, the fuck? While I'm sure that such a thing wouldn't happen in the actual anime, it did gave me a few ideas...**

 **But enough with my nonsenses! There were no new follows or favorites between the last and this chapter, sadly, so I'm just going to jump to the reviews.**

ScalchopWarrior **: First off, since this reponds to both a part of your and a part of MusicianWish's review, I'm going to put it just here: I want to say that the reason I was planning to stop writting A/Ns wasn't because I felt like no one reads them (though that was a part of the problem and I'm happy it was just my imagination) but because I don't always have something to say. Because of that I will probably stop putting A/Ns in EVERY chapter, but there will be one if I have something to say.**

 **Also, don't worry Scal. You might not be my favorite reviewer, but you are still special for me! (But not really.) Also, funny that you would mention Coruscant, because that's exactly what I based it off. Or atleast I based the server after the lower levels of Coruscant from the game Star Wars the Old Republic which I played for around a month. Funny that you thought about the same thing while reading the chapter, but I'm happy that the reference was able to reach some readers.**

D3lph0xL0v3r **: Well, although I agree with you about some characters, I'm actually going to defend Blaze Rose and Rocketeer since they aren't that horrible. Although a big part of Rocketeer's reasons to do the things he is doing is a desire to be on top, he also does it because he wants to help humanity evolve into a more perfect species. In Blaze Rose's case, well, the only time she acted "** **morally depraved" was in her duel against Proxy, but back then she was under Picaro/Rocketeer's control so the things she said and did back then weren't her. I'm not going to defend Evan and Avice because, well the readers aren't meant to like them. I want people to make their own opinion on the characters, if you think their are morally depraved, ok then.**

 **However I will ABSOLUTELY disagree with you saying that Ai is despicable. All he did in the anime until now is pretty understandable and in fact, if I were in his place, I would have hacked into the system and have every single human killed because it was humans that exploited his world (SOL Technology) and then tried to destroy it (Knights of Hanoi). Heck even Playmaker started off by threatening to delete him, which for a computer program is like to kill them.**

MusicianWish **: Well, Evan and Avice are sort of meant to showcase "** **contradictory emotions' themselves. They do indeed tell Roxy that it's important to have others, but that is because they want her to grow up as a better human than them. They are neither "heroes" nor "villains" both of them are able to do heroic things, but also be horrific. They are in their own category and it wouldn't be completely true to call them "anti-heroes" either.**

 **I really wouldn't expect them to give Playmaker much credit in the future either, because their critic is toward his dueling skills, which are pretty bad. Even if the anime is trying to play him out as that smart and skilled duelist, as someone who uses a Cyberse deck, I can tell you that his dueling is absolutely horrible.**

 **Indeed, the Blacloud who lost his head last chapter is dead, but his head isn't missing so don't worry about the gore. Da** **mage in VRAINS appears in the real world as mental damage, not real one. If it was the later, then both Playmaker and Revolver would need to put on cybernetic replacements because they both have lost an arm on more than one occasions.**

 **Thanks, I'm happy that you like the characters and especially about Evan and Avice's names since no one else complimented those. In fact, I choose Avice's name because its meaning is "warlike" and well, she is going to fight for what she believes is worth fighting for while Evan was choosen just because it sounds nice next to Avice.**

 **Once again, thank you for all the support that you and everyone else show me either by following, favoriting or just reviewing a chapter.**

 **So, that's all of me for today. Thanks for reading so far and have a nice day.**

 **Diabolic Tracer out!**


	18. Chapter 18

Frost in One's Heart

So, I waited for Toxic to make his move while I also made sure to keep an eye out for PhantomFire who was in a disadvantageous fist fight with two robots. Go figure where Blacloud and his men were able to get these combat oriented A.I.s, but they weren't my problem at the problem. Instead I had to find a way to win a duel when the main thing that my deck's entire play style is based around can no longer be used. Though I currently had three monsters, two of which were Links, I wasn't sure that they would last for much longer.

"Firs-s-st, I'm going to S-s-summon _Goblin Marauding S-s-squadron (Lv.4, ATK: 1900)_!" A large army of green goblins, all of which wore a purple dress and had a yellow wig on their heads appeared on the field. "Now, they are going to attack _BrioGear Lotaxol_!"

The monsters all charged at my weakest Link and jumped on top of it. _Lotaxol_ had just 600 attack points, so if I let the attack go as it is, I would lose 1300 Life Points, which is more than what I could spare at the moment.

"I activate _BrioGear Enhance Mermail_ 's effect!" I declared and my mermaid pointed at my other two monsters. "My Link monster can halve _BrioGear Wave Crusade_ 's attack and then give the lost amount to _BrioGear Lotaxol_!"

 **BrioGear Wave Crusade, ATK: 1700 / 2** → **850**

 **BrioGear** **Lotaxol** **, ATK: 600 + 850** → **145** **0**

My _BrioGear Wave Crusade_ dropped its sword, feeling weaken because of this effect while _Lotaxol_ grew bigger, but it was still a far cry from _Goblin Marauding S-s-squadron_ 's 1900 attack power! The attack connected and my monster shattered to pieces, some of which flew to me, damaging my chest and legs as it was usual for duels to do in LINK VRAINS.

 **『** **Proxy LP: 2975** **–** **450** → **2** **42** **5** **』**

"When _Goblin Marauding S-s-squadron_ battles-s-s, they change to Defens-s-se Pos-s-sition at the end of the battle." Toxic's monsters all dropped on the ground fast asleep as their ATK of 1900 was replaced with a DEF of 0! Was that his deck's weakness? That most of the monsters – if we exclude _Goblin of Greed_ of course - were offense based and had 0 defense!

"My turn is-s-s not over yet." Toxic stated and pressed to play the last card in his hand. "I activate _Card of Demis-s-se_! This S-s-spell, at the cos-s-st of you taking no further Battle Damage this turn and locking away all of my S-s-special S-s-summoning for the turn let's-s-s me draw until my hand holds-s-s three cards-s-s! Of cours-s-se, I will have to dis-s-scard the cards-s-s I don't play at the end of this turn, so I'm going to s-s-set two of them!"

I bit my lip, he had gotten himself a new hand and there were three set cards that I had to worry about for the time being. Just the thing I needed when I finally find out a possible way to win this duel!

"I now end my turn and dis-s-scard the las-s-st card that's-s-s in my hand!" Toxic finished, grabbing the card and shattering it to pieces. "Your move, girl."

"During the end of this turn, the effect of _BrioGear Enhance Mermail_ will the attack of my monsters to normal." I pointed out as my _BrioGear Wave Crusade_ held up his sword again.

 **BrioGear Wave Crusade, ATK: 850** → **170** **0**

"Ok then." I took a step back and braced myself, putting my fingers on the top card of my deck I could only hope that the card I was about to draw wouldn't be something connected to discarding, since that would more likely than not end up being a dead draw. Come on, I know that I can trust in you, my cards! "My turn, draw!"

 **『** **Turn 4 [Proxy] LP: 2425 Hand: 4** **』**

The card that I just drew… it was _Eisbahn_ – a continuous Trap with the ability to change all non-WATER monsters to Defense Position upon their summoning. Although it didn't require any discarding, Toxic wouldn't need any more monsters to take down mines! That's unless I…

"Before you continue with your turn, I will us-s-se this chance to activate my Trap!" Toxic hissed and one of his set cards flipped face-up showing a goblin in officer armor with two other behind him. "My Continuous Trap, _Minor Goblin Official_ is going to inflict five hundred damage to your during each of your Standby Phases, including this one!"

I felt a sharp pain in my back and fell on my knees while parts of my body turned to static for a moment before returning back to normal.

 **『** **Proxy LP: 2** **42** **5** **–** **500** → **19** **2** **5** **』**

This was getting worse than I expected, now I had to duel faster around the clock. Good news were that if he didn't reduce my Life Points any more I would still have three more turns before he dwelled away all of my Life Points. Bad news were that if he was able to inflict any more damage to me, my time was going to be cut shorter.

"During my Main Phase, I'm going to tribute _BrioGear Enhance Mermail_ and _BrioGear Wave Crusade_ to Tribute Summon _BrioGear Leviathan Dragon (Lv.7, ATK: 2600)_!" It might look illogical for me to give up on two monsters for one, but I had to keep strong monsters on my field to avoid taking any more battle damage. "I activate _BrioGear Leviathan Dragon_ 's effect! Once per turn, I can Special Summon a BrioGear monster from my Graveyard! Raise once more, _BrioGear Enhance Mermail (ATK: 1700, Link-2)_!"

Now I surely had enough firepower to get rid of my opponent's monsters and clear a path for a direct attack next turn! Then I will also be able to revive _BrioGear Wave Crusade_ and attack him with at least three monsters at once!

"Battle! _BrioGear Leviathan Dragon_ attack-!"

"Not so fas-s-st!" Toxic hissed at me and raised one of his arms forward. One of the set cards on his field formed showing a group of goblins blocking a wave of enemy knights with their shields. "Continuous Trap activate! _**Goblin Defens-s-se Formation**_! While I control a Defense Position monster with zero defense, monsters on my field can't be destroyed by battle or card effects!"

 **Goblin Defense Formation (Trap) Continuous**

 **While you control a Defense Position monster with 0 DEF; monsters you control can't be destroyed by battle or card effects. If this card would be destroyed, you can Tribute 1 monster instead.**

"What?!" I looked at _BrioGear Leviathan Dragon_ whose attack was dying down. With the effect of the trap even if I attacked none of his monsters were going to be destroyed and players don't take damage from battles with Defense Position monsters. He blocked my attacks just as well, as he blocked my card effects!

"Now your mons-s-sters-s-s, a duelis-s-st's arms-s-s and legs-s-s, were cut off from doing anything!" Toxic laughed and licked his lips. "The bos-s-s-s-s-s is-s-s going to be happy to hear that I s-s-send both of you into the abys-s-s-s-s-s!"

I looked at the other cards in my hand before biting my lips. They were useless in this situation! I wanted to cry, PhantomFire, Blaze Rose, Gloomy Ruby, everyone's fates were in my hands; in my useless hands that couldn't win a single Master Duel! I was such a weakling that it embarrassed me to find how pathetic I can be.

"Why do you look so defeated?" I turned toward PhantomFire who looked back at me while holding off the two robots with his arms alone. He narrowed his eyes and they became sharped while looking at mine; like he was scolding me with his gaze alone. "There are thirty two more cards in your deck. Twenty two cards that can win you the duel if you believe in both yourself and them. Never give up, even if you have just one Life Points and a single card, there is still a chance for you to win!"

"How do you plan to win when your mons-s-sters-s-s have become us-s-seles-s-s-s-s-s?" Toxic rubbed his arms together. I looked at my cards once again and was unsure what to do next; what I could even do? If there truly was an answer, I haven't drawn to it yet!

"I'm going to set a card and end my turn." A card appeared before me on the field. That was the only thing that I could do for the time being. Please, my deck, give me an answer sooner rather than later!

"S-s-setting a card? That means-s-s that you are going to continue the duel? Then I won't have any mercy! During your End Phas-s-se I activate my Trap, _Back to the Front_! This-s-s trap let's-s-s me revive _Goblin Black Ops-s-s (Lv.4, DEF: 0)_ from my Graveyard!" A group of goblins in black ninja outfits climbed from the Graveyard to join those who were already on the field. "My turn then! Draw!"

 **『** **Turn 5 [Toxic] LP: 4500 Hand: 1** **』**

"Pathetic invaders-s-s!" Toxic hissed at me, his snake tongue coming out from his mouth while he spoke. "Trying to challenge us-s-s, destroy our bus-s-siness-s-s-s-s. The criminal empire that our boss created was-s-sn't born for an s-s-single night and it will take more than two nobodies-s-s to challenge it's-s-s might! When I'm done, both of you are going to dis-s-sapppear in the dark abys-s-s-s-s of VRAINS-s-s! Nobody will ever remembered your names-s-s nor ask what happened, you both are going to be forgotten from his-s-story its-s-self!"

I panted waiting for him to make his move. I didn't believe that it would end with the outcome that Toxic was believing into. Even if I fell, even if I died here, PhantomFire would surely pass and save the others! I didn't want this to be my final destination, to end engulfed by the darkness and coldness of a digital realm, but if things came to the worst, I had someone whom I could trust to finish what we started.

"I'm going to change _Goblin Black Ops-s-s_ to Attack Pos-s-sition!" Toxic's monsters raised up, holding their various weapons while facing against me. "Unfortunately _Goblin Marauding S-s-squadron_ can't be changed to attack until two turns after it attacked, but _Goblin Black Ops-s-s_ is-s-s able to attack you directly by ignoring the mons-s-sters-s-s between us-s-s! Go! _Goblin Black Ops-s-s_ attacks you directly for one thous-s-sand and three hundred damage!"

"Kyyyaaaa!" All of Toxic's ninja monsters jumped on me and slashed at my body, leaving large red wounds into my digital body before kicking me into the dirty, reducing my Life Points by a huge amount. I now had only one turn left to win!

 **『** **Proxy LP:** **1925** **–** **1300** → **6** **2** **5** **』**

"When _Goblin Black Ops-s-s_ declare an attack they change to Defens-s-se afterward!" The ninja goblins all fell on the ground fast asleep just like the previous ones. "Do you s-s-still believe that there is hope for you to win? If s-s-so, then I'm going to activate _Hammer S-s-shot_ to destroy your monster with the highes-s-st attack!"

 _BrioGear Leviathan Dragon_ suddenly became darker as a large shadow hanged over it. I looked up and my eyes widened as a giant hammer fell down, slamming onto my dragon and destroying it to pieces. The shockwave that followed after that effect resolved sent be rolling across the ground. Even though I still had _BrioGear Enhance Mermail_ on my field, with Toxic's trap making his monsters indestructible, her attack manipulating effects were useless!

"With this-s-s, my turn is-s-s done." Toxic finished and it was my move next.

I put a hand on top of my deck and prepared to draw, the effect of _Minor Goblin Official_ was going to inflict 500 damage during my Standby Phase, dropping my Life Points to just 125. If I didn't get the cards needed to turn the duel around with this draw, my next one wouldn't matter!

"My turn, draw!" And I hoped that it was a good draw…

 **『** **Turn 6 [Proxy] LP: 625 Hand: 3** **』**

I looked at the card that I drew and took in a soft breath. This card… it wasn't what I needed… Not even close!

"During your S-s-standby Phase, the effect of _Minor Goblin Official_ activates-s-s! You take five hundred damage!" I gasped as a laser shot through my chest. The pain dropped my on knees along with the rest of my already low Life Points.

 **『** **Proxy LP:** **625** **–** **500** → **1** **2** **5** **』**

"Your Life Points-s-s are clos-s-se to zero!" Toxic laughed at me and opened his mouth to show his snake tongue once again. "Do you feel des-s-spair now? During your next S-s-standby Phas-s-se, the effect of my trap will s-s-seal your fate!"

"I activate my set card, _Eisbahn_." I muttered, activating my set card. "When you summon a monster, unless its attribute is water, it will automatically be changed to Defense Position."

"Pointles-s-s-s-s-s! I won't need to s-s-summon any other mons-s-sters-s-s to finis-s-sh you off! Give up and your end is going to be les-s-s-s-s painful that the other intruder."

"N-no!" I stood my ground and clenched my fist. I wasn't going to fall into despair because of this, instead I was going to listen to what PhantomFire told me and put all of my hope into this deck. "M-my… My comeback starts now! I activate the Spell Card, _Magic Planter_! With its effect, I send my Continuous Trap, _Eisbahn_ , to the Graveyard in order to draw two new cards from my deck!"

"What?!"

I held the two cards that I was about to draw and sighed deeply. It was all or nothing, a survival or death depending on what cards I was given. If not for me, then give me power to move forward for everyone else! Please, my deck, hear me!

"This is…" A draw that would determine my destiny, my future! "Destiny Draw!"

I looked at the cards that I drew and one of them caught my eye. It was the perfect thing that I needed for this to work!

"I tribute _BrioGear Enhance Mermail_ to set a monster!" First, a good line of defense in case he tries to finish me with an attack from his goblins… "Then I'm going to set a card and end my turn!"

It was all done, my turn was over, and all the pieces were in places. Next turn, I will draw my last card and end the duel with a victory!

"Ending your turn by Tributing S-s-summoning a face-down mons-s-ster? Are you a fool, thinking that I would end up attacking it?" Toxic titled his head to the side, then licked his lips. "I'm going to put an end to you s-s-struggle for good. My turn!"

 **『** **Turn 7 [Toxic] LP: 4500 Hand: 1** **』**

Toxic looked at the card that he drew and then nodded, mumbling something to himself. Was he going to play something? I sweated a little, despite how iron sure my strategy was; I felt nervous that he might have something that could disrupt my plans.

"I end my turn!" Toxic shouted and threw his head backward laughing. "This-s-s is-s-s your end! Take the damage of my _Minor Goblin Official_ and go to hell with your partner in crime!"

"Are you sure about that?" I gave PhantomFire a surprised glance since we said those words in unison. He smirked back at me and jumped in the air, his insect arms swinging and cutting through the robots' bodies. He then landed on his feet and held his arms out, grabbing the A.I.s decapitated heads. He drew the robots' parts into the abyss and nodded to me.

"Now, finish this duel!" I nodded to the request and threw my hand forward.

"During the end of your turn, I activate my Trap – _**BrioGear Freezing Waves**_!" My card flipped face-up showing an artwork of several humans in white clothes decorated with ice standing on top a frozen mountain with several monsters trapped within the ice.

 **BrioGear Freezing Waves (Trap) Continuous**

 **Activate this card by Tributing 1 WATER monster; put 1 Ice Counter on a face-up card on the field for every 500 DEF that the monster had on the field. Apply the following effect on cards with an Ice Counter on then, expect for "BrioGear" cards:**

 **Cards with an Ice Counter have their effects negated, also monsters with an Ice Counter can't attack or change their Battle Positions.**

 **During each of your End Phases, remove 1 Ice Counter from the field or destroy this card.**

"This card can be activated by Tributing a WATER monster that I control!" I declared and gestured forward, my set monster breaking to pieces which turned into six pieces of ice. "I Tributed the three thousand defense points _BrioGear Madoor_ which means that I get to put six ice counter on the field!"

The six pieces of ice shot out, hitting the ground in several places. The floor on which we were standing began to freeze and its color changed to a pale blue as all of our cards - Toxic's _Goblin Marauding Squadron_ , _Goblin of Greed_ , _Goblin Defense Formation_ , _Goblin Black Ops_ , and _Minor Goblin Official_ along with my _BrioGear Freezing Waves_ – were covered in ice, leaving the cards inside the unbreakable frozen water. Toxic hissed and fell back, ice starting to cover his feet as well as the field.

"W-what happens-s-s?" He hissed as his legs got completely covered by the ice.

"My turn, I draw!" I shouted and drew my next card.

 **『** **Turn 6 [Proxy] LP: 125 Hand: 3** **』**

"I Normal Summon _Deep Sea Diva (Lv.2, ATK: 2)_!" a pinkish mermaid in white robes appeared on my field, completely unfazed by the ice environment. "Next, when _Deep Sea Diva_ is summoned, I can Special Summon a level three or lower Sea Serpent from my hand! I choose to Summon _**BrioGear Rime Dweller**_!"

A large green fish with sharp edges of its back and the ends of its tail appeared on the field. The monster had four mutated fins on the side of its body that caused them to take an appearance similar to claws. A series of clock gears started from its belly and reached all the way up to his neck where it tied around like a collar. Instead of eyes, the monster had two spikes on place of each and two mouths filled with small, but sharp teeth.

 **BrioGear** **Rime Dweller**

 **Level:** **3** **/Attribute: WATER/Type:** **Sea Serpent** **/Effect**

 **ATK: 1** **3** **00/DEF: 0**

 **Effect:** **If this card is Special Summoned: Draw 1 card. If this card is send from your hand to the GY; destroy 1 card on the field.**

"When _Rime Dweller_ is Special Summoned, I get to draw a card!" I did so, getting _**BrioGear**_ _ **Strike Barrier**_ ; perfect! "Next, I'm going to activate _Cryo Raptor_ 's effect from my hand, Special Summoning itself and one Level two or lower monster from my Graveyard! Come, _BrioGear Platosteus (Lv.2, DEF: 100)_!"

Both of my monsters came out of portals and landed on my field next to the previous two. Although their stats were too low to do anything significant with them alone, I wasn't planning to just stop there. It was time to bring out the big guns!

"When _BrioGear Platosteus_ is Special Summoned I can add a monster with two thousand or more attack to my hand! I add _BrioGear Bubble Sea_!" Although the monster had 2100 ATK, I already used my Normal Summon for this turn, so I couldn't call it. "Now appear, circuit of life!"

A huge circuit appeared right above me and I gestured toward my monsters. _BrioGear Platosteus_ and _BrioGear Cryo Raptor_ turned into arrows of ice before flying into the middle top and middle bottom arrows of the circuit which then burst with energy.

"Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two Level 3 or lower Effect Monsters! I set _BrioGear_ _Cryo Raptor_ and _Platosteus_ in the Link Markers! Link Summon! The dancing spirit of storms! _Grand Ranger Serene (ATK: 2100, LINK-2)_!"

"Another Link S-s-summon at this-s-s time!" Toxic's eyes widened. My ace landed in the Right Extra Monster Zone and turned toward me, giving a nod before activating her bow. Thank you for always being with me, _Serene_.

"To the deeps of the ocean I call for the strength to protect this world!" I exclaimed as _Deep Sea Diva_ turned into two rings that flew around _BrioGear_ _Rime Dweller_. "Summoning conditions are a water tuner and one or more non-tuner monsters! I tune _BrioGear_ _Rime Dweller_ to _Deep Sea Diva_! Synchro Summon! Slash through the endless waves of evil! _BrioGear Howling Guardian (Lv.5, ATK: 2400)_!"

Next, my Synchro monster landed behind _Serene_ with a groan. Ok then, everything is in place, time to start the countdown!

"I equip the Equip Spell, _**BrioGear**_ _ **Strike Barrier**_ to _Grand Ranger Serene_!" My monster raised her arm and the bow attached to it got covered in ice along with her hand, making it slightly larger in appearance. "A monster equipped with _BrioGear Strike Barrier_ can inflict piercing damage!"

 **BrioGear Strike Barrier (Spell) Equip**

 **If the equipped monster attacks a Defense Position monster, inflict piercing battle damage to your opponent. If the equipped monster destroys an opponent's monster by battle: You can discard 1 WATER monster from your hand; the equipped monster can attack again.**

"Let's go!" I pushed my fist forward, signaling for Serene to jump into action. "I attack _Goblin Black Ops_ with _Grand Ranger Serene_!" My monster fired an arrow, which break into several smaller ones that hit every single member of the black ops.

 **『** **Toxic** **LP:** **4500 -** **2100** → **2** **400** **』**

"Damn you!" Toxic hissed as the ice covered more parts of his body. "Your attack was-s-sn't enough to defeat me!"

"The effect of _Grand Ranger Serene_ activates!" My monster aimed her bow at Toxic who looked back at it with wide eyes. "When _Serene_ inflicts damage to the opponent, I can send a monster she is linked to in the Graveyard and inflict its original attack to you as damage. I send _BrioGear Howling Guardian_ to the Graveyard to inflict two thousand and four hundred points of damage to you! _Howling Arrow_!"

"Noo!" I just turned away and let my monster to finish her attack. Toxic screamed as an arrow of ice piercing through his chest and the duel ended with a victory for me.

 **『** **Toxic LP: 2400 - 2400** → **0 Hand: 1** **』**

 **『** **Winner: Proxy** **』**

"That wasn't too horrible of a performance." PhantomFire walked over to me, his arms crossed and his outfit no longer having the insect legs on its back. "There might be just a little bit more than a complete weakling in you."

"Thanks." I was already used to him talking down to me, so I was taking words like 'weakling' as a compliment when it came from PhantomFire or Silver Star. I then turned back toward Toxic who was lying on the ground with ice covering most of his body, excluding the head of course; he was trapped without anywhere to go. "A deal is a deal. I beat you in a duel now you are going to let us get inside your boss' fortress and clear this whole misunderstanding."

"You thought that I was-s-s s-s-serious when I told you that winning a duel would give you permis-s-s-s-s-sion to enter?" I narrowed my eyes, so the whole duel was just a waste of time? "My job was-s-s to kill the two of you! And if s-s-sending large robots-s-s and dueling won't be enough to put you to an eternal res-s-st, then I'm going to s-s-send you to the abyss like this-s-s!"

The small entrance platform before the door began to shake violently and I fell on my back from losing balance. Toxic threw his head back and began to laugh loudly while PhantomFire could only kneel down to avoid falling like I did. With every passing second, the platform was shaking more and more violently with pieces of it starting to fall off and the bolts to come lose; we were going to fall any moment! Looking around for something to grab onto was useless as well, the platform that got us here was no longer there and an energy shield protected the locked door.

Something snapped and the platform came tumbling down with us still standing on it. There was nothing for me to reach and grab onto, slowly, my feet began to separate from the platform as a distance began to grow up between us due to the difference in weight.

"Hold on!" As I was falling down the abyss, a red thread came out of nowhere and attached itself to my waist, bringing my fall to an abrupt stop. I looked up and saw PhantomFire, his right hand outstretched toward me with the red string attached to the back of his wrist while the left one held onto another string on the fortress's wall. I breathed in relief and held onto the red matter that saved me, closing my eyes. Mentally, I thanked to every god and saint that I knew about for saving my life.

"Come on…" My body began to slowly raise from the abyss and I opened my eyes to see what was happening.

The red threads were slowly retracting back into PhantomFire's wrists, brining both me and him closer to the wall of the fortress. The thorn parts of Phantom's outfit transformed into the four insect legs once again and stuck themselves into the building. He turned around and fired his second thread at my body, pulling me faster than he did before.

"That bastard killed himself trying to get the two of us. Blacloud's men are serious business…" PhantomFire keep muttering under his nose. He pulled me up and held me in his arms around the waist. "I take back what I said about that bastard, he is a big fish now."

"How is he not dead?" I asked. Don't get me wrong, I didn't want anyone to die, but both of us saw his severed head being thrown around by those assassins, so it would make someone curious what the heck was going on there, wouldn't it?

"An imposter. Either this Blacloud or the one we saw before was an imposter." I nodded, this theory sounded to be very possible. If Blacloud is that big of a deal then either he or enemies of him would use an imposter. "Doesn't matter which one is who though since we are still going to kick this bastard's ass, get the data I need and then get the heck out of his server before any more crazy people come looking for my ass. And since we are partners, probably yours too."

"Because a cyber-criminal syndicate as an enemy was just the type of thing that I needed." I began to sweat just at the thought about the many bad possible outcomes. It made my fear of Hanoi pale in comparison.

"You will have to get used to it, a cyber-criminal syndicate like Blacloud's or a cyber-terrorist group like the Knights of Hanoi, you are already on the hit list of at least one group known for causing mass destruction." A chill ran down my spine, was he trying to make me more afraid than I already was? "Don't worry though, both I and Avice will break the arms of anyone who tries to hurt you."

At least his last words made me smile a bit in relief. PhantomFire moved me around so that he was holding me with one of his arms and pressed the other one against the wall. A red glow appeared on the back of his wrist before it moved toward his fingers and from then it moved on through the wall, drawing a large circle in it. The size was big enough for both of us to get inside with a problem.

"Hold on tight." PhantomFire told me and the wall broke into small pieces of pixels. The four insect arms on his back quickly stuck themselves toward the floor inside the building and we were pulled inside, landing on hard ground. Afterward, he retraced the additional limbs and pressed his hand on the ground, closing his eyes.

"So, um, what are you doing exactly?" I asked him, seeing that he was focusing for no apparent reason.

"I'm waiting." He told me. "You didn't think that we were going to do all of this on our own, did you? I'm waiting for Avice to track down Ghost Girl's avatar. She must have been able to sneak inside the building by now."

"How are you planning to do that? If she is a professional then there is a huge possibility that she deletes her login data to avoid getting her data hacked." At least that's how Kusanagi told me that Yusaku was able to hide from both the Knights of Hanoi and SOL Technology for all this time.

PhantomFire opened one of his eyes and looked at me with a somewhat off-putting smile over his face. The part of it that made me feel like it was something bad was, strangely, how genuinely amused it made him look. It was… I don't know to put it, but the closest thing it resembled were the expressions that Elizabeth made when I told her something stupid but also funny during out studding sessions. Or maybe the off-putting thing was how similar he was to her in term of facial features.

"Ghost Girl has SOL Technology purchasing from her, so she wouldn't have to worry about attacks from hackers. Playmaker however, well, in order to delete your login data you have to first log out. Doing it while the user is inside could cause some problems including loss of short-term memories and such. Because of that, it's easiest to get information about your target while they are logged in."

So that was how they knew that I was Playmaker's partner. Evan and Avice knew Playmaker's identity because they used his fights with Hanoi as distractions to hack into his account. The huge amount of media attention that is thrown at Yusaku every time he logs in allows them to easily track down when he is inside the network by simply following the LINK VRAINS' News feeds! These true truly are more than just legendary duelists, they are able to use the environment and the events around them to make every situation to adapt with them!

"She is two corridors from here… twenty nine floors above us." PhantomFire stood back up and looked around. The corridor we were into was clear, no cameras, security or henchmen trying to kill us. "Hold onto my back, it's time I stop moving so slow."

I didn't know what he meant by 'stop moving so slow', but knowing him so far it was probably going to be something crazy and not very safe, so I wrapped my arms and legs tightly around his back and waist, holding with all of my strength. The torn pieces of his outfit raised upward once again, but this time instead of separating into four pieces and turning into insect legs, they just grew larger and turned into hard and sharp bat wings. No, not bat wings, more like the wings of a demon… which did look similar to those of a bat, but come on, there are some key differences like the lack of a huge claw-like ornament on top of the bat's wings.

"I'm going full speed!" PhantomFire shouted and jumped forward, his wings didn't move, but his body shot forward like it had a rocket attached to his back.

"HHHHYYYAAAAAAAAAAA!" I pressed my face against his back and closed my eyes. Just feeling the wind against my body was enough to scare me and I didn't need to watch him trying to navigate through such a closed space while flying with fifty miles per hour!

* * *

 **3** **rd** **POV**

Meanwhile, in a different part of Blacloud's fortress, around less than twenty five floors above PhantomFire and Proxy was Ghost Girl. The infamous treasure hunter had no problems sneaking inside the secured fortress using her stealth data as an advantage. Although it was heavy so she had to drop it as soon as she got inside the base, there weren't much problems on her way. At least not until PhantomFire and Proxy broke inside, triggering a silent alarm that got every single underling of Blacloud on high alert and patrolling around.

The guards did make it harder for her to pass around unnoticed, but she was already used to sneaking behind people's backs. After all, she didn't have her stealth data from the start but developed it after many, many jobs and obtaining enough experience to know how others could trace her and how to avoid their methods or make them useless.

"Hmm, Phantom made such a noisy entrance that by the time he makes it all the way to here, I would have already gotten everything that I need and some more." Ghost Girl said to herself while she passed yet another corridor.

The place was huge and everything looked the same making it hard to navigate without a map, she had to give it that much design wise. While most other users from whom she had to steal usually used dangerous traps and other old tricks to keep her at bait, this fortress was designed to use an intruder's own psychic against them, make them doubt whenever or not they were just walking in a circle. Although such tricks weren't going to work on her, it did make looking for the treasures she came for that much harder since she had no idea where Blacloud could store his data inside a building where every room looked the same as the last.

"Intruders!" Suddenly, Ghost Girl stopped in her tracks and turned around to see several other users coming out of a room that she passed. Shit! Somehow they were able to find out she was there!

Or that was what the infamous treasure hunter first though, but was quickly proven wrong when the other users didn't even bat an eye in her direction and instead all of them gathered in front of a closed door, waiting for something to enter. Ghost Girl quickly moved behind a column and glanced to see what exactly was going on there. Although none of the other users were making any noise, she could still hear someone's faint screaming which was getting a little louder and louder until…

The door exploded and everyone that was around it got launched backward along with some debris that turned into pixels as soon as it hit the ground. The sudden impact, or whatever it was, that destroyed the closed door had caused a huge curtain of black smoke to raise inside the white corridor. Despite that no one else seemed to be coming, the treasure hunter stayed hidden behind the column. You could never be too cautious when invading someone else's property and given the amount of guys she had to pass around on her way here, it wouldn't be too crazy to think that there was at least half that much still making their ways down to this floor.

"You can come out, there is no point trying to hide from me, Ghost Girl." The treasure hunter's eyes widened just a bit from the sound of a familiar voice. She glanced back at the destroyed door once more to be sure that it wasn't a trap, but it really wasn't.

Out of the smoke came PhantomFire with Proxy still holding on his back. The wings suddenly began to lose their hardness and then fall down, turning back to their regular form as parts of his outfit. The ChronoGear user glanced toward the column where Ghost Girl was hiding, making her jump a bit because their eyes meet. Sighing in defeat, the treasure hunter walked away from her hiding spot and crossed her arms, trying to not look impressed to how fast Phantom was able to catch up with her. And while pretending not to care, she could also ignore the younger girl that fell off PhantomFire's back with a groan and remained on the ground holding a hand over her mouth.

"I almost threw up three times during this ride." Proxy protested quietly since her stomach was still trying to tempt her into vomiting then and there. "I'm not taking this ride. Ever. Again."

"Heh, don't worry, you are going to get used to it with time." PhantomFire turned his head to look at her and smile, before returning to his original posture, staring at the treasure hunger before him. "So, do you have something for me, or?"

"I was unable to find where he is hiding his data." Ghost Girl shook her head in defeat. Because of her pride as a skilled treasure hunter, it was hard to shallow the fact that she was unable to find the treasure. "I'm using my codes to try and locate it because checking through every single door is going to take forever and let's not mention that it would also be dangerous to try and do it that way."

"And I want to keep it that way." A hologram of Blacloud appeared between the two duelists with his arms crossed. "I have heard people complaining about you, Ghost Girl. Some of them even called you SOL Technologies' rat, so I'm surprised that you could take some time off your, probably, busy schedule to come here."

"Well, it's true that a woman as beautiful as me doesn't exactly have too much free time, I still got some to come and visit some interesting places." Ghost Girl put a hand on her hips and gestured toward the white corridor with the other. "How long has this fortress been here? I come a lot of times to this server and it's the first time that I see it. A very good design as well, did you make it yourself?"

"Enough!" Blacloud shouted at the treasure hunter. "I don't tolerate foolishness, woman! Playing stupid won't help, I know that you have come here because of a job! I don't know what it's that you are looking for, either of you, but you won't be able to find it. At least not before you die!"

"Die? Dude, I just passed through over twenty of your floors on a whim and I have yet to see anything life treating!" PhantomFire laughed at the threat and leaned against a nearby wall.

"Yes, that was a part of my plan when designing this place as well, you see?" Blacloud smirked and raised his right arm, pressing something that the hologram couldn't make out. "If someone doesn't see anything dangerous within the first few floors, they will probably drop their guard. I have other employs passing as well, so I couldn't just leave my traps activated, but now every single one of them knows to look out so it's a fair game. See you in hell, ghosts!"

With that, the message ended and the hologram disappeared leaving the duelists to wonder what he was going to throw at them. Proxy groaned while trying to get back onto her feet and Ghost Girl walked over to PhantomFire with her arms crossed. Apparently, she wasn't too happy to hear that there would be traps for them to deal with.

"Did you have to tell him that?" She asked, genuinely curious if Phantom was just playing stupid or he was an idiot by nature.

"What?" The ChronoGear user asked and pushed himself away from the wall to be sure that there was no trap behind it. "Passing through a fortress without traps in it is like eating pizza without ketchup on it! Not everyone needs to bother with it, but it makes things a little better if added. Although I wonder why he called us ghosts when I'm a phantom…"

"Is that what bothers you?!" Ghost Girl couldn't believe that guy! He was getting them in danger on purpose to get some action out of it!

"Come on! What's the worst thing that he could-!" The male duelist paused for a moment noticing something from the corner of his eye.

A wall of electricity had raised from both ends of the corridor, leaving them with nowhere else to run. The sudden paused alerted Ghost Girl and Proxy both of which moved beside PhantomFire and pressed their backs together. In an instant, the two walls of electricity both shot toward the group, aiming to electricity them in the middle!

"Huh, I don't see traps like this one so often." PhantomFire smirked and charged toward the wall, slamming his fist against it, causing a red circuit to come out of his arm.

* * *

"Where are we going anyways?"

It was eight floors and at least forty corridors since the trio had to face against Blacloud's traps and Ghost Girl had to admit that it wasn't so bad. Some of the traps like the saws floor and the flamethrowers on the wall did raise her adrenaline quite a bit, but other than that both she and PhantomFire were able to make it so far without taking any damage. Their outfits were clear and shining, maybe they even looked better than usually.

Proxy on the other hand… She had a little bit of a problem understanding how exactly she always ended up taking all of the hits when she tactically choose to walk in the middle between PhantomFire and Ghost Girl. Her hair was a mess and parts of it were missing from the acid (?) that rained on her, while her clothes were torn to shreds from the various other forms of torture that those traps put her through. She got zapped by the electric walls, unwillingly used as a makeshift weapon against PhantomFire and Ghost Girl by one of the robots that so had to be inside the building, the laser room wasn't much interesting either and did she still have ashes covering her arms and face from the flames.

"Don't worry Proxy, we should be close." Phantom told her. The youngest of the three glared daggers at the back of the man's head, feeling that he was trying to hide a smirk while talking to her!

"I didn't ask how long, but where we are going!" Proxy crossed her arms. She knew that Phantom heard her question, but he wanted to get on her nerves a little bit more than the electricity did.

"Toward the last door within this crazy place." PhantomFire told her and suddenly stopped, causing the BrioGear user to slam into his back and fall down on her back with a groan. "We are there."'

In the other end of the current corridor the group saw a grey metal door. It was right there, just a few steps away from them, but there was something wrong about it. Both PhantomFire and Ghost Girl could feel it, this was the end of the building, the last floor and the last door, but no security was put in place. Their data readings couldn't find any traces of traps either, it was just the three of them standing in an empty corridor.

The door slowly opened by itself. PhantomFire narrowed his eyes and leaned forward, ready to charge forward. When the door was midway open, a huge amount of avatars of various sizes and appearances came running toward the three. Proxy took a step back surprised while PhantomFire glanced at Ghost Girl from the corner of his eye and she got his message.

"Smoke screen!" He shouted and ran forward. The treasure hunter pulled a small black ball from her belt and threw it over his head. The little sphere blow up and smoke hide the players from view and made them cough as PhatnomFire slammed his insect legs into the ceiling above their heads, tearing a layer of it. The sound of metal cracking ChronoGear duelist groaning echoed through the corridor and after a few seconds the metal layer fell down into the smoke. When everything cleared the bodies of all the players caught by the smoke lied on the ground, trapped under the fallen ceiling.

"And that's how you win a duel against ten guys at once without using a single card." PhantomFire shook his head and walked past the players. "But I was starting to wonder where Blacloud's men were hiding."

"So, how exactly did you find out that all of our data is stored inside that room?" Ghost Girl gave the ChronoGear duelist a curious look as they made their way toward the now open door. "My devices are still unable to catch up anything, so how did yours work out?"

"I didn't know anything." PhantomFire shrugged. "I just thought that it wouldn't make sense for the storage room to look like every other one. I mean, it makes sense if you are trying to keep it hidden, but that would make things only more difficult for you, so marking it somehow would have been useful."

"So you didn't know anything?" Ghost Girl narrowed her eyes. That man, the way he acted and made his decisions was far too complicated for her to get a read of him. Although he praises himself for being a genius, most of his decisions were made based on instinct and claimless guesses.

The room they walked into was pretty big and circular with large windows covering all of the walls, giving a view toward the rest of the current level on which they were. Inside the room was a platform with a throne and the cyborg avatar of Blacloud sitting comfortably with his legs crossed. His robotic eye adjusted to look at the three newcomers.

"I'm amazed." Blacloud clapped his arms. "No one was able to get so far before and I would like if no one did ever again. Since the three of you made it all the way to up here, I believe that you would expect some sort of reward, right?"

"I would rather use the word 'reparation' instead of 'reward' based on how you were ironically trying to kill us all the way to up here!" PhantomFire pointed at the cyborg. "But there is something else I want to know! What the heck is going on here Blacloud? Why was a whole building detonated when we came looking for you? Who were the men that attacked us back there and who was the Blackloud we saw dying there?"

"So, my body double server his purpose, huh?" The cyborg stood up from the throne where he sat and walked toward the edge of the platform, his eyes looking down at the three duelists before him. "Even if I'm a info broker as well, there isn't much I know about the attack. All I could guess is that someone wanted to end my business so they hired assassins to do the dirty job for them. But why are you wondering, do you want to help me out by a chance?"

"Well, being a bodyguard isn't my expertise, but if you need info about who could have hired them, I'm always open for a job." Ghost Girl winked.

"Are you really going to work for the man who just tried to kill us?" Proxy asked the older woman. If it was her, she wouldn't have to do anything with Blacloud after they finish this job.

"If the money is good, anyone could overlook an incident or two like this one, don't you agree with me, Phantom?" The treasure hunter turned toward the male of their party for an answer. Since both of them were low on moral, he wouldn't be able to say no unless he lied, which Proxy was sure to pick onto.

But to her surprise, PhantomFire didn't answer to the question. In fact, he didn't seem to notice that she was talking to him at all and all of his attention was instead focused onto Blacloud. Neither of the two knew the other all that good, but despite all of the small talk, it was clear to both the demon duelist and the cyborg that only one of them was going to walk out of this with what they wanted, so the question was: How should they settle this?

PhantomFire wasn't a legendary duelist just for the name alone, he had the skills to prove that the first place is worthy for him only, but wasting time in a card game? He didn't have that much time on his hands, so exceptions had to be made. Clenching his fist tightly, the ChronoGear held out his right arm forward and fired a red energy thread from the back of his wrist, hitting the throne behind Blacloud. He pulled himself off the ground and retraced the string at a high speed, causing it to send him flying straight toward the large cyborg's face with his fist ready to knock him out could.

"Look out boss!" Before Phantom could reach his target, someone suddenly jumped on top of him, grabbing him by the face. The extra weight caused the energy thread he used to disconnect from the throne and it send him tumble down on the ground with the second duelist landing on his feet just a feet away from him.

"Thank you, Steelmate." Blacloud said as the user who stopped Phantom's attack turned around to face Ghost Girl and Proxy.

He was wearing a dark orange and grey bodysuit with a huge amount of steel plates attached to his chest, arms and legs, giving him the appearance of someone in a slim armor. The duelist had a dark skin with yellow eyes and a metal halo onto his forehead with spiky red hair over it. Steelmate took a step forward and kicked Phantom in the stomach before grabbing him by the neck and lifting him off the ground. Blacloud's lacey glanced at his boss, waiting for an affirmative nod.

"I thought you were better than this, Phantom." Blacloud sighed before jumping off the platform he was standing on. He landed on the ground with a heavy thud and made a hand gesture toward Steelmate. "If you want something so badly then let's fight over it according to the rules of this world: With a duel!"

Steelmate nodded and threw PhantomFire back to Ghost Girl and Proxy using just a single arm. The ChronoGear user rolled over the floor a few times then began to cough while rubbing his neck. That other guy, he had a strong grip, if it wasn't for Blacloud interfering he would have probably broken his neck. A damage like that would have been serious in real world, if not even fatal, so it was only that bastard of a cyborg's honor that saved Phantom from a likely demise.

"I was promised a high payment if I completed this job, so there is no chance to run." Ghost Girl sighed and took a step forward, activating her own Duel Disk.

Proxy looked at the older woman and then down to PhantomFire who was still struggling to get back up on his feet. She didn't want to make him duel, but after how much she struggled to duel against Toxic, she wasn't sure if it would be good for her to duel against his boss. There had to be a reason why Blacloud was the leader of this criminal syndicate and she didn't want to be the one to figure out why.

"Ok then…" After coughing up again, PhantomFire stood up and held out his Duel Disk, activating it. "It's going to be a team duel. Me and Ghost Girl versus you and your dog!"

"Don't start being a bully after you got throw across the room." Ghost Girl reminded him. PhantomFire ignored the comment and instead focused on their opponents.

"DUEL!"

 **『** **PhantomFire Hand: 5 & Ghost Girl Hand: 5 [LP: 4000] (VS) Blacloud Hand: 5 & Steelmate Hand: 5 [LP: 4000]** **』**

"Girls, first." Ghost Girl winked and opened her palm, which made her opening hand to appear. "First, I summon _Altergeist Marionetter (Lv.4, ATK: 1600)_!" A blue feminine monster with a floating ring instead of legs and cables coming from her back appeared on the field. "When _Marionetter_ is Summoned, I get to set an _Altergeist_ Trap directly from my deck! I choose to set _Altergeist Protocol_."

'Setting Trap Cards directly from the deck?' Proxy thought to herself while observing the older woman's plays. 'A deck that could set Traps from its deck has to be tricky.'

"I'm also going to set one more card from my hand and end my turn." Ghost Girl pressed a card from her hand and it automatically set itself. "Your turn and don't think about going easy on me because I'm a girl~"

"You are seriously asking for it." PhantomFire muttered under his breath, earning him a glare from his teammate.

"A single monster and two set cards? A slow start, which means that your hand was either bad, or judging by how focused on trap cards it is, those _Altergeist_ cards don't focus on short term duels." Blacloud observed carefully. If her deck was focused on Traps that would mean that it's meant to disrupt his turn, which was Traps nature. "My turn!"

 **『** **Turn 2 [Blacloud] LP: 4000 Hand: 6** **』**

"First off, I'm going to activate the Quick-Play Spell, _Infestation Pandemic_! With its effect my lswarm monsters will remain unaffected by your Trap Cards for the turn!" PhantomFire raised an eyebrow before turning over to Ghost Girl who seemed to not like the sound of that.

'If he is playing such a card then his deck must be…' PhantomFire sighed knowing what would come out next.

"Since you control more monsters than I do, _Evilswarm Mandragora (Lv.4, ATK: 1550)_ can be Special Summoned from my hand!" A humanoid plant with large eyes and blonde 'hair' that covered the left one appeared on the field. "Next, I normal Summon _Evilswarm Castor (Lv.4, ATK: 1750)_!"

Next, a knight with a sword and a torn red cape came out on the field. Its right side was covered in white armor while the left was darker and had a more insect-like appearance.

"With _Evilswarm Castor_ 's effect I can Normal Summon again during this turn!" The knight raised his sword and a golden circle appeared on the field. "Appear, circuit of corruption!"

'He activate his monster's effect to Normal Summon later instead of using it now?' Ghost Girl thought, watching the two _Evilswarm_ monsters turning into purple hurricanes.

"Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two lswarm monsters! I set _Evilswarm Mandragora_ and _Evilswarm Castor_ in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Steelswarm Origin (ATK: 2000, Link-2)_!"

The monster that came out of the circuit had the appearance of a large head with sharp teeth and some sort of purple mold covering the rest of it. There were two large horns on the sides of its head with twigs-like organs coming out of the body and going in all directions. The purple mold was so intense that the monster's eyes couldn't be seen and were pitch black inside.

"This monster isn't a sight to look at." Ghost Girl commented, looking at the odd creature. PhantomFire wondered if it was a body shaped like a head or a decapitated head which gained consciousness.

"Using _Evilswarm Castor_ 's effect I will now Normal Summon _Evilswarm Kerykeion (Lv.4, ATK: 1600)_!" A humanoid in black and golden armor with white wings on its back and three red orbs rotating around its body appeared on the field. "Now, _Evilswarm Kerykeion_ will activate its effect to banish _Evilswarm Mandragora_ from my Graveyard and add _Evilswarm Castor_ to my hand, after which I will be able to summon it again!"

"He summoned two more monsters." Ghost Girl pointed out the obvious. "Any idea what he plants to do now? Another Link Summoning perhaps?"

"No, I know about this archetype." PhantomFire shook his head. "With two Level four monsters, he is planning to Xyz Summon."

"I expected that much from someone like you!" Blacloud stated and threw his arm upward, opening a galaxy rift on the ceiling. "Creatures corrupted by the darkness of your origins, merge to create a new horror! Appear before me, fallen guardian of the ice! Xyz Summon! _Evilswarm Ophion (Rank: 4, ATK: 2550)_!"

"And there it is." PhantomFire sighed. When _Evilswarm Ophion_ is summoned, no Level 5 or higher monsters could be Special Summoned, which meant that both he and Ghost Girl were locked from a part, although not a big one, of their resources.

"I activate _Evilswarm Ophion_ 's effect!" Blacloud stated as the creature bite onto one of its Xyz Materials and ate it. "By detaching a Xyz Material from it, I can add one Infestationcard to my hand. I add _Infestation Pandemic_! Afterward, I attack your _Altergeist Marionetter_!"

"Then I'm going to-"

"Don't bother." Before Ghost Girl could do anything, PhantomFire raised his arm. "While _Evilswarm Ophion_ remains, we are unable to Special Summon any Level five or higher monsters. The card you plan to use is useless."

Ghost Girl didn't respond and just lowered her arms until _Evilswarm Ophion_ 's attack collided with her _Altergeist Marionetter_ , destroying the monster and dealing some damage to her body. The treasure hunter held her shoulder in pain and sighed a little annoyed that the monster she wanted to use was locked from entering the field.

 **『** **Ghost Girl & PhantomFire** **LP:** **4000** **–** **950** → **3** **050** **』**

"Next, Origin's effect allows me to Special Summon an lswarm monster from my deck in Defense Position when a monster gets destroyed from the field! I Special Summon! _Evilswarm O'lantern (Lv.4, DEF: 1250)_!" A muscular humanoid made out of rock with some insect features, including wings appeared on the field in kneeling position. "Next, I will attack you directly with _Steelswarm Origin_!"

"Heh, sorry, but it won't be that simple!" Ghost Girl gave an air kiss before one of her set cards flipped face-up. "I activate _Altergeist Protocol_!"

"Hmm, but in order to use its effect you will need another _Altergeist_ on your field and an effect to negate!" Blacloud pointed out. "It's useless in this situation!"

"Not completely." Ghost Girl raised her index finger and tapped one of the cards before her. "Here, when a Trap Card is activated, I can Special Summon _Altergeist Multifaker (Lv.3, DEF: 800)_ from my hand!" A purple and pink monster whose lowered half had the appearance of a monster while the top was more feminine looking jumped on the field and put her arms together. "Then, when she is Special Summoned, I can Special Summon another Altergeist from my deck. I Special Summon another _Altergeist Marionetter (Lv.4, DEF: 1700)_! Now, _Marionetter_ 's effect lets me set _Altergeist Manifestation_ directly from my deck!"

"So you build a wall of monsters and set another trap during my turn?" Blacloud chucked a bit at the display. "Interesting! But I'm going to just destroy your _Altergeist Marionetter_ once more!"

"I activate my other set card, _Altergeist Camouflage_! I equip it to _Altergeist Marionetter_ so now you can no longer target her with attacks or your effects!" The monster got covered by some invisible matter than made it to become invisible as well. "Now you can only attack _Altergeist Multifaker_ but I won't be angry if you choose to end your turn there."

"Don't joke with me, of course I'm going to destroy _Altergeist Multifaker_!" Several tentacles came from _Steelswarm Origin_ 's body and wrapped around, _Altergeist Multifaker_ crushing the spellcaster to small pieces of pixels. "I set two cards and end my turn there!"

"So, the big boss of this criminal syndicate is using an Evilswarm deck?" PhantomFire crossed his arms, a smile forming on her face out of amusement. "Who would have thought? Certainly not me, but it's fitting you in a way. You know, the whole theme about corrupting others and such…"

"As if you are one to talk about corruption, Phantom." The ChronoGear duelist narrowed his eyes at the nickname. "I remember that time when you were hired to protect me from the Knights of Hanoi. Watching you doing your 'job' had inspired me you know? That bloodlust, that pure desire for destruction, to let everything collapse in flames and bring forth a hell on Earth! You are the devil of time! A Chrono Devil!"

PhantomFire's eyes widened for a bit before softening up after a moment. "A ChronoDevil, huh? Yes, that name would suit me more than being a phantom in the fire." The ChronoGear duelist looked down at the black glove that covered his right hand. Proxy couldn't see it because she was behind him, but the edges of his lips turned upward into an almost crazy smile. "I guess it's going to be my move then, huh? DRAW!"

 **『** **Turn 3 [PhantomFire] LP: 3050 Hand: 6** **』**

Putting his hand on top the deck, the demonic duelist swiped his arm to the side, pulling the top card along with his hand. The power of this draw created a small shockwave which hit his opponents, not doing any damage to their bodies, but it certainly did caught their attention. Both Blacloud and Steelmate stared intently at the young man before them. He was looking down at the cards in his hand, the purple and black bangs of his hair, falling over his eyes.

"I guess I'm going to do something amusing." PhantomFire finally said and raised his head to look at everyone else; a child-like smile on his face. "During this turn, I'm going to do exactly three Link Summons using only two of the cards that are currently in my hand. And then if I feel like it, I might also finish with a Xyz Summon!"

'The Link Summons…' Proxy thought, her eyes open wide watching her 'partner' as he was about to make his move.

'…and a Xyz Summon…' At the same time, Ghost Girl was thinking about the same thing, but not as surprised as amused from what she was about to see.

'Is that even possible with just two monsters?' They both thought at the same time.

* * *

 **A/N: So this one is done as well. Not much to say, expect some interesting trivia about the Trap Card that Proxy used to win the duel against Toxic. Back when I started making the oGear decks and after I decided on the attribute of Proxy's deck I had to choose between either making her a deck that focuses around discarding or make a deck focused around Ice Counters. Of course, I choose discarding because it was more simple and Proxy is meant to be a noob** **, but it makes me wonder every now and then how different her deck and duels would have been if she became an ice cold queen instead.**

 **Oh, also, today we had Soulburner vs Blue Girl. It's a little funny because in my dream that I discussed last time her** **Trickstar Bird Helm was indeed a Level 5 and she was using an Extra Deck summon other than Links. Although I have failed to get everything else right, I was pretty amazed when she pulled that Fusion Summon and... Not surprised at all when Soulburner did it as well before beating her. Ok, maybe it's just me, but I want Soulburner to have never been made because every single one of his duels is like a copy of Yusaku's duels from the first season. And to only add to that, the only differences between him and Playmaker are that he smiles more, is more positive and despite having an archetype instead of random cards, his deck is crap.**

 **Vrains had always been a somewhat mediocre YGO series for me, but it has gotten so predictable, repeatable and simplistic that with this post I officially throw Vrains in the trash bin with 5D's and Arc-V. Yes, some of you might hate me for this because you are fans of those series but I never enjoyed them, so there is that. From here on, I'm trying to find a way to write this story true to canon while watching as little of Vrains as possible... In fact, if it wasn't the writting of this story I would have completely dished it.**

 **On a more positive note, today I saw that new Cyberse cards were released for my Code Talker deck, so yay! And not only that, the new cards focus on the Code Talker archetype and give it monsters that could be used as Link Materials from the hand while also getting searches and other advantages. How cool is that? In fact, this is brining me to something important; how many of you enjoy RPing? As it just happened, I'm a member of an amazing Role Playing Yugioh Forum on this site called** Yu-Gi-Oh! - Sky Breach Academy **. To summarize, the forum is about a Duel Academy and has a vibe similiarto GX, while it also follows the current rules. I have a character who uses the aforementioned Code Talker deck so it gave me all the more reaspon to be hyped for those new cards. If you are interested in having a not plot heavy fun YuGiOh! RP, I would suggest you to check out the forum. There is a link to it on my profile for easy access.**

 **Now that all of this is over, I want to thank** MCRDanime **and** Qruis **for following this story.**

 **Onto the reviews, eh. Not much to say there, I wanted to show more of the "underground" of VRAINS concept that I'm currently using, but I don't want to make the arc too long, so I have to limit myself quite a bit there. For those who didn't like this mini-arc all that much, don't worry, the next chapter is going to be the final and oh boy, do I have a plan for an explosive finish.**

 **So that's all from me for today. Rememeber to follow/favorite/review and see you next time!**

 **Diabolic Tracer out!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Oh boy, do I need to step up my Team Duels. Sorry T-T**

* * *

The Fortress Made of Data

"I guess I'm going to do something amusing." PhantomFire finally said and raised his head to look at everyone else; a child-like smile on his face. "During this turn, I'm going to do exactly three Link Summons using only two of the cards that are currently in my hand. And then if I feel like it, I might also finish with a Xyz Summon!"

"Three Link Summons in a row?" Blacloud repeated, amused by the idea. "Then I should warn you that while _Steelswarm Origin_ is in my Extra Deck, if you are going to summon monsters in the Main Monster Zone, they need to be in the zone that _Origin_ points to!"

"Don't worry, this won't be a problem!" PhantomFire exclaimed and took a card from his hand. "First off, I'm going to Normal Summon _**ChronoGear Pulsar Beast**_!"

On the field landed a large brownish-yellow robot in the shape of a lion. The creature had two green eyes with a large gear around its neck and heavy metal blades attached to it, forming the 'mane' of the beast. Its front legs were made each from two small ones connected together to form large ones. Its back was covered in sharp clock arms while its chest had a small windows showing the insides of the beast which consisted of gears and some strange green light. Its back legs were large than the front with sharp claws attached to them and it had two tails made of arced blade-like frames.

* * *

 **ChronoGear Pulsar Beast**

 **Level: 4/Attribute: DARK/Type: Beast/Effect**

 **ATK: 1500/DEF: 1200**

 **Effect: During your Main Phase, you can Normal Summon 1 DARK monster in addition to your Normal Summon/Set. (You can only gain this effect once per turn.) If this card is Special Summoned by the effect of a "ChronoGear" card: All DARK monsters you control gain 500 ATK.**

* * *

"Then, _Pulsar Beast_ 's effect allows me to Normal Summon a second time during this turn! Show yourself, _**ChronoGear Hellchain**_!" A demon in torn black cloak appeared on the field. The creature's head was a simple white skull with flames inside its mouth and eye sockets. Instead of normal limbs, the monster had several chains come from underneath it and serve as its arms while it floated above the ground like a ghost.

* * *

 **ChronoGear Hellchain**

 **Level:** **3** **/Attribute: DARK/Type: Fiend/Effect**

 **ATK:1400/DEF: 1700**

 **Effect: Once while this card is face-up on the field: You can target 1 DARK monster in your Graveyard; Special Summon it with its effects negated, also you cannot Special Summon monsters for the rest of this turn, except "ChronoGear" monsters. If this card is Special Summoned by the effect of a "ChronoGear" card: You can target 1 "oGear" monster in your Graveyard; add it to your hand.**

* * *

"Now. Appear circuit of past and future!" PhantomFire threw his arm forward and the space before him cracked open. "Arrowhead confirmed! Summoning requirements is one Level four or lower DARK monster! I set _ChronoGear Pulsar Beast_ in the Link Markers! Link Summon! The overseer of everyone's destiny! _**ChronoGear Butterfly Effect**_!"

A large golden and yellow creature with a butterfly-like appearance flew out of the circuit and above the field. Its primary body was large and the lower part ended with a huge tail that was used for the monster to stand on the ground, while its eight legs seemed to serve the function of arms, with the lowest and highest pairs crossed around its belly and chest. The monster had two large yellow eyes with multiple pupils on the sides of its head. Its wings were huge, three times the size of the already human-sized monster. They remained unmoving, despite the fact that the monster was flying and had yellow energy running through them.

* * *

 **ChronoGear Butterfly Effect**

 **Attribute: DARK/Type:** **Insect** **/Link/Effect**

 **L-Markers: Bottom**

 **ATK:** **0/LINK-** **1**

 **1 Level 4 or lower DARK monster**

 **Effect:** **During your opponent's turn (Quick Effect): You can tribute 1 DARK monster this card points to; activate 1 Trap Card directly from your hand. During the End Phase of your opponent's turn, if this card is in your GY: you can target 1 other "ChronoGear" card in your GY; Shuffle this card into your Extra Deck, then put that target on the bottom of your deck.**

* * *

"Link 1? So your idea is to grade-up your Links?" Blacloud narrowed his eyes. That wasn't much of a surprise for him, if at all.

"Next, I activate _ChronoGear Hellchain_ 's effect!" PhantomFire continued as his monster threw its chains into the ground, grabbing into something and began to pull it out. "Once while my monster is on the field, I can revive a DARK monster from my Graveyard with its effects negated! Come back to me, _ChronoGear Pulsar Beast_!" The mechanical beast was pulled out of the ground by Hellchain's effect and left there in Attack Position.

"For the second time! Appear circuit of past and future!" The air between the two teams cracked and a black void opened up. The pseudo-black hole began to suck in PhantomFire's monsters. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two oGear monsters! I set _ChronoGear Hellchain_ and _ChronoGear Butterfly Effect_ in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Here comes one of my favorite! _ChronoGear Time Timer Kitty (ATK: 1700, Link-2)_!"

The neko girl floated in the air above the field and right next to PhantomFire. He reached out and stroke the monster's neck, making it purr in delight, much to the confusion of everyone else that was involved in the duel, or just watched it.

"You… are playing with your monsters during duel?" Ghost Girl raised an eyebrow in confusion from the strange display.

"Playing? I'm simply rewarding my monsters for the great job that they did, or are going to do." PhantomFire explained with _ChronoGear Time Timer Kitty_ nodding after his words. "I activate _ChronoGear Time Timer Kitty_ 's effect! When she is Link Summoned, I can revive a DARK monster from my Graveyard next to one of the zones she points at. Come back, _ChronoGear Hellchain_!"

The neko monster held out her rifle and aimed at the ground before herself, pulling the trigger. The floor was torn apart by the bullet and a portal in the shape of a gear formed under the beast-warrior's feet. _Kitty_ reached out and grabbed onto a chain, pulling the smaller _ChronoGear_ out of the Graveyard with a wink that caused it to blush and look away from her.

"For the third time! Appear circuit of past and future!" A third black hole appeared in front of PhantomFire and two of his DARK monsters flew into it. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two DARK monsters! I set the Link Two, ChronoGear Time Timer Kitty and _ChronoGear Pulsar Beast_ in the Link Markers! Link Summon! The unholy Demon looking over this world! _Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer (ATK: 2300, Link-3)_!"

This time, PhantomFire's ace appeared on the field, landing right next to _Steelswarm Origin_ 's Link Arrow. The two monsters stared at each other and both of them hissed in a low tone, like animals fighting for their territory.

"Hahaha, fool!" Blacloud laughter at the sight of the two monsters being linked to one another. "While _Steelswarm Origin_ 's is linked, it can't be destroyed nor targeted! _Evilswarm Ophion_ already gave it protection and with your monster added, my _Steelswarm Origin_ 's defense is doubled!"

"I'm not the fool here." PhantomFire smirked, his monster clenching its fists as a dark aura formed around its body. "You see, I already knew all about _Steelswarm Origin_ 's effect, but it seems like you didn't read my own monster's ability. You see, for every monster that Phantomous is linked to, he gains its effects, so now my ace has the same protective effect as your own!"

'The ability to copy other monsters' abilities. Such a non-specific effect could be a complete disaster for the opponent if used the right way.' Ghost Girl thought to herself, watching PhantomFire and his monster.

"In addition to this, Phantomous' own effect allows all of my linked monsters to deal double damage while he is co-linked! Let's battle! _Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer_ attack _Steelswarm Origin_! _**Demonic Disc Slash**_!" The fiend raised its left arm upward and the disc he wore began to spin with dark energy coming out of it, taking the shape of a scythe.

"Damn you…" Blacloud muttered as the attack hit his monster and knocked it back, but was unable to destroy it, due to its effect.

 **『** **Blacloud & Steelmate LP: 4000 - 300*2 **→ **3400** **』**

"Next, I will use my monster's other effect!" PhantomFire continued, a space-time portal opened before _ChronoGear Hellchain_ and the monster jumped through it. "Once during the Battle Phase, _Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer_ lets me return a monster he points to into the deck and summon a different once! I return _ChronoGear Hellchain_ and Special Summon _**ChronoGear Time Tamer Foxy**_!"

Time Tamer Foxy was a fox girl that had yellow eyes and orange hair tied into a ponytail with a large white ribbon, two fox ears on top of her head and a fluffy orange tail. Her outfit consisted of white gloves with golden claws and a bracelet in the form of clock gears on each of her wrist, along with a short pale yellow jacket over a brown sleeveless shirt, white shorts and mechanical yellow-brown boots. The girl was also holding a large metal harmer which large gears attached to the head as its striking faces.

* * *

 **ChronoGear Time Tamer Foxy**

 **Level: 4/Attribute: DARK/Type: Beast-Warrior/Effect**

 **ATK: 1700/DEF: 400**

 **Effect: If this card is used as material for a Synchro, Fusion or Link Summon: You can target 1 monster your opponent controls; shuffle it into the deck, and if you do, send 1 "ChronoGear" monster from your Deck to the GY. If this card is Special Summoned by the effect of a "ChronoGear" card: You can target 1 card your opponent controls; place that target on the bottom of the Deck.**

* * *

"Foxy's effect activates! If she is Special Summoned by the effect of a ChronoGear card it lets me return a card you control to the bottom of your deck!" The fox girl winked at the dragon and raised her hammer, slamming it hard against the ground, creating a storm that pulled the set card off the ground, revealing it to be _Infestation Terminus_ before it disappeared. "It wasn't _Infestation Pandemic_ , but this should be good for you as well, right Ghost Girl?"

"That was an impressive play." Ghost Girl acknowledged before crossing her arms. "But you said that there was going to be a Xyz Summon as well, didn't you? Where is your Xyz Monster?"

"I was waiting for someone to ask me that." PhantomFire smirked and threw his arm up clenching it into a fist. This gesture caused the ceiling to burst as a galaxy portal appeared above the duelist's head. "Summoning conditions confirmed! Two level four monsters! I overlay _ChronoGear Time Tamer Foxy_ and _ChronoGear Pulsar Beast_!"

Foxy waved for goodbye at everyone after her short time on the field and turned into a purple comet made of energy. _Pulsar Beast_ turned into the same color and the two flew into the galaxy portal which then exploded

"Pitch black souls of demons overlay to create the shadowy dragon guardian of Spacetime! Hear my call, and let our foolish challengers know the wrath of thousand stars! Xyz Summon! Come, _**Beta Saber Chronicle Dragon**_!"

A black lighting fell down from it, hitting the field it took the form a dragon coated in darkness. The beast spread its wings, revealing the beast's true form. Two purple eyes appeared within the darkness, followed by two armored hands, two black armored legs and a long purple tail with multiple black spikes on its backside and two blades at the tip. Two big metallic wings blew the cloud away in a halo-like shape, revealing a black dragon with purple torso armor, and a helm that appeared like a long black horn. The monster was surrounded by two purple lights that orbited around it.

* * *

 **Beta Saber Chronicle Dragon**

 **Rank: 4/DARK/Dragon/Xyz/Effect**

 **ATK: 2500/DEF: 2000**

 **2 Level 4 Monsters**

 **Effect: This card can't be destroyed by battle, also, while it has Xyz Materials attached it can't be targeted or destroyed by card effects. During either player's Battle Phase, when this card battles an opponent's monster with higher ATK: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card; your opponent takes double the battle damage that you would have taken from that battle. While this monster is linked, your opponent can't target other face-up monsters you control for attack.**

* * *

'Summoning several strong monsters, managing his resources, damaging the opponent and removing their central pieces from the field all during one turn and by using only two monsters.' Proxy thought while watching PhantomFire's back. His own black and purple outfit seemed to merge with the color scheme of both the dark demon and the shadowy dragon that stood strongly on his field. The two monsters both pushed their chest forward proudly, standing like an impenetrable wall before their master.

"When Foxy is used as Material for a Fusion, Synchro, Xyz or Link Summon, a monster that you control gets returned to the hand. Disappear _Evilswarm Ophion_!" _Beta Saber Chronicle Dragon_ raised its wings and fired a stream of electricity at _Evilswarm Ophion_ bouncing the other dragon off the field and back into the Extra Deck.

Blacloud couldn't respond with anything other than biting his lips in anger. A center part of his strategy was just taken care off and by a single Level four no less! The underworld criminal glared at PhantomFire who turned toward his partner.

" _Evilswarm Ophion_ is a powerful monster that has the ability to search its own protecting, the Quick-Play Spell _Infestation Pandemic_ , but there is a major flaw in that strategy- _Infestation Pandemic_ protects only from the effects of Spell and Trap cards but it's useless if I try to use a monster's effect." PhantomFire explained and gave Ghost Girl a thumb up. "Now that _Evilswarm Ophion_ is removed from the field, its effect can no longer lock your high level monsters."

"Getting rid of my strongest monster like that… What sort of devil are you?!" Blacloud shouted.

"The type that so strong that I was kicked out of hell." PhantomFire replied and gestured toward his two monsters. "As _Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer_ is linked to _Steelswarm Origin_ he has that monsters indestructability and while _Beta Saber Chronicle Dragon_ has Overlay Units, he is untouchable as well."

"In addition, as long as your _Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer_ remains co-linked all of the damage that they would take from our linked monsters becomes double." Ghost Girl reminded and turned toward the man next to her. "Getting such a field on your first turn, you are the worst."

"What can I say, I'm a proactive person." PhantomFire replied and took two other cards from his hand. "You already prepared our back with your cards, but I'm going to still set two cards for good measure. Turn end."

"I see why the two of you have such infamous names on LINK VRAINS." Steelmate narrowed his eyes. "But there isn't such a thing as an impenetrable combo! I'm going to destroy yours for boss' shake! My turn!"

 **『** **Turn 4 [Steelmate] LP: 3400 Hand: 6** **』**

"I will start by Normal Summoning _Magical Musketeer Starfire (Lv.4, ATK: 1300)_!" A woman in Indian dancing clothes with a single crimson demon wing on the right side of her body and guns attached to her boots, under her dress appeared on the field. "While _Magical Musketeer Starfire_ is on my field I can activate _Magical Musket_ Spell and Trap Cards from my hand! I activate the Trap: _Magical Musket - Desperado_! While I control a _Magical Musketeer_ this trap lets me destroy a face-up card you control! I choose _Altergeist Marionetter_!"

The fiend pulled out her weapon and fired at _Altergeist Marionetter_ , only for the bullet to rust and turn into ash mid-air before it could make contact. As that happened, one of PhantomFire's set cards raised to show itself.

"I activate my Counter Trap, _Solemn Judgment_! By paying half of my Life Points, I'm able to negate your Trap's effect!" PhantomFire declared as a red aura formed around both him and Ghost Girl, dropping their Life Points.

 **『** **Ghost Girl & PhantomFire LP: 3050 /2 **→ **1525** **』**

"Damn it!" Steelmate cursed, he didn't expect that his opponent would play such a powerful card. "But even if you negated my trap, the effect of _Magical Musketeer Starfire_ will still resolve! Since a _Magical Musket_ card was activated in the same column I can Special Summon a _Magical Musketeer_ from my deck! Come out-"

"Second Trap open!" PhantomFire interrupted as his other card revealed itself as well. "When a monster's effect activates I can play one thousand and five hundred Life Points to use _Solemn Strike_ and negate that effect!"

 **『** **Ghost Girl & PhantomFire LP: 1525 - 1500 **→ **25** **』**

In an instant, _Magical Musketeer Starfire_ shattered into pixels, leaving just _Steelswarm Origin_ on Steelmate and Blacloud's side of the field. The two duelists stared open mouthed at PhantomFire and the risky plays that he made. He almost gave all of his Life Points just to prolong the duel with one turn. 25 Life Points were as good as nothing!

"I… I can't believe that you would give all of these Life Points just to stop Steelmate from making any significant plays!" Blacloud shouted.

"And that's why you are always going to be a fourth rate duelist." PhantomFire sighed. "A true duelist knows that Life Points mean nothing. As long as we have even just one point left, I and Ghost Girl can win!"

"We will see about that!" Steelmate shouted and pressed one of his cards, setting it down. "I set a card and end my turn!"

"Geez, leaving us with just twenty five Life Points, could you gamble any more than this?" Ghost Girl sighed, taking a step forward, ready to take her turn as well. Despite her words, the Altergeistduelist and treasure hunter wasn't worried at the slightest. By giving up on almost all of their Life Points, PhantomFire has made it possible for them to win the duel with just one good strike.

"Just make sure to not leave Phantomous out of the fun and everything should be good." PhantomFire crossed his arms and observed the field. _Steelswarm Origin_ , a set _Infestation Pandemic_ and another unknown card. "Ok, let's do this!"

"My turn!" Ghost Girl exclaimed, drawing her next card.

 **『** **Turn 5 [Ghost Girl] LP: 25 Hand: 4** **』**

"I activate _Altergeist Marionetter_ 's effect!" Ghost Girl winked and her _Altergeist Camouflage_ disappeared, making the monster visible once more. "I send _Altergeist Camouflage_ to the Graveyard in order to Special Summon _Altergeist Multifaker (Lv.3, ATK: 1200)_ from the Graveyard! Next, _Altergeist Multifaker_ 's effect lets me Special Summon _Altergeist Pixiel (Lv.1, DEF: 100)_ from my deck!"

A very small blue and golden monster appeared on the field next to Phantomous' left arrow and away from the other two _Altergeist_ monsters. Despite that one could easy compare it to them and see that the new monster was one fourth of the others' size!

"Afterward I tribute _Altergeist Pixiel_ to look at the top three cards of my deck and add one of them to my hand." The little pixie burst into pixels as three new cards appeared before Ghost Girl. She tapped one of it before continuing. "Then I Normal Summon the _Altergeist Meluseek (Lv.1, ATK: 500)_ than I added to my hand!"

"Now!" PhantomFire called, raising his hand.

"Battle!" Both Ghost Girl and PhantomFire ordered at the same time in complete unison with one another. " _Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer_ attacks you directly!"

"What?!" Blacloud and Steelmate shouted at the same time as the monster jumped over _Steelswarm Origin_ and fired a blast of black electricity toward them.

"You seem to have forgotten my monster's ability." PhantomFire pointed out. " _Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer_ gains all the abilities of the monster it points to and that includes my precious Ghost Girl's _Altergeist Meluseek_ and her ability to attack directly ignoring monsters!"

"Then I will activate my set card, the Counter Trap Negate Attack!" Steelmate shouted, but nothing happened. "Why isn't my set card responding?!"

"In order to activate, Negate Attack must target a monster and due to _Steelswarm Origin_ 's ability that my _Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer_ has, he can't be targeted by card effects!"

With no other responses left, the two duelists could only grit their teeth as the attack connected and they were blasted off the ground. From behind them all, Proxy was watching with her eyes open wide like dinner plates. The thing she was witnessing at the moment was bullshit on a completely different level from anything she saw previously!

 **『** **Blacloud & Steelmate LP: 3400 - 2300 **→ **1100** **』**

"Next, the other effect of my _Altergeist Meluseek_ that Phantomous obtained allows him to send a card you control to the Graveyard after the battle." Ghost Girl waved goodbye at one of their cards. "Sorry boys, but I think that I'm going to send your Negate Attack to the Graveyard!"

"Now, _Beta Saber Chronicle Dragon_ is going to attack _Steelswarm Origin_ next! _**Doomsday Thunder Saber**_!" PhantomFire called out, electricity gathering on top of his monster's head, creating a gigantic sword of electricity which it used to slash through _Steelswarm Origin_.

"Due to _Steelswarm Origin_ 's effect, he won't be destroyed by this battle!" Blacloud called and his monster began to regenerate while the electricity tore through it.

"But you still take the damage!" Ghost Girl called.

"And because Beta is linked to my co-linked Phantomous, the damage is going to be doubled!" Phantomous added. Another lighting hit Blacloud and Steelmate, this time with enough power to knock them down on their knees.

 **『** **Blacloud & Steelmate LP: 1100 - 500*2 **→ **100** **』**

"Lastly, _Altergeist Meluseek_ is going to attack you directly!" the mermaid created a small ball of fire and blasted it at their faces, knocking them down completely.

 **『** **Blacloud & Steelmate LP: 100 - 500 **→ **0** **』**

 **『** **Winner: Ghost Girl & PhantomFire** **』**

"Not too shabby." PhantomFire commented and turned toward Ghost Girl. "We make an excellent tag team, don't we?"

"As true as that is, I prefer working alone." Ghost Girl replied, giving him an air kiss before she passed over the fallen criminals. "My drones weren't able to catch anything here either, are we even sure that the data is inside this building?"

"It's probably hidden with a program, try using different set of commands." PhantomFire suggested. The demonic duelist walked over to Blacloud and grabbed him by the collar, pulling the cyborg off the ground. "Meanwhile I'm going to ask our friend here if he would be willing to cooperate. You won't disappoint me with your answers, right?"

"I don't even know what the heck you three want in the first place!" Blacloud protested. He knew that they have come here for something important, but beyond that, neither of them told him anything more about their objectives. "If you want answers, then you could at least make the question clear!"

"Then allow me to explain." Proxy stepped forward and put a hand on PhantomFire's shoulder. The ChronoGear duelist looked down toward his shorter companion for a few moments. Dark purple eyes meet with pale blue, both pairs staring into one another.

PhantomFire would have told her to let him handle the interrogation or just pushed her aside, heck, even ignoring her would have done it. But, there was something inside her eyes that made him obey, a spark of innocent and ignorance that was so understandable to belong to a little kid like Proxy - a simple 14 years old girl. PhantomFire's expression didn't change, but he felt his heart getting a little warner from staring at the girl's eyes. His grip on Blacloud's collar loosened and the cyborg fell on his back with a groan.

"Do as you please." PhantomFire muttered and went to check how Ghost Girl was doing with finding her 'treasure'.

Proxy kept her eyes on the older duelist while he walked away from her before turning back to face Blacloud. Unlike PhantomFire, she was friendlier and would rather take the long approach by talking than beating her target to a pulp – something that she wasn't able to do even if she wanted to. The BrioGear duelist sat down on the floor next to the cybercriminal and crossed her legs, a small warm smile present on her face during the whole approach.

"You know how dangerous and evil the Knights of Hanoi are, right? You have been their target as well." Proxy said, making Blacloud role his eyes. "Don't give me that look, there have been people that got hurt by their actions recently. An information dealer like yourself should have heard about the Hanoi virus, am I right? What we want is all the information about Hanoi that you have gathered, please, there are people still suffering from the virus and if you give us information about it, we should be able to create a remove program, cure them!"

There was a moment of silence, Blacloud narrowed his eyes while thinking it through. If he gave them the data, they would probably leave without causing more trouble to his business, but… getting information about Hanoi wasn't easy, those cyberterrorist were pretty dangerous, so managing to steal even a bit from them was hard and therefor it cost quite a bit to buy.

"Ok, you can have the data, I will give it to you, but only if you tell me what is in for me?" Blacloud finally answered.

"In for you?" Proxy raised an eyebrow, confused at those words. "You want something in return? I'm telling you that this data is going to save human lives, what could be worth more than that?"

"Money?" Blacloud asked back. The cyborg raised himself back up and looked down at the BrioGear user. "Maybe you could give me data that I don't have in return for my help? Or get rid of the competitors."

"You got to be kidding me." Proxy muttered to herself, clenching her fists. "Money? Data? Is that everything that you care about?"

"Why do you think I became a cybercriminal then?" Blacloud asked back, silencing the BrioGear duelist. He raised his left arm and rubbed it while looking down at the girl with his robotic eye. "If I cared about humans I wouldn't be stealing from them, blackmailing and trading with their lives, would I? Open your eyes, brat. No one cares about such naïve things, not on the surface, and you can bet that we down here care even less!"

Proxy averted her gaze and looked down at the ground in embarrassment. She didn't want to admit it, but PhantomFire was right about one thing, sometimes it just wasn't worth to try and talk senses into others. Even if she cared and put others' live above else, not everyone else would have the same value system as her. There were people whose hearts had already rotten with greed, hatred, jealousy or simply have been born with a stone for a heart. She held her fists tightly and bit her lower lip, despite how much it hurt to accept the facts, she wasn't going to let herself follow after PhantomFire's footsteps. She was… She was going to…

"Look out!" PhantomFire's yell snapped the BrioGear user out of her thoughts as suddenly as his two red strings caught her from behind and pulled her away.

A rocket flew through the open door and hit the ground between Blacloud and Proxy, blowing up. The explosion engulfed both the cybercriminal lord and his subordinate Steelmate, while the shockwave from it send the BrioGear duelist flying straight into a wall. Two more rockets came in aiming for PhantomFire and Ghost Girl next, engulfing the whole room in continuous loud explosions and flames.

The windows were absolutely destroyed and the platform with Blacloud's throne had fallen on the ground, wreckage, columns of black smoke and flames were everything that was left of the once beautiful place. Trying to sit up, Proxy groaned from the pain in the back of her head, getting blow up twice per day surely wasn't affecting her mind too well. Placing her hand on the ground, she yelped as the floor zapped her. Rubbing her hand, the girl noticed something that was rather strange, the ground was torn apart by the explosions, but instead of holes, there were streams of white data floating through the blown places.

"AAAARRRHHHHHH!" Proxy jumped at the bloody cry that came from within the room and turned toward a pile of wreckage on which Blacloud's throne was lying.

The remains began to shake and move as a figure wearing all black and purple raised from underneath them with a loud roar and threw the ceremonial chair through one of the broken windows. After getting his anger from getting buried under all that junk out, PhantomFire fell down on his knees and took a deep breath, while Ghost Girl was lying down next to him.

"You know… ever since… that first building… blew up… Ah." The ChronoGear duelist raised a finger and took a few deep breaths. "Even since that damn first building blew up, this whole operations wasn't going according to plan, but this right now is just ridiculous!"

"They blew up your man, again." Ghost Girl pointed out. There was no way for Blacloud to be able to survive an explosion from such a close proximity.

"At least we know whom to thank to for it, this time around." PhantomFire muttered, looking past the wreckage and toward the man who stood at the door.

The person that stood there didn't have a colorful appearance or anything. His hair was silver with a few stripes of black in it, two neon-blue eyes and the red tattoo of six triangles put together to form a larger triangle under his left eye. Outside that his appearance was rather blank, in fact, his outfit was almost all white with a white trench coat with black belts wrapped around its chest and arms, a huge collar whose backside reached a bit above the tip of the man's head. Finishing with white pants and matching boots, the man stood at the door with his arms crossed. Several other avatars that looked like the two assassins which PhantomFire took down earlier appeared behind their leader, armed with rifles once more.

"What are you doing here?" Ghost Girl asked, staring in shock at the man in white.

"You know him?" PhantomFire asked.

"Of course! He was the person who gave me my current job. He wanted some data that Blacloud stole from him, but I never knew that he had an armed militia with himself!" Ghost Girl narrowed her eyes. "What are you doing here, Anon? We had a deal that I would get to you as soon as I get the information you wanted, or are you worried that I'm going to double cross you?"

"Heh, of course not." The man in white laughed and gestured for his men to stay down. "But come on, you don't think I would pay some treasure hunter for information that I could get back myself right? I simply needed someone to find a way inside Blacloud's fortress for me and now that I'm here there is unfortunately no need for you, Ghost Girl. So, bye-bye."

"You double crossing bastard!" Ghost Girl yelled at the man.

"You might have gotten inside the fortress, but there is still no data here." PhantomFire spoke up, getting everyone's attention on himself. "We looked everywhere, the data that both you and we are looking for isn't anywhere inside this building!"

"Fool, the data is right before your very eyes." The man chuckled and pulled a small device from one of his pockets before putting it inside the stream of data that floated inside the destroyed walls and floor. "The data wasn't inside the building, it was a part of it!"

PhantomFire's and Ghost Girl's eyes widened and they looked down at the data that floated under their feet. Scanning it, they found that the man's words were truth, the data was different from the rest of the server, it was encrypted and its properties were completely different from that of other buildings. It also explained why the fortress had so many empty floors, because it was growing with the more data that Blacloud stole from others!

Such a hideout… it both amazed them and left hundreds of questions inside their heads. How could Blacloud change the coding without causing major glitches or issues in the system of LINK VRAINS? How was he adding more data after the building was already created? What would happen if someone took all of the data inside the building?

"Since I already have what I came here for, I think it's time to start cleaning up." The man said and raised his hand. All of the armed men that came with him aimed their guns at PhantomFire, Proxy and Ghost Girl. "After all, I don't want witnesses running around telling people around the existence of such a place, do I? Fire on them!"

"Behind me!" PhantomFire shouted and fired his red strings onto a large piece of Blacloud's platform, pulling it over as a makeshift shield.

"We can't hide behind this piece of junk all day!" Ghost Girl protested.

"Why don't we just off the window then?" Proxy suggested and pointed at the destroyed windows. "We could summon our D-Board and speed away before they manage to catch us!"

"Not an option." Phantom shook his head. "You can't Speed Duel in this server. We are trapped between either jumping down to our death or getting executed by these bastards!"

"Just great that's what I-! AHHHHH!" As Ghost Girl complained suddenly a chunk of the ground she was standing on began to break off and fell down to the dark abyss.

"Got you!" Proxy shouted, grabbing the older girl's arm. She looked around and saw that the floor and the walls around them were starting to crack and then data inside them disappeared. "What is going on?"

"Since the data is inside the walls, taking it away leaves a hollow spot inside the building itself…" PhantomFire muttered. A good way to protect your data from being stolen, if anyone tried to steal it, that would cause the whole place to fall on top of their heads, which meant… "I get it! Proxy there is a small blue knife that I added to your inventory yesterday! Putting it into the data, will make it download everything Hanoi related that Blacloud has even put inside this place!"

"Didn't you just say that the whole place is going to collapse if we do exactly that?"

"I did." PhantomFire confirmed and swung the wrecked that he used as a shield, throwing it onto several of the men that fired on him. "That's exactly what I'm counting on. Now just trust me and do as I told you!"

"Fine." Proxy sighed and raised her arm, a small dagger forming inside of it. She glanced over at Phantom one more time and then slammed the blade into the stream of data. The blue device began to glow with ones and zeroes running through it while PhantomFire used his energy strings to grab onto a wall and pull himself toward the armed men, kicking two of them in the face as he did so. He had to divert their attention off Ghost Girl and Proxy for as long as possible. But based on the building's overall structure and how long it would take the dragged he constructed to download all of the necessary data, they were all going to start feeling the difference soon enough.

"Come on…" Proxy muttered as data floated inside the little knife. It was so much and so intense that the device was having trouble taking it all so fast and began to get pushed back. "Do, don't!"

Proxy gritted her teeth and tried to push the knife back in, but the data was coming out too strong and she started to quickly lose ground against it. Her avatar wasn't physically strong, so it was a matter of time before she was completely overpowered and thrown back by the strong force. Only it wasn't for two more hands grabbing her own and helping her push back down against the stream of data. The BrioGear blinked in surprise as Ghost Girl had joined her in helping to extract the data.

"Ghost Girl, you…" Proxy blinked again to make sure that she wasn't just hallucinating.

"I don't have anywhere to go right now, trapped on this building, so I figured that I might as well repay you for saving me earlier." The older woman replied with a wink, making the younger girl to blush a bit in embarrassment.

"Why is none of you shooting that bastard down?!" The man in white asked as his people got throw around like rag dolls.

Despite not having the physical strength of someone like Go Onizuka, PhantomFire had done enough modifications on his own avatar to let him go against an entire army. The moment three of the men were able to take aim, they all got quickly dispatched by his insect legs or he used his strings to shift their aim to something else. One, two, or even three at a time, the mercenaries were quickly disarmed and dispatched off, leaving Phantom to stand face to face with the ringleader.

"I know what you are probably thinking at the moment." PhantomFire started, cracking his knuckles. "You are thinking: 'That guy just took down a full militia worth of armed assassins, what are my chances to take him on?' Believe me, your chances to fight me and hope on anything better than a complete ass wipe are well below zero."

The man in white narrowed his eyes. Being taunted like this, it left a sour taste in his mouth and he had an idea how to fix that. Without wasting a second, the man reached into his trench coat, pulled a gun and fired. A single straight shot that aimed right for the spot where PhantomFire's heart was supposed to be. The demon duelist stepped to the side to avoid the attack, but despite his modifications, he was still just a human.

Proxy felt something… unnerving. Quickly turning around, the BrioGear duelist felt her whole body freeze up at the sight of PhantomFire's body collapsing on the ground with the other man standing over him triumphantly.

"Any last smart remarks?" the man asked, taking an aim for PhantomFire's head.

"Yeah." PhantomFire muttered, holding his shoulder where the shot has gone through. "You might want to hold onto something."

"What?"

The whole building began to shake with more pieces of it falling into the abyss. The man understood what PhantomFire but a bit too late. The violent shook caused him to lost balance for just a moment, long enough for Phantom to kick him and knocking him on the ground. The ChronoGear duelist jumped onto his disarmed opponent and slammed him into a wall, holding him still with his insect legs.

"How did you do this?" The man demanded. To make the whole building to shake so violently, this devil must have used a very powerful code.

"So, it seems that my theory was right." PhantomFire muttered and outstretched his arm forward, pulling the device that the man used to extract data. "The reason why the building began to fall apart from here while you stole data was because Blacloud must have obtained it recently. Hanoi on the other hand? He has been stealing information from them for a long time now."

The man's eyes widened from those words. He realized what PhantomFire was planning to do. "You are…"

"The stolen data is what holds this building standing. By removing it from several locations at the same time I created hollow areas within several of the lower floors. This whole place is going to collapse!"

"You are crazy!" The man yelled. The entire building shook once again and parts of the ceiling fell around them. "If this building collapses we will be buried inside of it!"

"Unfortunately for you, I have already done my research on the subject." PhantomFire replied and his insect legs threw the man back into the corridor. "Are you two done?"

"This should be all of the data on Hanoi." Proxy nodded, returning the knife back into her inventory.

"Only question remaining is how we are going to get out now." Ghost Girl pointed out, crossing her arms. "After this extraction, the lower floors are going to be too unstable so we won't be using the elevator."

"Don't worry, I have already planned that as well." PhantomFire reassured them. The ChronoGear duelist walked between the two girls and put his arms on their waists' pulling them closer to himself while his insect legs turned into wings mode.

"Wait, wait!" Proxy shouted, the other two duelists glancing at her curiously. "I'm not going to take a flight with you after the craziness that was the last ride."

PhantomFire narrowed his eyes. Was that girl for real? They were going to get buried under a building and she was still going to complain about how he handles things. Of course, he wasn't going to just let her annoy him to no end with her complains, so he thought about an alternative. He wasn't sure if she would like the idea, but ultimately it didn't matter so…

"Then you can fly by yourself." He said and threw Proxy off the edge, leaving her with only her loud screams to accompany the fast descent toward the abyss.

"You can be really horrible at times, you know that right?" Ghost Girl sighed.

"Heh, yep I know that." PhantomFire nodded and jumped off the edge as well, activating his wings. "Now let's go catch Proxy before the data gets erased along with her avatar."

* * *

Later that day, or exactly seven minutes and thirty eight seconds later, all three were sitting on a platform from where they watched the gigantic fortress falling apart and the floors all collapsing into the dark abyss of the underground. Since LINK VRAINS wasn't too different from other virtual reality games, it too had restricted areas that players were able to get past and the dark hole of this level was one of them. If a player was to fall into the dark abyss, the program was going to just log them out, saving them whom what could have been a long fall and a long death.

But if it wasn't a user that fell to the restricted area, then it was just going to be erased and that was exactly what was happening to the collapsing building and all of the data that it contained inside. Removed, never to be restored again. So many secrets, so much information used to blackmail people with, to ruin lives, became non-existing in just a moment - just like a snowflake.

"So, I went through all this crazy stuff for nothing?" Ghost Girl finally asked. Since the man who hired her, tried to kill her at the end it was most likely that there was no change in her bank account after it all ended.

"Don't worry, I'm going to pay you for helping us." PhantomFire reassured her. He knew that Ghost Girl wasn't the kind of person that would do things just from the good of her heart, if he wanted to keep her loyal to himself, he would have to keep her bank account to numbers with at least five zeroes at the end.

"Heh, I bet you would want something in return for his, won't you?" The treasure hunter asked back, getting only a shake of Phantom's head as her answer. She sighed and leaned back, watching and the rest of the fortress falling into nothingness. "It's such a waste. This place probably held so much information that could still be sold."

"Sometimes there are things that are better to remain secrets." PhantomFire sighed and lied down, with his head resting on his hands. "If you really want a lot of data that people would give crazy money for, then why don't you try to infiltrate SOL Technologies' data bank? Given how self-confident these bastards are I wouldn't expect any strong security."

"Are you suggesting me to go steal from SOL Technologies?" Ghost Girl raised an eyebrow. She knew how powerful the company was and after Playmaker's duel with Revolver that they had a rather… shady past. But to go against such a strong business organization, that would end badly for her if they find out.

"I'm not suggesting anything." PhantomFire retorted. "But at any point, you got yourself a semi-influential guy working for them to cover up for you, so I'm surprised that you haven't tried to do that yet."

Ghost Girl thought about it again. She could just imagine the kind of that stored inside SOL Technologies' data bank. There would definitely be many people willing to pay for such info and even if there weren't, she too had a few questions that needed answering.

"Well, at any rate, such a task would be too dangerous even for me." The infamous treasure hunter lied and turned around to leave. "See you around. Also, why don't you call me out some day, we could have some fun~"

PhantomFire simply rolled his eyes, which prompted Ghost Girl to chuckle. She knew as well as he did, that he was just trying to play hard to get. She gave him one last seductive wink and her body turned to blue pixels, disappearing from LINK VRAINS.

"It's time for us to leave as well." PhantomFire sighed and patted Proxy on the field, making the girl grump in response to being treated as a child.

* * *

 **Proxy's POV**

After PhantomFire bid farewell with Ghost Girl, with whom he seemed to have some history with – just pointing out that they seemed to know each other, I'm not trying to suggest anything – we came back to his own server where he wasted no time to take the dagger from me and put it for analyze. I sat on one of the floating cubes around the server to catch my breath and watched Evan as he worked. Despite all of the things that we went through today to get the data, he didn't seem to be tired in the least and immediately began to decrypt the data that we obtained.

"You are really in a hurry, aren't you?" I asked. It made me happy seeing him work so hard to try and save lives instead of, well, taking them.

"Every second we waste, something could happen to either Blaze Rose or Gloomy Ruby." PhantomFire turned around to face me and crossed his arms, leaning back against one of the holographic screens. Despite him not working, the data was being decrypt by itself, he probably ordered Masou to do it.

"I guess you are right." I nodded and looked away.

It was a little weird for me to talk with him like this after we had an argument about human lives not too long ago. I really couldn't get him, he wasn't doing this for money or fame, but at the same time he had such an easy time getting rid of people that stood in his path. Maybe he was just too passionate about saving the Charisma Duelists, but that wouldn't excuse him hurting others to reach his objectives, right? If it did, then he wouldn't be any better at Rocketeer!

"This might be sudden, but what exactly was your life before coming to Den City like?" That was indeed a sudden question for him to ask me. I looked over at PhantomFire unsure how to answer the question.

I mean, there wasn't anything bad about the life I lead before coming here. In fact, if I had a choice, I would choose to go back to my family and friends any time, but unfortunately I was trapped inside this city for the time being. It was a little weird. Back home, I was nothing that a simple girl, my grades weren't the best so I needed tutoring just to get a C+, my parents weren't rich either so I often I gave up on things that I wanted not to trouble them. I wasn't among the popular girls either, but there were many friends out there I could trust, so I never felt lonely.

And what did I have here? A house where I lived on my own, without any parents to tell me until when I can stand up and how much TV I'm allowed to watch per week. Evan and Avice were taking great care of me, giving me money for anything I needed and never tried to put chains on me, nor tell me what I must do. There was no school to care about and people treat me like a hero – or the hero's sidekick – online. Fame, money, adventures, I got all of it, but for some reason this live seemed somehow hollow to me.

No matter how much love and care Evan and Avice gave me, they could never replace mom and dad, nor Elizabeth. Elizabeth… out of everything that I missed about my previous life, her absence was probably leaving the biggest hole in my chest. She was busy as head of the school council, so we were never able to spent much time outside of the tutoring and babysitting (I mean, my parents sometimes go out to spent time for themselves as well). Because of our limited time together I didn't have much memories to remember her with, the only thing left from her was the Monster Reincarnation card that she gave me right before that car incident.

"To tell you the truth," I finally looked up at PhantomFire and tried to give him my warmest smile. "It was the best life that I could have asked for. Although I didn't have much money and wasn't treated like a superstar, I had two loving parents that always looked after me, friends that I could always trust and someone 'special' who always gave me courage to take a step forward. Sometimes, in my best dreams, I could get back there, hug my mother once more; get a warm kiss on the forehead in return. I could talk with my friends and laugh together with them for one more time before my consciousness returns me back to this city."

"Family, friends…" PhantomFire repeated my words in a low tone, almost like he was whispering them to himself. He gave me a nod and smiled as well. "Yes, a life that should have truly been the best thing one could ask for. It's ironic that we don't understand how important the little things like this could be for us until we lose them, right?"

"Yeah…" I nodded in agreement. It was sad that humans had to lose everything they had in order to start appreciating it properly. "But what about you and Avice? Aren't the two of you from outside Den City as well? What was your life back home?"

My question seemed to have made PhantomFire think about something specific because he averted his eyes and lowered his head. It was almost certain that his thoughts weren't too bright. After a few moments of standing with his eyes staring at the ground, he finally shook his head and smiled at me as well, but I could see that it wasn't a genuine one.

"I… Back when I was young, I made a lot of mistakes believing that others would be able to overlook it." His voice began to feel… heavy? His words sounded like they were carrying a great amount of guilt. "I hurt people that mattered a lot to me, special people that meant more than the world and everything on it, and believed that they will forgive me if I said a single sorry. Heh, I was such a naïve kid back then."

"So, what happened?" I asked him, curiously. But his tone made end of this story predictable for me.

"I was absolutely wrong. No matter how many times I said sorry, it was never going to make up for the amount of tears that _**she**_ shred. When I realized that I failed all of our chances to walk a common path, our lives, or dreams, they had all separated a long time ago. In the end, she left us to find her own life, I and Avice were left alone. The inseparable Greysons became only two."

"Only two…" Why did this seemed to refer to something? It reminded me of something that I saw not too long before… "There was a picture of you, Avice and another girl when you were younger. Was she…"

"My younger twin sister." PhantomFire sighed. "Yes, she was. But I no longer have the right to call her that."

I remained silent, unsure about how to respond to that. I didn't have any siblings, so I couldn't understand how important such a bond was, but to push your own sister away, to lose the right to call her family must be hurting quite a bit. I wouldn't say that it was an excuse for him to act like an asshole still, but his confession made it a bit easier for me to understand him.

"Decrypting complete!" Masou's robotic voice said and all the data on the screen turned green.

"About time." PhantomFire replied and turned around to write once again. I moved the floating cube a little closer so I could watch what he was doing. "Did he get it? Come on… Yes, it's here!"

Yes, we got it! PhantomFire copied a part of the data on a new screen and then opened the original remote program he copied from Playmaker. He began to change its coding using pieces from the data with Masou alerting him every time that it finds a possible error.

"Do you think that this would work?" I asked him.

"We can only hope." PhantomFire replied. "Masou' what's the program's status?"

"Scanning… No errors' found, sir! The program is ready to be used." The A.I. replied and returned into a large cube that functioned as its place to rest.

"Let's hope this works out." PhantomFire muttered and pressed a final button.

The transparent cubes with Gloomy Ruby and Blaze Rose's bodies turned their color to a lighter yellow with small pixels flying into the girls' bodies. We both watched intently, waiting for the result. The Charisma Duelists' avatars absorbed all of the removal program and the cubes turned to their usual lack of color, but unlike with Blue Angel, whose face change to a small smile when the removal program got input, neither of them reacted and their bodies remained there.

"D-Did we fail?" I whispered to PhantomFire. After all, was the data that we got not enough to create a working removal program?

"No, look." He pointed at the cubes again. Indeed, there was starting to be a bit of change, golden pixels covered both of the girls' bodies and scanned them before the two turned to strings of data and disappeared. "They avatars logged out. We did it Proxy, we saved them!"

I turned back to PhantomFire and he was smiling toward me. I nodded, glad that despite our differences we were able to do something good like this. But a part of me was unsure what to say next, although we did a great deed, the conversation that came behind it was still in my mind. Was PhantomFire trying to push himself to smile because of me? I was unsure why, but I raised my arm, wanting to touch him, rub it against his cheek, but before I could reach him, his own hand landed softly on my head and patted me.

"Let's logout now." He told me. "I'm going to cook dinner tonight, anything specific that you would like?"

I averted my gaze and pressed my fingers together. Would it be really ok for me to tell him what to cook? "I don't know… I remember Avice once mentioned a Drawbread, so you might cook that?"

There was once when Avice had complained during dinner that they haven't eater a 'Drawbread' in a long time so it got me curious what that food was. At least, if not anything else, Avice was going to be happy with the dinner.

* * *

 **3** **rd** **POV**

The sun that shined above Den City had started to set down, the sky was colored in a vivid orange as the fire giant slowly set behind the skyscrapers. Most adults had already started to go home from work, while the teenagers were still outside with friends. The city itself wasn't a very lively place during these hours, but the same couldn't be said for Den Hospital where the doctors and nurses worked restlessly all day long. Currently, there was a bit of a commotion as two of the patients just woke up from a coma.

The nurses were wondering what miracle could have helped the girls wake up, while the doctors checked for anomalies. While it all happened, Avice had her back pressed against a wall, waiting outside the room for the doctors and nurses to come out, so she could get in.

After ten whole minutes, everyone else left and she was able to get inside. Lying in the bed was a girl, one year older that herself, with long red hair that had blue highlights on the back. Her purple eyes were staring at the ceiling in almost boredom and she didn't avert her gaze to look at the person that came to visit her.

"Long time not see, Vermilya." Avice told her with a voice filled with joy.

"Why are you here?" Vermilya asked back. Unlike the younger girl, her voice was hostile and filled with anger. Of all people that could have come visit her, Avice was probably the third worst option. With Evan being a close second, and her father the worst of all.

"To offer a truce?" Avice pulled a chair that sat on the side of the room and rested on it, crossing her right leg over the left. "After what Rocketeer did and the chaos that ensued, I and Evan came to the conclusion that this is more trouble that just two of us could handle."

"Why should I help you?" Vermilya hissed. She tried to suppress her anger, but she could no longer stand it. "Why should I do anything for the two of you? Because Evan saved me from that street so long ago? Because of all the suffering and shame that I went through while trying to make you proud of choosing to teach me how to duel?" Tears began to run down the girl's cheeks as she continued. "After you abandoned me, threw me out on the street like an unneeded toy, you expect me to come back running for the two of you because you need me?"

"You… Do you really think that we could abandon you without looking back? There hasn't been a day we spent without looking after you!" Avice leaned forward and put a hand over Vermilya's. "I will not tell you that you weren't a failure as a student, because you were. For all your skills, you never learned the most important lesson we tried to teach you! You wanted to prove yourself so badly that in the end you threw away everything else!"

"I did it for you! For both of you! I gave up on having a normal life just so I could make the two of you proud!" Vermilya cried back.

"I know." Avice nodded and raised the red haired girl's hand, holding it in his own. "I'm sorry for everything you must have gone through, but if you would be willing to give me, give us, a second chance. We could try to be friends, ok?"

"Why should I accept this suggestion?"

"Because we don't want you to get hurt like this ever again." Avice pressed on. "Because _**I**_ want to protect you. You don't have to be alone anymore."

Vermilya's eyes softened at those words. Tears were still running down from her cheeks, but they were no longer from the pain that tore at her chest, but from joy. For someone who was abandoned by the only people she ever had in her life, the chance to have someone again, not a teacher or master, but a friend who will stand on equal grounds with her was the most she could ask for.

"Ok, we can try."

Avice smiled at the response and kissed the back of the red head's hand. "I'm glad to hear that. Now, you should get a rest, ok?"

The red head nodded and closed her eyes. For almost a year, her dreams were always being disrupted by thoughts about PhantomFire and Silver Star and how she wanted to duel them to prove that she wasn't worthless. Nothing however, she could at last have a more peaceful and happy dream.

* * *

At the same time, inside the deck server that was used as a base by the Knights of Hanoi, things weren't as peaceful. Well, actually they were at first, Picaro was chatting with Baira and Faust about how to update the Hanoi's virus when Specter suddenly walked inside and slammed his fist against a wall.

"Damn it!" The second-in-command cursed as he repeatedly continued to hit the wall. "I shouldn't have contacted a bounty hunter for the job. If you want something done, you should do it by yourself!"

The other knights looked at each other, all of them equally confused by Specter's behavior. Usually he was a very calm and collected individual. To see him like this would only mean that something he worked on got royally screwed up.

"I get it that your brain probably stopped being able to function normally after six months of torture and starvation, but mind explaining to us, the normal people, what exactly got you so worked up that you came to curse here instead of getting off on trees like you usually do?" Picaro asked. His knight helmet was doing a pretty good job at hiding the large grin that was currently all over his face. Every single knight knew that he and tree boy weren't in a good relationship with one another.

"First off, the thing with the tree happened just once!" Specter roared back at the demonic knight. "Second, I learned that an old rat has started to steal info from us again, so I got in contact with one of our more infamous members, a crime lord in LINK VRAINS, to try and get rid of the rat and take back all of his data."

"So, what? Playmaker showed up and kicked your lackey's ass?" Picaro titled his head. Despite being a lost for them, this story was getting more and more interesting for him.

"Only if it was Playmaker, but no." Specter shook his head and a screen appeared before him. "It was them!"

The screen began to play footage from the incident, showing Proxy taking the data from Blacloud's fortress while PhantomFire was beating up the white man and all of his armed men. Picaro leaned forward, staring at the footage that showed his old teacher kicking the asses of several users all at once.

"Not only have they defeated the fool, but also destroy all of the data, making sure that we will never be able to get it again." Specter narrowed his eyes.

"Our virus is almost ready for mass usage, so we won't be needing that data again." Baira replied.

"True, they won't be able to stop us before all the pieces get put in place." Faust agreed.

"Then, if all of you are done with your tasks, I think it's time I complete the special mission that Dr. Kogami gave me." Picaro sighed and stood up, looking at his new claw. After PhantomFire tore it off last time, he had done some modifications to it.

"What mission?" Specter questioned.

"Lying down the seed." Picaro replied. "Now, could you be a good errand boy and tell my team to come and meet with me at the exit?"

* * *

 **A/N: Jeez, PhantomFire, for a legendary duelist you seem to like ending a duel with less than 100 Life Points! T** **he next few chapters are going to focus more onto Hanoi and Picaro/Rocketeer, so they might be a little more interesting and** **unique.**

 **I also hate to share personal drama with you guys, since it's personal and all that, but I'm fucking tired right now. No, it's not because of this story, in fact, if I was better I would have uploaded atleast TWO chapters by now, but right at the moment, my house is being invaded by insects.** **Poison doesn't work on them as much as one would want to and as a result every night, when I go to sleep, they start to crawl up my skin and bite me, making it impossible to fall as sleep until the sun rises again in 5 AM. So, I'm sorry if my later chapters seem lackluster, I know that I shouldn't write while I'm about to fall asleep on the keyboard, but I just love writting this story so much.**

 **There is also a chance that the next chapter of this story won't come out soon because I want to publish one more chapter of my Arc-V story (haven't updated that one in months), but I got like three writer blocks while writing the latest chapter of that story, so... Yeah, I might end up writting another Destiny Gears chapter instead.**

 **Also, talking about old stories, I want to use this chapter to give special thanks to everyone here who has supported me since my very first fanfiction on this site. I do, in fact, remember every single one of you by username and could list you without needing to look at the list of followers, but I'm not going to. Instead, there is something in this chapter that is meant to allude to my first story Arc-Twins, so could you guys find it? Spoilers: It's not** **ChronoGear Time Tamer Foxy.**

 **Now, onto the reviews.**

ThePLOThand **: Actually, I'm not going to either ignore or disagree with you. In fact, I agree, however I noticed that the way I worded myself in the last chapter wasn't very correct. You see, by "keep it close to canon" I didn't mean the events themselves, but the** **chrononogy in which they happen. For instances, almost all of the characters will have different roles in the Tower of Hanoi Arc. I'm not going to copy-paste the canon, but I can't have stuff like the Anoter Incident happening after the** **Tower of Hanoi and etc. I hope I wrote it more clear to understand this time.**

ScalchopWarrior **: You are probably going to have a lot of** **critiques for the duel this time around, but I'm ready to take it. I too have seen fans of Soulburner turning against him because of things that were the writers' fault, but I think that I didn't like him since his character was first confirmed to appear and I don't like him now either. Reason for that was because I knew that the moment the writers introduce a "partner" for Playmaker, Go and Blue Angel were going to lose even the little revelance that they had in season 1 and I turned out to be right. In fact, I think that this is among the little things that Arc-V did better with than VRAINS. While I hate the guts out of Yuya and wanted to kill him every second he was on the screen, at least Arc-V gave me the chance to ignore him and focus more onto characters that I like, like Shun, Reiji, Yugo or Yuri. But with Vrains, the only character you can follow 90% of the time are Playmaker and Soulburner, who is a Playmaker 2.0, so there isn't much a way to just ignore these two and get to my blue waifu.**

MusicianWish **: Thanks a lot for the kind words! Also, I'm happy that you got the idea I had with Proxy and Evan's argument, sort of. Since Proxy is just 14 years old, she is still somewhat naive about the world and I wanted to show that. However, there is something important to note about Evan's behavior. He isn't willing to murder people because it's the most "right" thing to do, but because it's the easiest and fastest way to deal with the problem. He simply doesn't care what will happen with humanity at large as long as the people he cares about are safe.**

 **Yes, having PhantomFire say that a duel wasn't too horrible is a far better think to happen than being ignored, which would mean that he isn't impressed.**

 **I will be honest with you, I have watch the YGO anime more about the card game and the cards than I do about the characters and plot, so I understand what the goal is. Problem is whose cards they are trying to sell. So far, from what I have seen so far in both anime and Real World, Soulburner's deck is trash. He uses the same combo to summon Heatleo in every duel and many people might have ignored it, but he even cheated in the duel with Go, where he used a monster that wasn't in his Graveyard to Ritual Summon. Trickstars on the other hand are popular, heck they are even part of the meta. Gouki are a fun deck to play, heck, even Yusaku's Cyberse are an interesting deck that you could make various builds with.** **If they want to sell cards, they could give us more Trickstars, Goukis and Altergeist. In fact, I want all the new Trickstars that we saw in the last episode because of how great they would be for the deck, but I don't want any of the new Salamangreat because they were, eh.**

 **Anyways, I hope that the responses to the reviews haven't insult any fans of Soulburner and Yuya, but if they did... I'm not very sorry. If you want to argue with what I said, feel free to, I'm always open to an discussion.**

 **Diabolic Tracer out!**


	20. Chapter 20

Creeping From Within

Evan couldn't believe that he was going to miss having Akira Zaizen as the security manager of SOL Technology. That new Kitamura guy was really getting on his nerves since the first day. In fact, the very first impression that Evan got from the new manager was just how much of a control freak and a complete idiot he was. On one had it made sense for the higher-ups to choose someone moronic enough to not research the company's past and their connection to some past incidents, but on the other, if you need to stop hackers you would put somebody skilled as a security managed, not this pathetic excuse.

"So, could your company made the more advances coding needed for this?" Kitamura asked.

The two of them were standing in front of a holographic screen that showed a blueprint for a humanoid machine with long limbs. From what Evan could gather the thing he was looking at was a schematic for a project to make AI Duelists force. A plan that had no chance to really success, but he was still going to help develop it since his own company would get a lot of money out of it.

"Yeah, we have made several games with AI Duelists, so we got experience in that direction. I personally have installed an AI inside LINK VRAINS, so making the program work inside your servers won't be a problem either." Evan nodded and crossed his arms.

Of course, he wasn't going to let AIs with the dueling capability of Masou run around, that would be a complete disaster and Playmaker would definitely be caught. A simpler, more stupid AI would be enough to sustain his cover as SOL's ally, it would get hit a lot of money as well. They were paying him for an AI program, not for the best AI program.

"He-he-he, perfect." Kitamura rubbed his hands together. "Once my army of AI duelists gets out, hackers would stand no chance. The Knights of Hanoi, Playmaker, I will get them all arrested and then the higher-ups will give me a promotion. Do you see? It's very important to get the right people as your allies."

'Yeah, it is.' Evan thought to himself, maintaining a neutral expression during that time. 'In order for weaklings like you to get anywhere in life, they need a lot of allies to support their backs. Too bad that most of you are as stupid as they are weak, you have blind trust in your so called allies and fail to notice when a traitor infiltrates your group. By the time you realize what's going on, something would push you back, but that foundation that held you last time would have already collapsed and nobody will catch you. Due to your own stupidity you are going to collapse into a dark abyss and never climb back up.'

Maybe that was the fate of weaklings like Kitamura. They weren't allowed to notice their own shortcomings or learn from the world around them, to make sure they don't stay on the top for more than the fifteen minutes of fame that the strong ones gave them. It was almost like nature itself had forsaken those idiots to stay on the bottom for the rest of their lives and function only as a stepping stones for those who truly possess the characteristics of a winner. It reminded Evan of the words spoken by a boy many years ago:

 _Humans are nothing but tools, pawns for the true winners in life to use. No matter what I had to do or sacrifice I will be the only winner in the end and that's all that matters._

Evan chuckled a bit at the bitter memory, which earned him unwanted attention from the security manager. Kitamura, being the weak character he was, thought that the white haired man was making fun of him and clenched his fist in anger.

"What are you laughing at!?" He shouted at Evan, snapping the later back to the present.

The white haired businessman rubbed the spot between his eyes and took a deep breath. He got so much into those bitter memories of the past that he forgot his current location. After a moment Evan reached into the pocket inside his suit and pulled his black sunglasses, which he promptly put.

"I was just reminded a few things from the past, that's all." Evan replied and turned around to leave the room. "Don't worry about your AI duelists, I will transfer everything to SOL's private servers today. Your subordinates should be able to build my programs into your AI Duelists easily, so I'm not needed anymore."

Kitamura was left with nothing to complain about and could only watch the young man while he made his way out of the large room. On his way out, Evan noticed something with the corner of his eyes that made him smirk. No one else seemed to have noticed that, but Kitamura's project was sure to fail due to a Trojan Horse.

'Why did I remember that?' Evan thought to himself after the doors closed behind his back and he was left completely alone in the corridor.

* * *

 **Proxy's POV**

"I'm bored."

It was just a day since my and Evan's adventure in the deeps of LINK VRAINS and I already started to miss the life threatening traps. It was much better than just lying on the sofa next to Avice staring at either the black screen of the TV of the ceiling. Was that how the real lives of online heroes looked like? Lying down, staring at the ceiling and hoping that something would force us to life our lazy asses? If yes, such a life would be too depressing for someone like me to handle it.

"Good, I'm bored as well."

"Why don't we turn on the TV then?" I suggested. Surely anything currently airing would be more entertaining than watching the black screen.

"Nah, there are no good animes on during this time of the day." Avice shook her head.

"Animes?" I raised an eyebrow. Wasn't that the same thing as watching cartoons? "I thought that we could watch something more, mature?"

"Listen, we are both below sixteen years, humans our age shouldn't care about the news network and we don't understand much about politics."

I was sure that they were other kinds of mature TV programs, like sport channels and woman channels. Soap operas as well, maybe not those, but there was a lot of other TV media to choose from. But come on, if she truly cared, she would have turned the TV on a dozen times by now. I choose to just keep my lips sealed and let Avice do as she pleased, it was her house after all. Come to think about it…

"Hey, do you remember that negotiable rent?" I asked her.

"It was the only bait we were a hundred percent sure that you would bait on." Why did this description made me feel like a stupid fish? "Why are you bringing it up now all of a sudden?"

"I'm just, not worried, but it doesn't sit well with me that…" I averted my eyes away from Avice and pressed my fingers together. It was so hard and embarrassing for me to ask her that… "We haven't negotiated it yet and sometime has already passed since I moved in. Maybe we could, um, negotiate it now if that's alright…"

"He-he, you are so sweet!" Avice leaned her head against my shoulder and grabbed a bit of my hair between her fingers, playing with it.

I turned my eyes to look down because of how embarrassed I got from having her being so close to me. At times like these I felt that Avice was playing purposely with me to get me all flushed and it wasn't fair because she was actually succeeding! Her buddy-buddy attitude and how close she tended to stay to me were… scary I guess? Ugh, even I couldn't explain it correctly!

"We were never really going to make you pay any rent, it was just a lie to get your attention toward our offer." Avice said and pressed her body even closer to mine. "I mean, you are just fourteen, right? No offense, but there is literally not a single legal business in this town that would hire you and neither of us wants you to get with any illegal work that this city was to offer. Just live your life and make sure to not break anything, that's the only thing we want from you."

"It still doesn't sit well with me." I told her. "There are so many people starving and working their souls out just to get a roof over their heads and I get such a thing for free, it isn't fair... Why do I get so many things for free while others have to fight for them?"

"Hm, that's a fair question." Avice moved on to lie her head on my lap. This time I had to turn my eyes toward the door to avoid eye contact; watching her lying there was embarrassing! "Perhaps it was destiny? Heh, you are still young and naïve so you probably won't understand me, but Roxy, do you believe that it's fair to try and compare your life with that of others? Do you really believe that all people are truly equal?"

This time I looked at Avice despite how embarrassed I was earlier because I was genuinely interested in what she meant by that. Of course, I would say that everyone is equal and should be treated equally, but I didn't say that because it probably wasn't the kind of response that would satisfy Avice. In fact, how many times was it that common logic didn't on Avice and Evan? Instead of giving a clear answer to Avice's question I shrugged and waited for her to give me a response, taught me one more of their crazy believes.

"You are so cute when you look confused!" I winched in embarrassment once Avice's hand moved over my head and patted me. Was she treating me like a pet?

"Are you going to tell me what you believe or no?" I asked her a bit grumpy. Her teasing wasn't fun to me.

"He-he, sorry, sorry, but you are just too cute for me to keep my attention on the topic!" Avice giggled and her legs kicked the air from the other side of the sofa; seriously, she was acting as a child despite being older than me. "The truth Roxy is that people were and will always remain unequal. There was once a wise man who said that heaven does not create one man above or below another man, any existing distinction between people came from how educated they are. Unfortunately, even he wasn't able to do anything but scratch only the surface of the truth that heaven does, indeed, create people unequal to one another."

"I'm not getting any of this." I groaned and held my head. She said that those were the words of a wise man, but then he completely discarded them? How would that make any sense?

"Heh, of course you don't. But you have an able body, a completely functional mind. You probably also had a whole family right? Food, rooftop, money, a good education. That's just a few of the things that make us different from one another." I scratched the back of my head still not completely getting it. "We aren't just unequal before one another, heaven sees us as equal as well. I mean, why someone who has never done a single work in his life suddenly be lucky and win a billion from the lottery, while a man who worked himself to sickness would lose his job and home? Why were you, after losing everything you had, be lucky to find people willing to let you live with them for free while the same would never happen for more than ninety percent of the people that were in a similar situation like you?"

"Even people's luck isn't equal…" She was, in a way, right about this. I myself never expected such a mirage to happen, but it did and I got to spend my time in comfort with warm food every day and nothing to worry about.

"In the end, it's not worth trying to compare yourself with others because everyone gets a different starting point and a different route through their life." I looked down and patted Avice's head. It made me wonder how someone that's just a year older than me could have such a grey look at the world. "If you trust me even just a bit, I want you to remember this Roxy, never miss a chance to move yourself forward because of what others would say. Never stop to compare yourself to others and just kept moving forward, toward the goal that is important for you. I, Evan, even Playmaker and his goals shouldn't matter to you."

"I'm sorry, but I don't think that such a thing would be possible." I couldn't do that because it wasn't the type of person that I was. Helping others and making them happier has always been more important to me than my own personal life. "Despite that, I understand what you mean and I accept your words as truth. But don't you agree then that if all of us aren't equal, it would be the responsibility for those standing at the top to make the life of those below them better?"

Avice's green eyes were staring at me and there seemed to be some sort of seriousness in them. All of that quickly disappeared when she chuckled and turned her head to the side, closing her eyes.

"You silly child. I'm going to be so heartless to break your dreams." I felt a strange weight in my chest from her words, but I accepted them nevertheless.

She was speaking harshly toward me and I didn't mind it because I knew that achieving my so called 'dream' wouldn't be a smooth call. Reality would be harsh toward me too, just like how Avice was during this little talk.

After this talk, a new silence built between us, the topic had ended so that would be natural, right? For others it might be awkward, but I was used to the quiet atmosphere and even enjoyed it from time to time. Unfortunately, I didn't get to enjoy it for long this time and not more than five minutes after I and Avice stopped talking the doorbell rang loudly. I instinctively looked at the door while Avice turned her head in my lap and muttered something too quietly for me to hear her.

"What did you say?" I turned back to the girl and she kept her eyes closed.

"I said 'go see who it is'." I sighed, of course she was going to make me go.

It was a little hard to get up though, as Avice had put her head on my lap and wasn't willing to cooperate I had to gently move her off myself. By the time I was able to do that and stand from my place on the sofa the doorbell rang two more times.

"Ok, I'm coming!" I shouted at whoever was outside; surprisingly that worked as the bell didn't rang again.

Putting a nearby pillow under Avice's head to keep it soft, I was finally able to get to the front door and answer it properly. I opened and found before me a girl that was around one head taller than me. She had long red hair with blue highlights on the back and a pair of purple eyes (of course they were two, who on Earth has three eyes?). She wore the same school uniform that I have seen on Avice and Aoi, but unlike them hers was pretty unkempt. She also seemed to be as surprised as me, because once I opened the door, her eyes visibly widened a tiny bit.

"H-hello." I greeted her first and bowed. "I-is there anything I-I can help you w-with?"

"Hey, there." She just raised her hand to acknowledge my greeting and raised herself on her tip=topes to try and look over me; strange because as I mentioned, there was a head in height difference between us that was going in her favor. "Are Evan and Avice Greyson at home?"

"W-who is asking?" I probably shouldn't try to play smart and pry in her business, she seemed a bit dangerous.

"Hayashi Vermilya." She replied. "It has been a while since I came here, but I haven't seen you before either, so mind introducing yourself?"

"I-I'm Roxanna Petit." I introduced myself by a full name despite knowing how bad that was because…

"Petit? What kind of surname is that?" …My surname was often an object of ridicule by my schoolmates. "What are you doing her anyway? Did the Greysons choose to hire a maid now? And so young, it probably isn't easy for you, is it?"

"So you came after all, Blaze Rose." Avice suddenly leaped on my from behind and put her head on my shoulder. I looked up at the red haired girl once more and she had her arm clenched into a fist. Oh no!

"Will you please not call me by my virtual allies in front of your maid?" She practically said that through gritted teeth and that fist… It seemed so eager to hit something.

I felt a chill go down my spine, not just because of how scary Vermilya/Blaze Rose was, but also 'cause I was the only thing that stood between her and the source of her anger, Avice. The other girl pressed her whole body against my back so much that she forced me to take a step forward and get even closer to the red head.

"And you think she isn't insulted that you called her a maid?" Avice retorted back in a more quiet tone and ran a finger over my chin. Her calm demeanor along with the uncalled touching send shivers don't my back and I closed my eyes in embarrassment. From here on I could only her their voices and feel Avice's breathing… against my ear!

"Wait, she isn't your maid?" Judging by Vermilya's voice she was genuinely surprised and I felt personally offended by that. "Then who is she?"

"Don't you know her? In LINK VRAINS they call her Proxy." I winched, already able to feel how things were going to go sore from there.

"WHAT?!" Two hands grabbed me by the collar and I was immediately yanked forward.

I opened my eyes to see what was going on and just as expected, Vermilya was holding me off the ground with both arms, her purple eyes staring at me so intently that I felt they were going to shot a laser beam into my brain any second by now.

"So you lied to me when I asked if you knew these two!" I winched when Vermilya began to yell at my face.

I wanted to defend myself and say that I didn't knew them until several days after Blaze Rose asked me, but I found myself too scared to respond with anything but whimpering. It was embarrassing, but I was too worried about my well-being to care about other issues. Back in LINK VRAINS, Blaze Rose had already proven that she had a hot headed temper and this encounter could end very, very painfully for me.

"Hey, hey, it took us time to find her too." Avice intervened "You might have talked with her before we first met."

I nodded eagerly to Vermilya, it was the truth I haven't met them before my conversation with her. It wasn't my fault that it happened in that order! I was an innocent, soon to be victim! Vermilya clicked her tongue and let go of me, promptly dropping me on the ground.

"Ouch!" I yelped and reached behind to grab onto something and crawl away before Vermilya got angry at me for something else.

"Now, come on, I didn't call you here to pick fights with others." I hear Avice scold Vermilya while I was busy retreating inside the house.

"You never told me why you want me to visit you." Vermilya responded. "But more importantly, if you didn't know her before I met with her, how comes you got so confortable with others that they can now hang at your house."

"First of, Proxy, or Roxy, as that's her real name, isn't hanging at our house, she is living her."

"What?! You left her live here?!"

While the two kept talking, I managed to quickly get inside and stood back up, rubbing my rear after the harsh drop on the hard ground that I had to suffer not too long ago.

"We let you live here as well before you choose to move to the school dorms!" Avice had put one of her hands on her hips while the other was waving at Vermilya; she was really scolding the red head!

"Ok, ok!" Vermilya backed back and held her arms in front of her. "I won't protest anymore, just, let's move to another topic ok? Why did you ask me to come here anyways?"

"Because we got some trouble on our hands." Avice responded. "After Rocketeer, I mean Picaro, turned out to be part of the Knights of Hanoi I and Evan figured out that we all might become a target in the future. Picaro was already able to put you in a come with a threat for your life and was a few seconds away from doing the same with Proxy. As much as it hurts my pride to say this, looking over all of LINK VRAINS has become a bit too much for just the two of us."

"I can't believe it." Vermilya said in a calm, quiet voice. Her shoulders eased while she looked down at Avice. "Are you- Is Avice Greyson actually asking someone for help?"

I looked at the green and white haired girl as well. It was true that the Greysons were prideful and that showed many times, including during the training sessions. Hearing Avice ask someone for her was a surprise for me as well, despite how short of a time we spent together, I had already gotten to know her quite well. She didn't immediately respond to Vermilya's question and instead reached out, grabbing both of us by the arms. Before I could reach, she had pulled me in and I found myself standing right in front of the red head with Avice hugging both of us from the side while also laughing.

"Ha-ha-ha! Of course not, silly!" She laughed off Vermilya's question and the latter's anger began to resurface due to that. "That wasn't what I meant! Since Picaro knew all of us, he might start targeting you two. Because of that I wanted you two to get close friends and spend some time together. It would make it much easier for me and my brother to babysit you two if you are close to one another, won't it?"

"I'm not even surprised that this would be your proposition." Surprisingly, Vermilya was accepting the idea pretty calmly. "Having a friend or two won't hurt that much, so… I'm Hayashi Vermilya. You can call me just Vermilya."

The girl held her arm in front of me and I accepted the handshake.

"Roxanna, but friends call me just Roxy." I responded, this time strategically not mentioning my last time.

"Oh? What happened with your surname?"

"P-please don't mention it."

"Yay!" Avice threw her arms up like a child and ran inside the house. She turned around and jumped while waving at us. "Come on! Since we, girls, are all friends now let's have some fun!"

"I had a very serious discussion with her just five minutes ago and she is all buddy-buddy already." I whispered toward Vermilya. "Is that normal?"

"No." She shook her head and removed her brown shoes, putting them inside the house. "It usually takes her much less time to get all buddy-buddy."

* * *

 **3rd POV**

Within LINK VRAINS, the networks were able to quickly recovered and get fixed after Hanoi's last attack and people were back at dueling and hanging with their friends. While most of the regular user base wasn't worried about things, the same couldn't be said about the Charisma Duelists. Ever since the last attack, Blue Angel, Blaze Rose, Rocketeer and Gloomy Ruby haven't showed up and neither did Go. The first among the Charisma Duelists didn't show up again ever since his defeat by the hands of Playmaker and that, along with the other four going missing as well set a lot of chaos and worry. In-fights weren't uncommon either with many amateurs and longtime rivals trying to replace the missing ones in the top 10.

While all of that transpired however, people seemed to have forgotten about the treat of the Knights of Hanoi, which made their work that much easier. Leaping from a nearby building, Picaro stab his new claw onto a column of a bridge and carefully climbed down, landing inside the cover of the shadows. The former Charisma Duelist opened his palm and a holographic map with three red dots appeared before him. One of the items or people that were highlighted remained unmoving while the other two appeared to be moving closer to it from the south. Picaro nodded to himself and closed the hologram.

"About time you show up." Picaro said and turned around to face the other two teammates.

First there was Nulline, a female avatar wearing a white cloak similar to that of the other Knights of Hanoi, but way more revealing that them. The woman's figure was memorable as well with a large bust, huge ass and a curvaceous figure, it would be hard for any male to easily forget her appearance. Her hair was aqua blue hair with a pink line through the middle, the back side was arranged into a huge ponytail which wasn't kept together but instead had some sort of large ring float around her hair and keep it in shape. The female wore a small version of the Hanoi mask with orange lines that covered only her eyes and her lips had pink lipstick on them. Her outfit was arranged in a way that left her shoulders and arms completely exposed with the exception of one white fingerless glove on her left hand. The front part of the outfit ended above her belly with a extremely short skirt covering her private parts, while the backside floated behind like a cloak. Lastly, she wore a pair of white and black high boots.

The second user was known as Heliac, not much stood out about his avatar, expect his size, which was that of a 12-13 years old. He also wore the standard Hanoi mask without any lines on it and instead it had a single golden star around the circular right eye. The small Knight of Hanoi held a console of some sort and clicked its buttons, writing something on a holographic screen that only he could see.

"What a surprise, MetalX hasn't shown up yet." Nulline crossed her arms.

"He isn't going to be on this mission." Picaro replied and kneeled down, touching the ground with his claw. "He has started a new job that would be… beneficial for the Knights' and our own goals."

"Are you keeping the details so scanty for a reason?" Nulline asked with a knowing smirk on her face.

"It's not something we should talk about in a place like this." Picaro responded. "Maybe once we get somewhere more… private."

The girl walked over to the demonic knight and wrapped her arms around his chest. She pressed herself against him, making sure that he could feel her large bust against his back. The girl then leaned forward and whispered to his black knight helmet, knowing that he could still hear her.

"Maybe we could do other things when we get somewhere more private."

Picaro had to admit that such an offer was something that would make most men howl like wolves, but it didn't faze him all that much. As a Charisma Duelist he had many fangirls and many of them were 'gifted' as well, so the view of a sexy figure wasn't something rare of him. Plus that, he was very handsome in real life as well, so he didn't have to worry about neither his virtual nor his real love life.

"We got business first." The demonic knight responded with a deep voice. "This spot here should be as good as any, take a step back."

Nulline complied with the request and took a step back, giving Picaro some space. The demonic knight concentrated for a moment and raised his claws, then, with a single swing, he slammed it onto the ground and create a huge hole. The destroyed data fell down and disappeared into the sewers of LINK VRAINS. Why this multi-server program would have the need of sewers was beyond any of them, but it surely made things a lot easier to set up.

"Let's go." Picaro told the other two and jumped down.

"Ewww! Could I possibly skip that one out?" Nulline asked. "Sewers are disgusting."

"Heliac!" Picaro shouted from below.

The small Knight of Hanoi didn't seem to respond at first. Only after a few moments he began to walk toward the hole and stopped right next to it, taking a quickly glance inside. After making sure what was waiting below, the little Hanoi reached out and pushed Nulline from behind hard enough for her to lose balance and fall into the hole while screaming.

"Thanks Heliac!" Picaro shouted from below once more.

The little Knight of Hanoi nodded in response to his teammate's gratitude and jumped down as well, landing on the hard ground that was put on both sides of the data that was flowing through the huge corridors. Picaro opened the palm of his claw again opening a new map with a green triangle marked in the distance. He turned back to check on his team, Heliac was messing with his console like usual while Nulline was trying to stay as far away from the data as possible.

"You know that this is just data, right? It can't dirty you clothes like the water of real sewers." Picaro pointed out.

"But it still smells awful!" Nulline retorted.

Good thing that Picaro's helmet was completely covering his face because if not, the female Knight would probably have gotten insulted at the kind of face that he was making from underneath. Actually, screw it, for saying something that stupid she deserved to be offended!

"Hey, Nulline?"

"Yes darling~?"

"Are you mentally retarded?"

"…"

"Actually, you don't need to answer this one, I got it."

No response came back from Nulline who crossed her arms and puffed her cheeks while looking away from the demonic knight. After that, the trio began to move.

* * *

"So, can I pose a question?"

Picaro just nodded for confirmations that Nulline could ask. The group was walking through the sewers for fifteen minutes and they target still wasn't anywhere near. They were also reaching a split roar where the demonic knight was planning to have them stop for a quick break. They couldn't allow themselves to spent too much time on this mission, LINK VRAINS wasn't in chaos and that meant that SOL would have enough time and resources to find them if they stood on one spot for too long.

"Ok, then why were we sent as a scout party?" Nulline asked. "We would later have to set up the devices, so why don't we do all of it now and save all the extra work?"

"As beneficial as such action could be for us, there is also a large possibility that SOL would track the signal of the devices if we set them up now." Picaro answered. "If that happens and they remove them, it would take us extra time and resources to create new ones, so in the long run it would be much safer if we just scout the area and make sure everything is clear now. When VRAINS gets throw into chaos, SOL will have their hands too full to notice us working."

"Now that you explained it this way, it really sounds like a better idea." Nulline nodded in confirmation. "That is very nice thinking on your part, boss."

"It wasn't my idea, I'm just following orders like you are. If it was up to me, I wouldn't be wasting my time with any of this."

Nulline nodded and slowed down again, getting behind the other knights. Heliac stopped writing codes through the console and walked over to Picaro, pulling his claw to get the leader's attention.

"So you felt it too?" The demonic knight looked down at his companion.

"Enemy." Heliac nodded to confirm. "Nearby."

"So, somebody follow us after all, huh?" Nulline asked. "Maybe next time you guys could dig a hole instead of blowing up the ground. Nothing to do now, you two continue, I will stay back to take care of whoever was stupid enough to follow us here."

"Ahead of us the path will split in two." Picaro told her. "Make sure to remain in the one that leads straight forward, ok?"

"Got it." Nulline winked. "Take care of yourselves, boys!"

The remaining Knights nodded and ran off, leaving the girl behind. She put her arms on her waist and began to wait. Lucky she, a duel at a time like that would be much better than looking for a good stop to install the seed. After a bit, she could hear footsteps coming near and someone came into the view.

The new duelist didn't have a face, instead his head was grey with a large red 'P' on the front. He wore a long red cloak that hang from his back as well as a red one piece body suit with orange and yellow flames. The duelist stopped in front of Nulline, the avatar didn't have eyes so it was hard to tell, but he was probably staring at her.

"So you stood here to wait for me?" the duelist tilted his head to the side. "I'm touched."

"Private Unit, you are among the top ten Charisma Duelists, with your number being nine." Nulline crossed her arms. "Shouldn't you be with your buddies instead of stalking girls in sewers?"

"I'm a little surprised that you know who I'm." Private Unit admitted. "I came here because I was paid by SOL Technology to do so."

"So they are desperate enough to start hiring Charisma Duelists as security units?" Nulline asked, but she wasn't surprised if the company would go that far just to keep the Knights as far away from the servers as possible.

"That's none of your business." Private Unit raised his left arm, a small Duel Disk visible. "But it's my business to know what the likes of you do in the sewers. I mean, Hanoi are rats alright, but this is a bit too low even for your organization."

"That's just gold coming from you." Nulline raised her own Duel Disk as well.

The two duelists stared at each other while the flowing data began to turns into waves. Two D-Boards flew through the sewers and passed the spot where the Knight of Hanoi and the Charisma Duelist were standing. Both of them immediately jumped and landed on their respective board with Nulline being on the front. The Knight of Hanoi turned around to face her opponent.

"Speed Duel!" they both shouted.

 **『** **Nulline LP: 4000 Hand: 4 (VS) Private Unit LP: 4000 Hand: 4** **』**

"Ladies first." Nulline shook her finger to Private Unit and four cards appeared in front of her. "Let's see now, I still start by playing the field spell, _Aroma Garden_!"

Due to his lack of an actual face, Private Unit's look remained blank, but for his opponent to activate the Field Spell first, that meant there was some sort of effect that the Knight of Hanoi wanted to resolve quickly.

"Next, I'm going to Summon _Aromage Jasmine (Lv.2, ATK: 100)_!" A little girl with long white hair and pink eyes appeared on the field wearing white and pink robes while holding a wooden wand covered in flowers. "Next, I activate the effect of _Aroma Garden_ , once per turn, while I control an Aroma monster I can gain five hundred life points!"

 _Aromage Jasmine_ turned around and casted a spell around Nulline, flowers fell around her body, increasing her Life Points.

 **『** **Nulline LP: 4000 + 500** → **4500** **』**

"Gaining Life Points, huh?" Private Unit called out. "That's good, because you are going to need them!"

"My card's effects aren't done yet, darling." Nulline said in a sing-song voice. "First off, when I gain Life Points while _Aromage Jasmine_ is on my field, I can draw a card!"

A circle of yellow energy appeared around Nulline's Duel Disk and she pulled a new card out of it, adding it to the ones that were already in her hand.

"And due to _Aroma Garden_ 's additional effect, if I gain Life Points, all of my monsters are going to gain five hundred points in attack and defense!" _Aromage Jasmine_ raised her wand one more and casted a shining yellow aura around herself.

 **Aromage Jasmine, ATK: 100 + 500** → **600, DEF: 1900 + 500** → **2400**

"Then, I activate _Jasmine_ 's additional effect! Once per turn, while my Life Points are higher than yours, I can Summon a plant monster for a second time during this turn." The girl pressed one of the cards before her and it appeared on the field. "I Summon, _Evil Thorn (Lv.1, ATK: 100)_."

"What's that? A six hundred and a one hundred attack point monsters? Are those your best moves?" Private Unit asked.

"I'm not done." Nulline turned around and gestured toward her monsters. "I activate _Evil Thorn_ 's effect and release it to inflict three hundred damage to you!"

The plant suddenly exploded and fired thorns at Private Unit, several of which stabbed him in the shoulder and knee. The Charisma Duelist groaned from the pain and reached to pull the sharp objects out of his body.

 **『** **Private Unit LP: 4000 - 300** → **3700** **』**

"When _Evil Thorn_ 's effect resolves, two copies of it can be Special Summoned, but at the cost of being unable to use their effects." Two more thorns appeared before Nulline all in Attack Position. "How did you find this move, hmm?"

"Increasing your own Life Points, while slowly cutting through mine, you got skills I will give you that." Private Unit muttered. "But you made a huge mistake by leaving those two _Evil Thorns_ in attack mode."

"Who said that my turn was done?" Nulline asked. "Appear, circuit that heals all pain!"

A circuit opened in front of Nulline while she was surfing on her D-Board and the roots of her monsters flew into the arrows.

"Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two Plant monsters! I set my two _Evil Thorn_ in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Aromaseraphy Jasmine (ATK: 1800, Link-2)_!"

A monster that resembled a lot her original Jasmine flew out of the circuit and stopped in front of the other monster. The only differences between the previous and the new Jasmine were the crown and the fairy wings that the new one had.

"A Link Monster…" Private Unit muttered. He wasn't surprised to see one, but so early in the duel…

"Due to _Aroma Garden_ 's additional effect, all of my monsters are going to gain five hundred points in attack and defense even if they are summoned after the effect started!" Nulline pointed out as her new monster began stronger as well.

 **Aromaseraphy Jasmine, ATK: 1800 + 500** → **2300**

"But I'm not done!" Nulline continued. "I release _Aromage Jasmine_ to activate _Aromaseraphy Jasmine_ 's effect! Once per turn, by Tributing a monster that my Link Monster pointed at, a new Plant monsters can be called straight from my deck! I Special Summon _Lonefire Blossom (Lv.3, DEF: 1400)_ , then I release it by its own effect to Special Summon _Aromage Bergamot (Lv.6, ATK: 2400)_! Also, due to _Aroma Garden_ 's effect, she gains a boost as well!"

 **Aromage Bergamot, ATK: 2400 + 500** → **2900, DEF: 1800 + 500** → **2300**

"I will set down a card and end my turn." Nulline finished. "Also, just so you know, while my Life Points are higher than yours, neither _Aromaseraphy Jasmine_ , nor any of the monsters she points toward can be destroyed by battle."

"So you are using a more defensive type of a strategy, huh?" Private Unit asked. "But the way you play your moves and the appearance of your monsters remind me too much of Blue Angel. In fact, your whole strategy and deck seems to be both the complete opposite and the exact same thing as hers!"

"Don't even insult me by comparing me to that fake!" Nulline suddenly yelled back at her opponent. "I'm nothing like that stealer, that… That attention whore!"

"So you don't like her huh?" Private Unit asked again. "Well, that's not my problem, so I draw!"

 **『** **Turn 2 [Private Unit] LP: 3700 Hand: 5** **』**

"First off, since you control a monster and I don't, I can Special Summon _Hieratic Dragon of Tefnuit (Lv.6, ATK: 2100)_!" A glowing white and yellow dragon flew over Private Unit's head. "Next, I release it to Special Summon _Hieratic Dragon of Nebthet (Lv.5, ATK: 2000)_!"

"Huh? Why would you tribute your dragon for a weaker one?" Nulline asked. She was unable to figure out her opponent's strategy.

"When _Hieratic Dragon of Tefnuit_ is Tributed, I can Special Summon _Hieratic Seal of the Sun Dragon Overlord (Lv.8, DEF: 0)_ directly from my deck!" A gigantic golden sphere appeared behind Private Unit and due to its size being too big for the small enclosed space, its sides were tearing down the walls of the sewer. "Finally, by making its original attack one thousand, _Hieratic Dragon of Eset (Lv.5, ATK: 1900_ → _1000)_ can be Normal Summoned without a tribute!"

"Well, that's something." Nulline smirked. "You got three high level dragons, but neither of them is strong enough to battle with either of my Aroma monsters."

"That's because I'm not done yet!" Private Unit clenched his fist and raised it up. "Appear, circuit of the dragon!"

A red dragon spirit came out of Private Unit's first and flew in front of him, transforming into the circuit.

"Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two Dragon monsters! I set _Hieratic Dragon of Nebthet_ and _Hieratic Dragon of Eset_ in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Hieratic Seal of the Celestial Spheres (ATK: 0, Link-2)_!"

"More sphere monsters? Is Ra among them as well?" Nulline joked. Too bad, Private Unit wasn't amused by her attempt for humor. "Ok, just continue you turn then."

"I'm going to activate _Seal of the Celestial Spheres_ ' effect!" Private Unit grabbed a card before him and crushed it with his palm. "I release _Hieratic Dragon of Gebeb_ from my hand to target _Aromage Bergamot_ and turn it to your hand."

The spheres released a wave of heat that hit the _Aromage_ monster and forced it to retread back into its card.

"Hmm, _Aromaseraphy Jasmine_ can only protect my monsters from battles, so targeting them with card effects would still work. Good thinking." Nulline praised her opponent.

"Don't praise me, this will be your end!" Private Unit called out. "The effect of _Hieratic Dragon of Gebeb_ activates. When it's Tributed I can summon a second _Hieratic Seal of the Sun Dragon Overlord (Lv.8, DEF: 0)_ from my deck!"

"Two more spheres? A new Link Summon?" Nulline wondered. It could be anything from link one to four, but her field was good enough to withstand whatever her opponent threw.

"Not exactly." Private Unit raised his arm forward and a galaxy portal appeared over his head. "Summoning Conditions are two Level Eight monsters! I overlay my two _Hieratic Seal of the Sun Dragon Overlord_!"

"A Xyz Summon?!"

"Come forth! Rank Eight! _Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis (RANK.8, ATK: 3000)_!"

As the two spheres turned into overlay units and flew into the portal, a beam of light shot down and a new sphere came out of it. The monster transformed into a dragon made from burning red skin with golden armor covered on its chest, legs, arms and wings. The beast raised its head and roared at Nulline; the intense energy that it released was enough to make the data raise into huge waves.

"That's an interesting monster." A screen appeared in Nulline's palm showing the Xyz Monster's effects for her to read them. "You can release a card in your hand to destroy a card I control, hmm? Then I better act now, Continuous Trap open - Dried _Winds_!"

"Too bad, your continuous Trap can't stop my monster's effect from activating!" Private Unit pointed out.

"I'm not going to negate it!" Nulline called back at her opponent. "Instead I will activate my skill, **Aroma Medicine**!"

"A skill at a time like this…" Private Unit muttered to himself and kept looking at his opponent, wondering what she was going to do.

"I discard the _Aromage Bergamot_ that you returned in my hand to look at the top six cards in my deck. Afterward, I'm going to send _Aromage Rosemary_ from the reveal cards to the Graveyard in order to increase my Life Points by her attack!"

The Aromage appeared above Nulline and casted a spell to make flowers drop on top of the duelist while her Life Points going a huge boost as well.

 **『** **Nulline LP: 4500 + 1800** → **6300** **』**

"At this time the effects of _Aromaseraphy Jasmine_ and Dried _Winds_ activate!" Nulline continued. "If I gain Life Points while _Aromaseraphy Jasmine_ is on the field, I can add a Plant monster to my; I add my second _Aromage Rosemary_ to the hand. Next, when I gain Life Points while Dried _Winds_ is on the field, I can destroy a monster that you control! I choose _Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis_ of course!"

A strong wind came out of Nulline's trap and hit the dragon, forcing it to drop into the data below them and drown under it. Private Unit winched at the sight of his best monster getting destroyed like this before he could use it, but the duel wasn't over yet.

"I activate my own Skill, **Hieratic Rebirth**!" The faceless duelist's body began to glow and the spirit of a dragon appeared around his left wrist. "When I have two or more Hieratic monsters with the same level in the Graveyard, I can banish one of them to Special Summon the other I will banish the level eight _Hieratic Seal of the Sun Dragon Overlord_ to Special Summon _Hieratic Seal of the Sun Dragon Overlord_ _(Lv.8, DEF: 0)_!"

"So you revived one of those again? It has no attack or defense values and it's a Normal Monster, that's just a waste!" Nulline pointed out.

Of course, her opponent might be wanting to use is as a last wall of defense, but that wasn't going to work well for him. She could just use the effect of her Field Spell to gain Life Points during the next turn and then destroy it with Dried _Winds_ ' first effect.

"My skill isn't done yet." Private Unit pointed out. "After I Special Summon a monster this way, another monster with the same Level can be summoned from my hand or Deck at the cost of dropping its attack and defense to zero. Of course, I'm going to summon my third _Hieratic Seal of the Sun Dragon Overlord_ _(Lv.8, DEF: 0)_."

"Tch, two Level Eight again." Why wasn't she surprised by that revelation?

"Summoning Conditions are two Level Eight Normal Monsters! I overlay my two _Hieratic Seal of the Sun Dragon Overlord_!" The galaxy portal opened over Private Unit once more and his two _Hieratic Seal_ flew inside. "Xyz Summon! Rank Eight! _Thunder End Dragon (RANK: 8, ATK: 3000)_!"

'A different Xyz Monster.' Nulline thought to herself while staring at the beast, which had electricity fly from its arms and neck.

" _Thunder End Dragon_ 's effect activates!" Private Unit threw his fist forward, while the dragon absorbed one of its Overlay Units. "By using a Xyz Material, my dragon can destroy all other monsters on the field!"

The large dragon roared and released a wave of electricity that hit everything around the two duelists. Nulline had to grab onto her D-Board as it began to shake from the tremendous power while both _Aromaseraphy Jasmine_ and _Hieratic Seal of the Celestial Spheres_ suffered the full power of the blast and were instantly destroyed, Just like she told Private Unit, the _Aromaseraphy_ could protect from battle, but not from effects.

" _Aroma Garden_ 's final effect now activates. When an Aroma monster I control is destroyed by battle or card effect, I gain a thousand Life Points!" Again, flowers flew over Nulline's body giving her another boost.

 **『** **Nulline LP: 6300 + 1000** → **7300** **』**

"Increasing your Life Points more and more, are you actually scared?" Private Unit asked his opponent.

He knew that it was just her deck's strategy, but there seemed to be a reason why the girl choose to use that specific deck out of the large array available at LINK VRAINS. It was almost like she had chosen this specific deck for a single specific opponent…

"I know what you are thinking." Nulline muttered, causing Private Unit to focus back on her. His lack of a real face made it hard to tell, but he was surprised to hear that. "I know exactly who you are thinking I want to defeat with this deck and you are correct. The one that stole my childhood and turned it into her virtual persona, I will destroy the so called Blue Angel!"

"I don't know what Blue Angel has done for you to hate her so much, but I don't care about it either." Private Unit shook his head. "All I care about is my payment and for that, I must put you don't, so no hard feelings, ok? Attack her directly, _Thunder End Dragon_!"

"No hard feelings, huh?" Nulline looked back as a charge of electricity was fired toward her. "Too bad Dried _Winds_ ' effect activates! As my Life Points are with three thousand or more points higher than yours, I can make our Life Points equal to destroy monsters whose attack is less than the Life Points I paid!"

Nulline gripped her chest in pain, while the trap began to reduce her Life Points. It wasn't a small amount either, she would lose over three thousand points, but it made her feel so alive! Despite her deck being focused around gaining Life Points, she enjoyed far more to lose them, the feeling of electricity running through her system every time she takes damage, it was good, so good…

 **『** **Nulline LP: 7300** → **3700** **』**

"I just pain three thousand and six hundred points." Nulline whispered. "That's more than _Thunder End Dragon_ 's attack value, so your monster is getting destroyed!"

A wave of wind came out from Nulline's trap and hit the monster. Private Unit's dragon roared as it began to lose balance and then collapsed into the data, drowning just like his last Xyz monster. The Charisma Duelist looked blankly at the flow of data and then turned his head away, whispering 'Turn end.'

"You were unable to reduce my Life Points even by one point." Nulline's D-Board raised so that she was standing above Private Unit. The Knight of Hanoi raised her arm toward the Charisma Duelist and clenched it into a fist. "You are all just a bunch of pathetic weaklings trying to play out as famous! Purging all of you would be us making the internet a favor!"

"My Life Points and three thousand and seven hundred." Private Unit pointed out. "Even if I don't have any cards on my field, do you think that you could reduce them to zero during this turn?"

"Just watch me, babe!" Nulline replied and turned her back to him. The Knight of Hanoi speeded forward and put a hand over her Duel Disk. "Let's finish this, draw!"

 **『** **Turn 3 [Nulline] LP: 3700 Hand: 3** **』**

"Perfect! I activate _Miracle Fertilizer_!" Nulline pressed one of the cards before her and it appeared on her field. "This spell, at the cost of my Normal Summon for the turn, allows me to revive _Aromage Bergamot (Lv.6, ATK: 2400)_ from my Graveyard!"

"This monster again…"

"Now I activate the effect of _Aroma Garden_! Once per turn, while I control an Aroma monster I can gain five hundred life points!" Nulline's monster turned back toward her and flowers flew over her body, increasing her Life Points once more.

 **『** **Nulline LP: 3700 + 500** → **4200** **』**

"As I gained Life Points, the effect of my field spell powers up all of my monsters by five hundred points!"

 **Aromage Bergamot, ATK: 2400 + 500** → **2900, DEF: 1800 + 500** → **2300**

"In addition to that, the effect of _Aromage Bergamot_ increases her own attack power by a thousand until the end of your turn." Nulline's monster pointed its staff at Private Unit's head.

 **Aromage Bergamot, ATK: 2900 + 1000** → **3900**

"Bye, bye." The Knight waved back at her opponent. " _Aromage Bergamot_ finish this duel with a direct attack!"

The monster unleashed a cyclone of red flowers that caught Private Unit's and his D-Board, throwing both of them into the data.

 **『** **Private Unit** **LP:** **37** **00** → **0 Hand: 1** **』**

 **『** **Winner:** **Nulline** **』**

"That was easy." Nulline said to herself. "Not to get rid of hi-"

The Knight of Hanoi stopped mid-sentence. She was about to say that it was time to get rid of the Charisma Duelist and ensure that there were no witnesses to report Hanoi's actions, but what she saw made her realize that there were more dangerous things in the servers of LINK VRAINS. It was an image she was never going to forget.

"Help me! Help! Please!" Private Unit yelled and begged for help as a giant arm of data grabbed his head and pulled him down, silencing his screams.

"P-Picaro, are you there?" Nulline asked her Duel Disk.

"Yes, I and Heliac found the perfect spot." The leader's voice came from the other side of the line. "Why are you calling, did something happen?"

Nulline gulped, unsure if she should tell him about what she just saw, or not. The image of the Charisma Duelist getting dragged into the deeps of the data by that giant arm wasn't going to leave her mind any time soon; that much was for sure.

"I-It's nothing." In the end, she choose to lie. "I'm done as well, so I'm going to log out. A piece of advice, you should do the same."

"Alright then, we will talk later."

The line went dead and Nulline closed it. The Hanoi Duelist quickly reached to press the button on her Duel Disk and her body turned into pixels, disappearing from the virtual world.

Unbeknown to her, a single purple eye was watching her from within the data during all that time and once the Hanoi disappeared from its area, the strange beast dived back into its home that lied deep within the sewers.

* * *

 **Skills:**

 _ **Aroma Medicine**_ **: T** **he user targets 1 monster they control and discards an "Aroma" monster to reveal the top cards of her deck equal to the level of the discarded monster. Then the user sends 1** **"Aroma" monster from the reveal cards to the GY to gain LP equal to its ATK and increase the targeted monster's ATK by the same amount. The other cards are shuffle back into the deck.**

 _ **Hieratic Rebirth**_ **: While there are two or more "Hieratic" monsters with the same Level in the user's GY, the user can target two of them. The user banishes one of the target's and if they do, Special Summon the second with its effects negated, then the user can Special Summon 1 Dragon with the same Level from their Deck, but its ATK and DEF become 0.**

* * *

 **A/N: Lol, I got no idea why I'm such a sucker to have either Evan or Avice talk about external problems and make them seem eviler with every time they are in the center of focus, but I love doing it!**

 **I was planning to have a bit of Yusaku in this chapter as well, but at the end I choose to leave him for the next chapter. I'm think to have a Go duel as well. Since next chapter would take place somewhere during the time of episodes 14-15, we will go to the raid of SOL Technology right after and boy, do I have plans for some amazing duels there. Be sure to look forward to them!**

 **Also, a few words about the new characters that we saw in this chapter. Obviously, Private Unit was a one chapter thing, so he won't show up again, but the new Knights of Hanoi are actually going to plan a major role in later arcs of the story. Also, if the VRAINS anime doesn't reveal the other Lost Children I plan to have Nulline be the one after which the Water Ignis was based off, but what do you guys think? Would you like if I did that? I don't want to connect Blue Angel to the incident because I don't think it would benefit her character. I prefer to believe that she became an amazing duelist on her own accord rather than due to the incident which as far as we saw seemed to have turned most of its victims into unstoppable Dueling machines...**

 **Thanks to** ringtaillemur0 **and** Dragon Of The Ecplising Moon **for favoriting this story!**

 **Next, I will respond to the reviews and they are a few more than usual this time around.**

ThePLOThand **: I will respond to both of your reviews here. First off, I apologize that it took me so long to start updating Tracers again, I will try to give both stories the same amount of time from here on and yes, I plan to try and utilize Soulburner in this story. I'm not sure if I will be able to do so, but I'm not going to remove him.**

 **Well, honestly, Evan doesn't have any deep ideals, for him all that matters is his own victory and nothing else. Although he have matured quite a bit since his Tracer self, victory at all cost is still something he believes into, although he is trying to forget his former self as seen in this chapter. Because of that I'm not sure how interest a crash with the forementioned characters would be. Don't worry that isn't shameless at all, I want to write amazing duels as well, but I'm not sure if I'm able to do it properly, so yeah... That was that...**

ScalchopWarrior **: More like Beta Saber as in Beta Saber, but the original was a monster that unfortunatelly didn't get more than one appearance so I don't blame for forgetting about it.**

 **Also the part "was expecting those two cards to have at least 3 different effects on them for combos" got my attention because, it mentions something I don't like about how the ChronoGear archetype. When making Evan's deck I want the effects to be simple, not more than 2 effects per card and I want the effects to be able to cover as many differen situations as possible while keeping them simple for easy combos. My idea with Evan's deck was always to make it a bit more realistic than the decks of other OCs from other stories and have him try to overcome different situations using the same cards.**

 **Back to Beta Saber, I felt that some people might be missing the dragons from Arc-Twins so I actually have plans to give the others an appearance as well in the future. If we remove the part about liking Salamangreats and Soulburner, everything else you said about his deck is exactly my point. Even worse, than generic Cyberse, Soulburner's deck has almost no swarming capability and it relies on a very specific combo between two cards to bring out Heatleo.**

 **Ok, I will fight you '5 v 1', just let me find five guys to beat you while I watch ;)**

Starman 003 **: And hey there another fan of Arc-Twins here! About the age thing, I did state that Elizabeth was last year at school so that makes her 18-19 years old and while Evan's age isn't mentioned, he is PHYSICALY 19 years old. Yeah that might sound like an unlikely age for someone who owns a company, but don't forget that Kaiba and Reiji were the heads of companies while they were kids, so there is that.**

 **As for how he got Beta Saber, well... he was a completely new deck after all and this version of the monster isn't anything special, unlike its original counterpart, so Evan got it during the 3 years gap.**

stardusthero **: Heh, I actually smiled a lot at this, but there won't be a Yusaku x Roxy ship in this story, sorry guys. If anything I'm going to do a Yusaku x Aoi ship and I already have a plan for a mini-arc about it set a bit after the Tower of Hanoi Arc where Evan, Avice and Roxy will have to take on the impossible mission as Cupid's Sevenths Squadron. Also, there was a plan for a Roxy ship, but I gave up on doing it because some of you boys and girls might find yourself** **uncomfortable with it... #Roxywillprobablyremainalone**

 **That's all I got to say in this chapter. See ya next time!**

 **Diabolic Tracer out!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Just heads up, this chapter is more of a build-up for some events that would happen later in the story. The actual raid of SOL's data bank will start next chapter!**

 **Edit: There was a HUGE error with the duel part, should be fixed now.**

* * *

A Lurking Lost Soul

 _[_ _04_ _:_ _04_ _:_ _16_ _PM] Playmaker:_ _There is something important, we need to discuss. Come to the hotdog stand, it's at the usual place._

I rubbed my fingers against the side of my Duel Disk. I read the same a second, a third, even a fourth time, but it just wasn't clicking into my head. Yusaku wanted to talk with me, even meet me, and I was unsure how to feel about it. Yes, a part of me was nervous about this message, but that wasn't the point! It was true that I would like to spent some time with him and Kusanagi, it was a while since we last met, but the atmosphere and my own life became a lot more difficult since that last meeting as well. I was a little unsure about the answer I was going to give him, but I couldn't just ignore his message either.

 _[_ _04_ _:_ _11_ _:_ _48_ _PM]_ _Proxy_ _:_ _Can't you write me what it's about? I don't think that I will be able to come._

I sighed in relief and waited for his response. Yusaku was a smart person, he would be able to tell that I was in a tight situation myself, wouldn't he? It made me feel a little bad for dumping him down like this.

 _[_ _04_ _:_ _14_ _:_ _22_ _PM] Playmaker_ _: There is a danger that SOL Technology could track down our messages, so sharing information through chat is unfavorable._

I felt like hitting my head against the nearest wall for how stupid my expectations were. That was Yusaku Fujiki that we talk about, of course he wouldn't be able to read the atmosphere! If I keep trying to push the message that I don't want us to meet, he might take it the wrong way, think that I was betraying him and Kusanagi. There wasn't a choice, I had to act!

 _[_ _04_ _:_ _19_ _:_ _51_ _PM]_ _Proxy: There are some difficulties on my part. If I come that could cause some troubles with your anonymity._

I just hope that he would be able to understand me. I was really pushed against the wall and there was absolutely no way for me to get there without at least one more person learning about Yusaku's secret identity. Actually, since Evan and Avice already knew who he was, what were the chances that they told Vermilya about it? The only person that didn't know that others knew about Yusaku's secret identity was Yusaku himself…

 _[_ _04_ _:_ _22_ _:_ _43_ _PM] Playmaker_ _: Is anyone with you right now?_

That wasn't what I meant! I got no other choice, in order for my message to get across I would have to tell him directly about the issue that I was facing. I bit my lips and began to slowly type in my response to him. With my current track record about keeping Playmaker's identity a secret any other hero would have kicked me out of their team at least ten times by now.

 _[_ _04_ _:_ _27_ _:_ _39_ _PM]_ _Proxy: Would you mind if a friend comes along with me?_

That was it, my time in team Playmaker was officially over with this message; I was sure about it. Leaning back against the wall, I titled my head and looked at the ceiling while waiting for Yusaku to respond, if he ever would.

"Hey Rox, where is the anime channel?" Vermilya shouted from the sofa.

"I'm amazed that you are unable to notice how similar you and Avice are." I sighed and walked over to the sofa, sitting down next to the red head.

I still wasn't comfortable around her, probably a side effect of her threatening me with physical violence not too long ago. Today she came very early, even had breakfast with us before Evan and Avice left for work and school respectively. Around nine hours passed since then, everything she did during the whole day was to either walk up to the third floor for a few minutes before coming back down, or to sit on the sofa and watch TV. At least I learned that she loves to watch action movies and her eyes widen in excitement every time there was an explosion on the screen.

"I'm not trying to be rude, but should you be at school today?" I asked her.

"Evan sighed a paper that I have to go to the hospital for examination during the remaining of this week, so I'm released from classes." I narrowed my eyes at her explanation. Didn't that mean she lied to the school?

"You haven't gone to any of these examinations, have you?" I asked her and she confirmed my assumptions with a nod. "The hospital is definitely going to inform the school out about that, aren't you worried what might happen after that?"

"The doctor that had to do the examinations is a close friend with Evan. He already did everything, but hasn't given the papers in yet, so when he does, at the end of the week, there will be nothing that the hospital could do about it."

I sighed, of course one of the siblings would be connected to this lie in one way or another. It amazed me how much they could lie to the system without getting caught, acting as hackers and stealing information inside LINK VRAINS while also working with SOL Technology. It was almost like tricking others was a second nature to them and it always left me amazed by how careful they thought about the details.

"Although I'm not very happy having to stay out of school myself." Vermilya admitted to me. "I will have to somehow get all of the notes for next week and I don't have anyone close at school to borrow notes from. Getting back to speed with studying is going to be one hell of a ride."

"You don't have it easy either." I believe everyone could relate to her experience. No, not the part where she got infected with a computer virus, but the school part, everyone was sick at least once during their school days and knows that catching up with the lessons wasn't an easy task.

 ***BEEP!***

"And you just got a message." I bit my lips while Vermilya stated the obvious. "Who are you texting with? A friend? Boyfriend maybe?"

"That's not funny!" I grabbed a pillow and hit her on the head with it, but she just laughed it off.

"Fine, fine. What's your friend texting you?" Vermilya began to claw toward me and my Duel Disk, leaving me to other option, but to jump off the sofa while reading the message I got.

 _[_ _04_ _:_ _47_ _:_ _16_ _PM] Playmaker_ _: Give me more information._

He… He didn't tell me to leave him alone! In fact, he asked me about more information, which meant that he wouldn't mind if Vermilya followed me, which I was 99.99 percent sure that she would do. It was what Avice asked her to do and surprisingly, she was pretty obedient to the Greysons' demands so far, almost like they have brainwashed her… Ok, ok, I'm exaggerating things, but last time we met she wanted to destroy them, so it got my curiosity.

But more importantly at the moment was what should I write to Yusaku? Knowing him, just one single wrong word could end badly for me, so I had to pick my choices of wording very, very carefully when talking – or in this case chatting – with him. And so I did.

 _[_ _04_ _:_ _42_ _:_ _09_ _PM]_ _Proxy: Would you mind sharing your school notes?_

* * *

"So, this is where you spend most of your time?" Vermilya asked while I lead her toward Kusanagi's truck.

Surprisingly, I was able to get Yusaku to cooperate and let Vermilya lurk around. Don't ask me how it happened, I got no idea either, but if you had me to make a wild guess, then I would say that Kusanagi had some part in this too. As the friendlier one, he never seemed to mind some extra help and that could have been what caused Yusaku to not outright cast me out.

Unfortunately, he wasn't trusting in me that much either and I knew that for a fact because he was right there, standing next to the closed truck with his arms crossed around his chest. His cold stare was as intimidating as ever, so he must be angry with me.

"Hey there." I waved awkwardly and stopped in front of him with Vermilya standing beside me. "I allow me to introduce you, Vermilya, this is Yusaku; Yusaku, this is Vermilya. You are both students at the same school and it's a little sad that you two didn't know that already."

"It's nice to meet you." Yusaku bowed a little. Despite his eyes giving away the fact that this meeting was unpleasant for him, he still tried to act polite and that was what amazed me about him.

"Yo." Vermilya on the other hand just raised her hand to acknowledge his existence. "So, are going to walk inside or are you going to keep us standing outside?"

"I waited here for you with a suggestion." Yusaku narrowed his eyes and then opened the door slightly to pull his school back out of it. "I'm going to give you my school notes, but you must waited for Roxanna here, outside."

"You are acting like there is something you are trying to hide inside that truck." I sighed, Vermilya was playing with Yusaku's nerves I could sense her intentions from a mile away. It was just obvious for someone who had more than five minutes to get to know either her or the Greysons. "I mean, it's still early and the truck is already closed? Also you asked a young girl to come here, maybe I should call the police."

Yusaku glared at me and I knew that it was partly my fault things were going this way. When he asked me to give more information about Vermilya, I told him that she wasn't going to be interested in what we were doing, so if he just gave her the notes she would leave us alone. I indeed thought that things were going to end like this, she was only here because Avice told her to be, so I expected her to grab onto the first chance to walk away. I was so wrong about Vermilya and her loyalty toward the Greysons that it made me surprised by how willing she was to go along with the demands of the same people that once left her.

"What is it that you want?" Yusaku suddenly asked. His voice was low and chilling, he must be really pissed off at the moment.

"For our groups to start acting like kids and think about the full extent of this situation!" Vermilya asserted. "Your group, our group, we both want the same thing, to defeat Hanoi, so why don't we help each other out instead of trying to hide from one another, huh? We got information about many things, including SOL Technologies' plans and the possible identities of some members of the Knights of Hanoi, so wouldn't it be better for both you and us, if we work as one team instead of two separated ones?"

Wow! I was left speechless; Vermilya really cared about LINK VRAINS and the fight against Hanoi. She was right that we were working against our own interests by not using our resources together as a real team. I mean, could you imagine what a team with Evan, Avice and Yusaku as our duelists would be? With Kusanagi having access all of the tech and data that the Greysons kept for themselves? Hanoi wouldn't stand a chance against a group like that!

"So, you want a partnership?" Yusaku asked for confirmation.

"Yeah, we already risk our lives anyway, so there isn't much to lose, is there?" I glanced at Vermilya.

She was playing with Yusaku's emotions and resolve to work alone, so that others wouldn't get involved in the dangers that he faces while fighting against Hanoi. She just negated that argument by stating that our lives were already put in danger, so things couldn't get any worse than that.

"How can I trust you?"

"I can't guarantee you anything right now, but if you trust in Rox over her just a bit, you might be willing to make an expectation, hmm?"

"Please stop." I whispered to Vermilya; she was embarrassing me with this.

"Fine, you can come in. Just don't touch anything." Yusaku muttered and opened the door to the truck.

Vermilya looked back at me with a grin on her face and hit my shoulder. "See? There is absolutely nothing to worry about."

"You were pushing him against a wall…" I muttered and walked inside the truck.

Like all the other times I visited, Kusanagi was once again working on the computers, but unlike the previous visits, Yusaku wasn't helping him out. Instead, he was standing behind the chair and watched at Kusanagi was doing.

"So what did you call me here for?" I asked Yusaku and shot a quick glance at the computer screen they were looking at.

It was a message from Ghostgirl and the subject was 'Hello Daddy-Long-Legs' (Excuse me, what?). The message itself was just a bunch of symbols that didn't mean anything together, there were almost no letters inside the text either!

"Do you know about Ghost Girl?" Yusaku asked me.

"Yeah, she was there when you saved Blue Angel, right?" I remembered that her avatar was working along with Aoi's older brother back then… "I also had an encounter with her a few days ago. Don't tell me that she found out about you guys from me!"

"Don't worry, it's not your fault." Kusanagi replied. "She sent this message through a popular hacking forum, she acquired my source code because I guided her during Yusaku's duel with Revolver."

"Oh." I sighed in relief. It would have been bad if everyone who learned about Yusaku's identity did so through me. Then again, his avatar had the same appearance as his real self anyways, so it wouldn't have been completely my fault if such a thing were to happen.

"She asked me to duel. If I win, she will give me the backdoor to SOL Technologies' data back, so I accepted." Yusaku told me. "Now we are waiting for her to show up."

"Ok… That's great and all, but I don't see what I got to do with all of it." Yusaku was going to be doing the dueling and all of that, so they called me, only to tell me that, or?

"The reason we called you here is because the LINK VRAINS' forums have exploded with complains about strange incidents occurring inside the network." Kusanagi leaned back into his chairs and looked at me. "We are going to be too busy lately with Ghost Girl, so Yusaku won't be able to check what all of the noise in the forum is about."

"I personally vote that we should go investigate the incidents instead of dueling Ghost Girl." Ai raised from inside Yusaku's Duel Disk.

"Can you tell me about the nature of these incidents at least?" I asked. They couldn't let me investigate without giving me just that much information, could they?

"They vary in type and level of effect, but the most common is about duelists' virtual decks being destroyed after they lose a duel." Kusanagi told me. "Normally we don't pay attention to such things, but there seems to be something more to these incidents."

"That's true." Ai nodded. "Lately I was able to feel several breaches inside the servers of LINK VRAINS. It was strangely familiar for some reason and if it's familiar then it could be connected only to either the Knights of Hanoi or my home world, the Cyberse."

"Something connected to the Cyberse, huh?" Vermilya raised her voice and I just remembered that she was there with us. "That could be interesting, I'm going to join in as well."

"That's the plan then, I guess." I sighed and looked back at Vermilya. "The two of us will investigate it together while you are busy dueling Ghost Girl. Good luck Yusaku."

"She's here" Kusanagi called out and we all turned to look at the screen.

"Ghost Girl came?" I asked him.

"Yes, it's definitely her." He confirmed and Yusaku walked toward the front of the truck, where the hidden room was, well, hidden.

"You're really going to duel her?" Ai asked, his voice sounded somewhat worried…

"She might have set a trap again." Kusanagi gave a warning but despite of it Yusaku still put on his Duel Disk.

"Yeah, I'm fully aware of that. However…" And then Yusaku began to list his three reason why it was worth jumping in despite the dangers of falling into a trap. I didn't get to hear most of it because Vermilya pulled me out of the truck while also holding some of Yusaku's notebooks in her other hand.

* * *

I sighed watching the streets of LINK VRAINS from the rooftop of a building, kicking me legs from the edge. Could you believe that I used to be scared of highs? But I spent so many times on rooftops since I joined LINK VRAINS that it wasn't scary any more, in fact, the feeling of the breeze against my face while watching the lights of the server's night background. This place was so beautiful, I couldn't understand why anyone would want to destroy it, ruin it, make people associate it with pain and torment. When I come here, when I become Proxy, I had always felt like I'm living a second live, even the bad moments become memories that I would cherish until the end.

"I don't think we will be able to see things very clearly from here during night time." Blaze Rose, who was sitting next to me, spoke up. I looked over at her, the Charisma Duelist had her arms away from the edge with her hands pressed firmly against the ground and an expression showing nothing but seriousness to complete the picture. I noticed that Vermilya's personality changed when in LINK VRAINS as well, both her real and artificial selves were serious and quick to get angry with others, but unlike the online persona, the real her was also a teaser and would even laugh from times to times.

I looked at my Duel Disk, to see how Playmaker's duel was going. There was a pair of reporters that always followed him around during duels and recorded what was happening in lifetime. At the time Yusaku had some red robot monster with 1000 attack and 1900 Life Points while Ghost Girl had three monsters and 4000 Life Points, so the match wasn't going in his favor at the moment. I probably shouldn't interfere with it though, letting his opponent drop his Life Points to below 1000 and then using Storm Access was Playmaker's go-to strategy so I probably shouldn't worry about him too much.

"You are right." I stood up and looked down at Blaze Rose. "It will be hard to see anything from here, we should drop down and continue our search from there."

"Talking about dropping down, do you see who I'm seeing?" Blaze Rose leaned closer to the edge of the rooftop and pointed at something below us. I tried to follow where her finger was pointing at, but it was hard for me since I was looking at it from a completely different point of view and I couldn't make clearly what it was pointing at.

So I shook my head for a no.

"It's Go Onizuka!" Blaze Rose shouted at me. Since I already knew what we were looking for I was able to quickly identify him in the mostly empty street below us. He was walking toward somewhere, but I couldn't tell where. Come to think about it, the only time I ever saw this Charisma Duelist before was during his duel with Playmaker and that was from afar. I never talked with him, nor knew what kind of person he was.

"What's so interesting about him?" I asked Blaze Rose.

"I must ask him some things." She replied and ran off toward the side of the building, then jumped over, landing on the fire escape of the next building. I sighed and slowly followed after her, despite not liking her company I would rather have her with me than stay alone in a virtual city during the night.

After a bit of jumping and a lot of stairs, I was able to catch up to Blaze Rose just as she ran out of the alley. I fell on my knees right behind her and began to take deep breaths, feeling a strong pain forming in my chest after running down thirty-seven floors worth of stairs. I wasn't sure how Blaze Rose wasn't affected from all of the running and it started to worry me that this sort of amazing physical fitness might be required for someone to be accepted as a Charisma Duelist.

"Long time not seen, Number One!" I raised my eyes to look at Blaze Rose while catching my breath. We were standing in front of Go Onizuka and was he huge! Not one, he was two heads taller than Blaze, who herself three fourths of a head taller than me. In other words, he was so huge compared to me!

"Blaze Rose." Go mumbled. "I heard that you haven't show in LINK VRAINS for some time, did something happen?"

"A lot happened." Blaze Rose crossed her arms and rubbed her shoulders. "You were gone from here for a while as well, but do you have any idea what's going on with the Charisma Duelists?"

"Well, as you said I was gone from here for a while myself, so I'm not up to date with the recent events, but it seems like the remaining from the Top Ten are having it rough. Blue Angel, Gloomy Ruby and Rocketeer have disappeared from LINK VRAINS around the same time as you and I heard that since yesterday Private Unit wasn't responding either. Many duelists are trying to use our absence and the chaos that the Knights of Hanoi brought to take our places."

"That was to be expected, everyone wants to be a Charisma Duelist and get all of the benefits that come with it." Blaze Rose stepped back toward me and put a hand on my shoulder. "I'm honestly not interested in being a Charisma Duelist any longer, there are more important things in my life now. Problem is, if I officially retire I'm afraid that some bastard who only wants to abuse the system will take my place."

"So you won't be a challenger for my title as Number One Duelist in LINK VRAINS anymore?" An almost sad smile formed on Go's face with these words. "So, who's your friend?"

"I was never really interested to begin with." I took Blaze's hand and allowed her to help me stand up. She looked me into the eyes for a moment, then turned back to face the other Charisma Duelist. "Ask her, she was a mouth to introduce herself, right?"

"S-sorry!" I bowed before the two Charisma Duelists. Blaze was right, she shouldn't be the one introducing me. "My name is Proxy, I'm a friend with Blaze Rose. It's nice to meet you, Mr. Go Onizuka."

"So you got yourself a friend at long last." Go's words made Blaze to look away abashed and I smiled a bit at her reaction; it was also sad that she apparently wasn't able to make any friends before me.

"So, Mr. Go Onizuka, have you noticed anything strange happening around LINK VRAINS lately?" I asked the huge Charisma Duelist. He seemed like a nice person, but I was trying to talk extra nicely, because I didn't want to disrespect him.

"No, I haven't." I looked down in disappointment. "What are you looking for anyways?"

"We heard that some weird incidents were happening around the server." Blaze Rose answered before I could. "We are trying to figure out the cause. It might be something connected to the Knights of Hanoi."

"I might help you then." The Number One Charisma Duelist stated firmly. "After my lost to Playmaker and spent some time away from LINK VRAINS to updated my deck with next cards and tactics. I was looking for a chance to test it out in a life duel. A Knights of Hanoi could do a good practice dummy as well."

"Problem is, how are we going to find the source of the incidents?" I asked the two Charisma Duelists. We didn't know anything about how it looked and if it was even a physical being and not a glitch in the network.

"Well, if most people haven't heard about these incidents then they probably happen at places without many people." Go pointed out. "Maybe the best place to search would be the alleys."

"Come on, that's just cliché!" Blaze Rose grumbled. "Can't you two think of a different place to search?"

"I don't mean to be rude, but I'm sure that the source of the incidents won't just show up out of nowhere." I responded. As cliché as it was to search for a bad guy in abandoned alleys, it was the only idea we had at the moment. No one said that we had to find the cause in one day either, so I might ask Evan to help me out tomorrow. He had information about everything that happens in the servers, so if there really was someone messing with the program, he would know everything about it.

Then, something pushed me from behind. I had no time to reach, nor was able to see what it was, but it was strong and felt like it had large claws for arms. My nerves felt everything from the something pushing me hard in the back to the harsh impact after I fell on my face a moment later. A large black claw made from data slammed itself into my Duel Disk and it began to make strange noises while two more arms were pushing my back to keep me down. I couldn't move, nor turn my head any more to see what exactly attacked me, but I could hear Blaze Rose yelling curses beside me.

Just as quickly as the strange thing got us pinned on the ground, it suddenly got dragged off us. I heard Go groan and then the black creature was throw a good few feet away from us, crashing into the street.

"What is this?" I heard the Number 1 ask, but I had no answer ready since I didn't know it either!

I looked at the creature again and got a clearer look at what it was. Its whole body was made from black data with four long and slender arms and two pointy legs without feet. Its head, if there was one (there was no neck to separate it from the rest of the body) had a single blue orb located at the far left side.

"It obviously isn't a pet." Blaze Rose retorted.

"But why did it attack us?" I asked her and looked at my Duel Disk. I tried to turn it on and it glow for a few moments before turning back off; I couldn't enter dueling mode anymore! "Also, my Duel Disk is low on battery now!"

"That thing messed up our devices." Blaze Rose bit her lip. "We can't duel!"

"D-Du… Dueeel…" A very quiet and distorted voice came from the strange black creature while it collected itself from the ground. "I… Duuueeeellll."

"So, it can duel after all…" Go's shoulders visibly raised and he took a step forward, clenching his fists. "Very well, then. I will be your opponent!"

"Be careful, we still don't know if, and how that thing destroys decks." Blaze Rose warned the Number 1.

"I think we just figured it out." I replied and hit my fist against my Duel Disk, but nothing happened. Let's just hope my cards weren't destroyed or broken from that thing's claws.

"Don't worry Blaze, I will make it quick." Go activated his own Duel Disk. "Let's duel!"

 **『** **Go Onizuka LP: 4000 Hand: 5 (VS) Unknown LP: 4000 Hand: 5** **』**

One of the creature's arms reached out and grabbed onto the Charisma Duelist's Duel Disk, shocking him with electricity. Go yelled and stepped back, holding a hand over the one that was shocked by the monster's actions. He gritted his teeth and looked at the black humanoid.

"We haven't even started and you are already using cheap tricks to distract your opponent!" the Charisma Duelist shouted. "You have no honor as a duelist!"

"Data obtained." The creature looked at its arms and spoke clearly, but its voice was still distorted. "Taking on first turn. Doesn't draw a card."

"This thing is talking just like some sort of AI." Blaze Rose stood up and looked at Go. "We haven't faced such a threat before, be careful about any sort pf tricks."

"I'm not worried at all." The Number 1 turned to look back at us. "Fighting strong opponents is part of being a Charisma Duelist. I wouldn't be a coward if I ran from a challenge, even if my opponent cheats, I will still find a way to overcome the odds and win!"

"Turn start, Main Phase One." The strange creature held out its top left arm and five cards appeared inside of it. "I activate _One for One_! Discard a monster, Special Summon _Formud Skipper (Lv.1, ATK: 0)_! A grey robot monster whose head looked like that of a frog appeared on the field with green eyes.

"But that's a Cyberse monster!" Blaze Rose exclaimed and I looked at the creature that just summoned the monster. Only Playmaker was supposed to have this type of monsters!

"So, Playmaker wasn't the only one after all." I heard Go mutter to himself. "But what good is a monster with zero attack power in attack position?"

"Aactivate _Formud Skipper_ 's effect." The creature raised its other left arm and a card appeared in it. "Reveal _Knightmare Cerberus_ from Extra Deck, change _Formud Skipper_ 's name to _Knightmare Cerberus_!" The Cyberse monster's body began to change and it transformed into an orange dog-like creature with three heads and a large ring around all of their necks.

'A monster that could take the name of a monster in the Extra Deck… What sort of effect is that?' I thought while looking at the duel.

"Circuit open!" the Unknown - that's how I will call the creature from here on – raised its right arms in the air and the Link Square appeared above it. "Arrowhead confirmed! Summoning condition is one _Knightmare_ monster! Set _Formud Skipper_ renamed to to _Knightmare Cerberus_ in the Link Marker! Link Summon! _Knightmare Mermaid (ATK: 600, Link-1)_!"

The same mermaid monster appeared on the field and took the place of the fake _Formud Skipper_. So the whole use of the Cyberse Monster was for it take on the archetype requirement needed to summon the Link 1? Well, no wonder that Playmaker didn't have such a card in his deck, it wasn't very useful for him.

"The effect of _Knightmare Mermaid_! Discard a card, Special Summon _Knightmare Corruptor Iblee (Lv.2, DEF: 0)_ from deck!" A girl in black clothes appeared under _Knightmare Mermaid_ 's Link Arrow. "Effects from Graveyard activate: _Sea Archiver (Lv.3, DEF: 2100)_ and _The Fabled Cerburrel (Lv.2, ATK: 1000)_ Special Summon!"

Just like that, with the effect of discarding one card, the Unknown summoned three new monsters, two of which were, once again, Cyberse. I bit my lip and looked at Go, but he was unimpressed by his opponent's moves so far.

"Circuit open!" The square appeared above the Unknown once more. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning condition are twomonsters with different names! Set _Sea Archiver_ and _Knightmare Corruptor Iblee_ in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Knightmare Phoenix (ATK: 1900. Link-2)_!" A red phoenix monster flew onto the field and landed behind the mermaid monster with its wings spread wide over the field.

" _Knightmare Corruptor Iblee_ 's effect, Special Summon on your side of the field." The girl in black clothes reappeared once more, but this time it was summoned on Go's side of the field.

"Why would this thing give their opponent a free monster?" I asked Blaze Rose, but she was just as confused about it as me.

"It doesn't really matter, Go can only use Gouki monsters as Link Materials, so that _Knightmare Corruptor Iblee_ will only take up a monster zone until Go manages to get rid of it." So, the idea was basically to make one of Go's monster zones basically useless?

"Circuit open!" for a third time, the Unknown summoned the Link circuit; just how many Link Summons was it planning to do. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning condition are twomonsters with different names! Set _Knightmare Mermaid_ and _The Fabled Cerburrel_ in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Knightmare Goblin (ATK: 1300, Link-2)_!" A green humanoid with a large, messed up head holding a shield and some sort of other weapon in its arms landed next to the right side of _Knightmare Phoenix_.

"Effect activate, discard one card to Summon twice. Additional, co-linked draw one card." The Unknown quickly replaced one of the cards in its hand with another one. Setting up Graveyard presence while also keeping the size of the hand, it was truly an amazing display!

"So, if your monster's effect allows you to Normal Summon twice this turn, I take it that you aren't done with your moves yet." Go crossed his arms. "Am I correct?"

The Unknown didn't seem to pay attention to the Number 1's words and just pressed a card in its hand. "Normal Summon _Gouki Suprex (Lv.4, ATK: 1800)_!" A blue humanoid warrior with claws on its arms jumped onto the field and threw a few punches in the air.

"A Gouki?!" Both Go and Blaze Rose exclaimed at the same time.

"What kind of trick is this?" Go asked in a demanding tone. "How did you get my cards?"

" _Gouki Suprex_ 's effect. Special Summon _Gouki Riscorpio (Lv.5, ATK: 2300)_ from the hand." A large red humanoid with a scorpion tail appeared next to the blue one. "Circuit open!"

The square appeared above the Unknown's head and its two Gouki monsters shot into the bottom left and right arrows, making them glow as a new Link Monster was on its way to appear.

"Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning condition are twoWarrior monsters! Set _Gouki Suprex_ and _Gouki Riscorpio_ in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Isolde, Two Tales of the Noble Knights (ATK: 1600, Link-2)_!" a young woman with blonde hair and a red attire fitting only for a queen appeared in the Extra Monster Zone with a bow. "Effects activate! Search two Gouki cards, add a warrior to the hand!"

"This… It has copies of all my cards!" Go stepped back shocked and Blaze Rose who was standing next to me but the nail of one of her fingers.

" _Isolde, Two Tales of the Noble Knights_ 's effect! _Send Divine Sword – Phoenix Blade_ from deck to Graveyard, Special Summon _Gouki Octostretch (Lv.1. DEF:0)_!" And yet another one of Go's monsters was summoned on the opponent's field. This was getting better with every second, and yes, this sentence was sarcastic.

"Four Link Summonings already and it's not stopping… Don't tell me that this thing is planning to do an Extra Link!" Blaze Rose called out.

"What is an Extra Link?" I asked her. I never heard that name before, no one mentioned it during a duel before.

"Extra Link, it's the concept that allows you to Link the two Extra Monster Zones." Blaze Rose paused and turned back to look at me. Her expression was more serious than previously. "It means that if this thing succeeds to pull it off, they are going to be able to summon a monster in the other Extra Monster Zone as well."

"But isn't controlling two Extra Monster Zones against the rules?" The rules did state that a duelist could use only one of them at time.

"It's an exception that only a few skilled individuals were able to achieve." So if I took that correctly, if the Unknown managed to pull it out, they must be a very skilled duelist.

"Circuit open! Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning condition are two or more monsters with different names! Set _Gouki Octostretch_ and _Isolde, Two Tales of the Noble Knights_ in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Knightmare Unicorn_ _(ATK: 2200, Link-3)_!" Next of course came the yellow Link monsters, unlike the previous ones, it was a Link 3 monster. "Effects activate! Search one Gouki card. Activate _Gouki Rematch_ , revive _Gouki Suprex (Lv.4, DEF: 0)_ and _Gouki Riscorpio (Lv.5, DEF: 0)_!" The two Gouki monsters appeared in defense position.

"Don't tell me that it's planning to do what I'm thinking!" Go called out. I had no idea what he was referring to!

"Circuit open!" The square appeared above the Unknown for the nth time this turn. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning condition are two monsters with different names! Set _Gouki Suprex_ and _Gouki Riscorpio_ in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Knightmare Cerberus (ATK: 1600. Link-2)_!" The orange monster appeared on the field with a roar. "Effect activate! discard a card to destroy _Knightmare Corruptor Iblee_ , then draw a card. Activate _Monster Reborn_ to revive _Knightmare Corruptor Iblee_!"

The Unknown destroyed the monster that it gave to Go while it also added another card to its hand, bringing it up to four! I couldn't tell what would happen next, there were four co-linked monsters, the creature was so close to finished the Extra Link!

"Circuit open!" Again?! "Arrowhead confirmed! Summoning condition is one _Knightmare_ monster! Set _Knightmare Corruptor Iblee_ in the Link Marker! Link Summon! _Knightmare Mermaid (ATK: 600, Link-1)_!" The phoenix that was moved away from its previous zone shot into the circuit and a beam of light fell from it, landing on the other Extra Monster Zone.

"I can't believe it…" Blaze Rose muttered.

I couldn't believe my eyes either, this being, whatever it was, just managed to make an Extra Link on its very first turn! Not only that, but none of the monsters pointed at Go's field which meant that the Charisma Duelist was completely looked out of his Extra Deck!

"Extra Link: Completed! Banish _Gouki Suprex_ and _Gouki Riscorpio_ , add _Divine Sword – Phoenix Blade_ to hand!" The Equip Spell appeared back into the Unknown's hand and got pushed aside. "Turn end!

"So, you were able to lock me out of my Extra Deck, huh?" Go looked forward at the five Link Monsters before him and was actually smiling! Could it be possible that he actually enjoyed that situation?!

"You sound like you got some sort of plan." Blaze Rose crossed her arms. "I sure hope that you do."

"I don't have a plan for this situation." Go shook his head and turned back to look at us, his smile still there. "But when a duelist is faced with a challenge like this, rational strategies won't work, all we can trust on are our instincts and mine tell me that there is still a way to win this. Even without Link Monsters, I will push my way through this offense! My turn, draw!"

 **『** **Turn 2 [Go Onizuka] LP: 4000 Hand: 6** **』**

"Perfect hand! I "Normal Summon _Gouki Suprex (Lv.4, ATK: 1800)_ and activate its effect to Special Summon _Gouki Bearhug_ _(Lv.6, ATK: 2400)_!" A huge brown monster with a red fur cloak falling from its back landed next to the first Gouki and roared like a bear. "Now _Gouki Bearhug_ 's effect activates! When it's Special Summoned by the effect of a Gouki card, I can target a monster you control and halve its attack points! I target _Knightmare Unicorn_!" The huge bear-like monster slammed its fists into the ground and threw a rock at the Knightmare.

"Move is illegal." The Unknown called as a barrier blocked the rock and destroyed it. "Goblin's effect: Co-linked monsters can't be targeted by effects. Cerberus's effect: Co-linked monsters can't be destroyed by card effects. Phoenix's effect: Co-linked monsters can't be destroyed by battle."

"WHAT?!" My eyes bulged hearing all of those effects. These Knightmare monsters were completely indestructible, weren't they? If Go couldn't get rid of them, then how was he supposed to summon a Link Monster and turn the tides around?

"An absolute lockdown is it then, huh?" Go clenched his fists.

"Mermaid's effect. All monsters that aren't co-linked lose a thousand attack and defense points!" The two Gouki monsters on Go's field seemed to feel bad and fell on their knees, wiping sweat off their foreheads.

 **Gouki Suprex, ATK: 1800 – 1000** → **800**

 **Gouki Bearhug ATK: 2400 – 1000** → **1400**

"Hmm, your monsters are indeed strong." Go said and pointed a finger at the sky. "But I'm not Number One for nothing! I discard _Gouki Twistcobra_ to Special Summon _Gouki Headbatt (Lv.2, DEF: 0)_!" A purple and black humanoid monster with an appearance very similar to that of a bat. "When _Gouki Headbatt_ is summoned, I can increase the attack of a Gouki by six hundred! I choose _Gouki Bearhug_!"

 **Gouki Bearhug ATK: 1400 + 8000** → **2200**

"Next, I activate the Spell, Gouki Face Turn to destroy _Gouki Headbatt_ and Special Summon _Gouki Twistcobra (Lv.3, ATK: 1600)_ from my Graveyard!" A green humanoid with a snake motive jumped out of a black portal and note to its comrades. "When _Gouki Headbatt_ leaves the field I can add a different Gouki card to my hand! I add the Equip Spell, _Gouki Grit_ and activate it to Special Summon _Gouki Headbatt (Lv.2, ATK: 800)_ and equip it with _Gouki Grit_!"

"Mermaid's effect. All monsters that aren't co-linked lose a thousand attack and defense points!" The Gouki's new monsters took deep breaths, already looking extremely tired.

 **Gouki Twistcobra, ATK: 1600 – 1000** → **600**

 **Gouki Headbatt** **ATK: 800 – 1000** → **0**

'Why would he use this effect to Special Summon a monster whose attack is zero?' I thought watching Go's moves. He was a Charisma Duelist and the best one as well, so it couldn't be that he forgot about the Mermaid's effect, right?

"Lastly, I activate the Continuous Spell, _Gouki Shout_! With this card's effect, when a Gouki attacks an opponent monster, it will gain three hundred extra points for every Gouki that I control!" 300 per monster? But there were four of these out, so that meant all of his monsters were going to get 1200 bonus points when they attack! "I'm going to end the whole duel in this turn! _Gouki Bearhug_ destroy _Knightmare Mermaid_! And since it declared an attack, the effect of _Gouki Shout_ increases its attack by three hundred per Gouki monster I control!"

"Counter! Banish Necro Gardna from the Graveyard to negate your attack!" A grinning warrior appeared in front of _Gouki Bearhug_ and blocked its attack with its bare hands before it disappeared again.

"I was expecting that much." Go replied. "Let's go! _Gouki Headbatt_ attack next!" The bat-like monster jumped into the air and threw a kick at the mermaid.

 **Gouki Headbatt** **ATK: 0 + 1200** → **1200**

"Phoenix's effect protects Mermaid from destruction." The Phoenix flew in front of the water monster and used its wings to shield it from the kick.

"But you still take the damage!" Go called out and indeed, the Unknown had to step back and its body cracked a bit.

 **『** **Unknown LP: 4000 - 600** → **3400** **』**

"Next, _Gouki Twistcobra_!" The snake monster seemed to smile hearing its name and jumped at the mermaid, pushing the water monster into the ground. Due to _Gouki Shout_ its attack got a boost as well!

 **Gouki Twistcobra, ATK: 600 + 1200** → **1800**

 **『** **Unknown LP: 3400 - 1200** → **2200** **』**

"Phoenix's effect protects Mermaid from destruction." The Unknown being repeated the same phase after Go's monsters failed to finish it off once again.

"That's exactly what I was betting on." Go put a hand on his hips seemingly in triumph. "Since your weaker monster can't be destroyed by battle and it's a Link Monster, it becomes the perfect target to score damage through. Wasn't it for Phoenix's effect negating its destruction, this wouldn't have been possible!"

"Unable to… comprehend…" The Unknown took a step back, its body kept breaking down and one of its arms fell on the ground, disappearing from the server.

"I activate _Gouki Twistcobra_ 's effect!" Go pumped his fist forward. "Once per turn, I can release a Gouki monster and give its attack points to another Gouki monster! I release _Gouki Bearhug_ to increase _Gouki Suprex_ 's attack by two thousand and four hundred!"

 **Gouki Suprex, ATK: 800 + 2400** → **3200**

"When _Gouki Bearhug_ leaves the field I can add a different Gouki card to my hand!" Go called out showing the card that he added, _Gouki Octostretch_. "Now for the finish, _Gouki Suprex_ attack _Knightmare Mermaid_!" The Gouki jumped in front of the mermaid and grabbed the monster, suprexing it into the ground. "And because of _Gouki Shout_ my monster gains even more attack points."

 **Gouki Suprex, ATK: 3200 + 900** → **4100**

 **『** **Unknown LP: 2200 - 3500** → **0** **』**

 **『** **Winner: Go Onizuka** **』**

Amazing… No extra deck monsters used, despite the huge disadvantage he was at, Go was able to create a strategy that would give him the victory within one single turn! No wonder he was the Number 1 among Charisma Duelists, suck skills, they couldn't be imitated, he must have had many duels, gathered much experience in order to master the use of his deck like that. Would it be weird if I asked for his autograph?

"N-No… Noooooo…" The Unknown creature's voice broke down and the 'no' turned into some strange noise as more and more parts of its body began to collapse and disappear. "E… Erro…Errooor. Ca-canooot-t-t… Sta-" Unable to finish its sentence, the being's body completely collapsed and just a glowing card filled with data remained behind.

"I couldn't understand how it was able to get a copy of my Gouki cards." Go muttered. "They aren't rare, but it was a bit too much of a coincidence that it had them too, wasn't it?"

I looked at Blaze Rose. The female Charisma Duelist walked over to the card and took it from the ground then threw it toward me. My eyes widened and I quickly took several steps back to catch it before it hit the ground. Putting it close to my chest, I breathed in relief, Blaze Rose shouldn't have thrown it that high knowing that my avatar was tiny!

"You still haven't figured out what happened, did you?" Blaze Rose spoke up. "It didn't have your cards, it must have downloaded a copy of them while it caught your Duel Disk. That was probably how it was able to 'break' decks, perhaps it also injected a virus into the decks, destroying them."

"Why would anyone do such a thing?" I looked over at Go, he gritted his teeth in anger and clenched his fists. "What would they gain by stealing and destroying others' property?"

"The answer on the first question is, not a human. That thing you dueled, it was an AI for sure, it's dueling was clumsy and no skilled enough to manage an Extra Link duelist would actually fall on the first turn by a Beatdown strategy. Your opponent was obvious an amateur when it came to actual dueling."

"An AI, huh? Many weird things were happening in the last few days." Go took a deep breath. "It still doesn't explain why it would steal others' cards and how it got those Cyberse monsters."

"It's just a guess that I have, but that AI didn't seem to be having a functional deck. There were obviously unnecessary and weird cards inside of the deck that it used against you." Blaze Rose rubbed her chin in thought. "But the Cyberse cards really intrigued me. They are extremely rare, Playmaker is the last known duelist to have them, so there wouldn't be a way for this AI to have stolen them from another duelist, which means…"

"The Cyberse Cards belonged to it from the start." I conclude. It reminded me what AI said when we talked about the incidents.

 _Lately I was able to feel several breaches inside the servers of LINK VRAINS. It was strangely familiar for some reason and if it's familiar then it could be connected only to either the Knights of Hanoi or my home world, the Cyberse._

Why would the Knights of Hanoi create an AI and send it to roam the servers of LINK VRAINS and steal other duelists' cards? If this AI was truly from the Cyberse, could we have just destroyed one of Ai's kind? No, don't think like that! I would have to talk with the Greysons and Yusaku about it before reaching to crazy conclusions.

"I suggest we all leave now." Blaze Rose said, catching our attention. "This thing got its arms on all of our Duel Disk, I don't know how long after that a deck gets completely destroyed, so we better log out and run scans on our Duel Disks for any viruses it might have left behind."

"That's a reasonable suggestion." Go nodded and reached out to log out. "Stay save you two."

"You too, Mr. Go Onizuka." I responded.

"Heh, please, just call me by my name." Go chuckled and pressed a button on his Duel Disk, logging out from LINK VRAINS.

"I have the feeling that you two are going to be very good friends." Blaze Rose put a hand on my shoulder.

"Huh?" I looked back at her a bit confused as to why she was telling me that. "Do you really think that?"

"Of course. Not." I puffed my checks, her lack of confidence in me was a little insulting.

* * *

 **3** **rd** **POV**

Inside SOL Technology, Akira Zaizen leaned his back against chair he was sitting on and groaned, his tense muscles starting to relax a little as he was finally able to take a break from typing on his computer. The time as Security Manager made him forget how much work the normal staff of the company had to carry through during the whole day. His current occupation as Chief Hacker wasn't anywhere near an easy job, but he was quickly starting to get used to it. As someone who spent the last ten years doing all sort of work to keep a roof over his sister's head, there was almost no job that he couldn't do.

The door of his office slide open and the Zaizen's pink eyes glanced at the person who stepped inside. Akira tensed a bit and pushed himself away from the comfort of his seat, putting his hands on top of the desk. Evan removed his sunglasses – don't ask why he wore them inside the building – and smirked. It was a look that Akira has gotten used to, the white and red haired man was up to something again.

"Lately you spent a lot more time at our company than at yours." Akira couldn't help put point out this fact. Evan wasn't working for SOL, he was a business partner and as such it was unusual to see him there every other day.

"I had to meet with your crazy boss today." Evan sighed and walked over to the glass that kept the current room separated from another one that was holding all of SOL Technology's data inside. "I didn't ask him due to my obvious desire to see him fail and get fired for his stupidity, but could you help me get the camera records of this building from yesterday? There is an employer I want to identify."

"Just what are you up to this time?" Akira asked him. SOL Technology's employs had their personal data protected from the company and no one was allowed to spread or make it public, so what Evan was asking him for was pretty much illegal.

"Have you even heard about the Trojan Horse?" Evan asked a question on his own and turned to look at Akira. There was no longer a smirk on his face which told Zaizen that they were talking about serious business.

"Do you mean the computer virus or the Trojan Horse from the Greek mythology?"

"The second one." Evan replied and put his sunglasses back on. The ChronoGear duelist put his hands into the pockets of his pants and walked back to the door. Before leaving however, he left Zaizen with some last words. "I'm asking because SOL Technology's might have just turned into Troy."

* * *

 **Roxy's POV**

I lied on my bed and watched the ceiling inside the darkness of my bedroom. Thankfully, Avice had finished school and was at home to check our Duel Disks and repair anything that might have been broken. After that we had dinner and Vermilya remained to speak with her about the incident and how the creature might have been lured to attack us by our oGear decks. I still had no understanding about the true nature of my deck, but if that theory was true, it was probably connected to the Cyberse in some way.

Today was another weird day, wonder if Playmaker had a better time with his objectives that I did with mine. Perhaps it would be too bad to ask how he was doing, it was still pretty early in the day.

 _[_ _08_ _:_ _45_ _:_ _05_ _PM]_ _Proxy: Hey, how did the duel with Ghost Girl go?_

I lied down and waited for his response. Of course, he must have won, that was Playmaker that we talk about, the best duelist in LINK VRAINS. He even beat Go Onizuka and I already saw what that Charisma Duelist was capable of even without an Extra Deck.

 _[_ _08_ _:_ _50_ _:_ _21_ _PM]_ _Playmaker: It was a success, she was true to her word._

So she gave him the backdoor to SOL's data bank? Of course he wasn't going to say that in the chat since this was, after all, part of SOL Technologies' features. That didn't stop me from sighing in relief though, somehow hearing that Playmaker was achieving his goals made me feel more relax, perhaps even happy about him.

 _[_ _08_ _:_ _57_ _:_ _43_ _PM]_ _Proxy: I investigated the incidents like you asked me to. There was something extremely weird, I don't know for sure what it was, but it used Cyberse cards and left some sort of data after it disappeared._

I still had the data in my avatar's inventory, unsure what to do with it. On the one hand, I could give it to Evan and Avice for analyze, but on the other it was Playmaker and Ai that asked me to check it out and the creature was using Cyberse cards so its connection to them was definitely more important than the Greysons in this scenario.

 _[_ _09_ _:_ _02_ _:_ _17_ _PM]_ _Playmaker: It used Cyberse cards? I thought that Hanoi destroyed all of those that remained. Was there anything else about it that you noticed?_

Blaze Rose said a similar thing about Cyberse cards being extremely rare, so I guess this confirms they weren't stolen from another person's deck. Ugh, thinking about it too much makes my head hurt!

 _[_ _09_ _:_ _04_ _:_ _49_ _PM]_ _Proxy: It seemed to be an AI, but it wasn't anywhere near the level of Ai, so I'm unsure how important that was. I got the data that it felt behind on me, so I could come tomorrow and give it to you to examine it._

This time, his response was a very quick. It amazed me too about how quickly he responded.

 _[_ _09_ _:_ _06_ _:_ _12_ _PM]_ _Playmaker: I won't be available tomorrow._

The infiltration into the Data Bank, right. For the record, I didn't forget about that, but I wasn't expecting Playmaker to jump into action so fast. Then there was another beep and another message came from him.

 _[_ _09_ _:_ _08_ _:_ _36_ _PM]_ _Playmaker: I never asked you, but you make sure to delete your message logs afterward, don't you? SOL can't figure my location, but I'm not sure about yours…_

Ha, I could actually delete the messages after sending them? Oh, wait. I should have deleted them?! Of course, I should have done that, how dumb could I be to forget to do so.

 _[_ _09_ _:_ _11_ _:_ _05_ _PM]_ _Proxy: Of course I do! There is nothing for you to worry about._

DELETE FREAKING EVERYTHING!

* * *

 **A/N: So, some of you might be** **scratching your heads about what the heck is happening lately, while others probably gave up halfway through (akward laugh). I don't want to spoil anything, but the sewers monster that made a cameo in the laster chapter and the strange creature we saw in this one are actually going to play an important role in the later part of the story and mostly during the events that will happen in Season 2.** **Before we continue I want to tell you all that today is a special day for me! I'm not going to get into details about it, but as a treat today I'm putting a new chapter for bot this and my Arc-V story, so for those of you who are following both of them, here, I got something for you guys!**

 **So, what are you thoughts on Go's duel against the Knightmare deck? I wanted to use a real meta version of the Knightmare deck for this duel and the only versions of** **Knightmare that I found online were Gouki builds. It strangely reminds be about how the most popular Sky Striker decks are Sky Striker Trickstars... I originally wanted to make this a struggle with Go and the Unknown trading blow after blow until the Number 1 found an opening, but come on, wasn't a first turn, indestructible Extra Link with no monsters pointing up cooler? Of course Go found a way around it, but I don't think that there would be a better way to show how awesome he can be than letting him destroy the** **Extra Link and win with an OTK. The poor Unknown probably lost whatever brain capability it had after making such an indestructible combo and still loses to Gouki Beatdown like an absolute noob.**

 **But enough with the self-praise, time to respond to our sole review for the day!**

ScalchopWarrior **: Just to clear something up, Vermilya/Blaze Rose isn't living with Roxy and the Greysons. She will indeed spent most of her time with them, but she lives in the school dorms, so there is that. In fact, you aren't really wrong about the last part,** **Blaze Rose was indeed designed to be Proxy's rival, although they don't exactly have much rival-like dinamic at the moment.**

 **I'm not sure if you paid attention, but I did mention in the A/N last time that Nulline would be the base of the WATER Ignis only if VRAINS doesn't reveal the real one. If they reveal it, then** **Nulline with just be another member of Hanoi and nothing more, her backstory won't be explored much until the end of Season 1/during Season 2 so VRAINS got enough time to show us who the WATER Ignis was based after.**

 **And about that thing with Arc-V and VRAINS... Yeah, I noticed it too, some people are still trying to point out that VRAINS is better because they don't use "but you still take the damage" in every episode and such. While I too was extremely hiped for VRAINS and believed that it would be better than Arc-V, unlike others I didn't expect it to be 'cool' or 'epic', just barely above the extremely low standards that the last 50 episodes of Arc-V set up. And while I said that I don't want to watch VRAINS any more because of how stupid it became, it has no Yuya so its still better for me than Arc-V. I know, I know, it's childish to judge a whole show based of a single character, but when that character is incluencing badly all other characters (that egao bullshit) it's somewhat fair. If the writers didn't allow him to influence how the other characters THINK I would have said that Arc-V and VRAINS have equally bad writing, which is sad because both shows had a lot of characters and plot points with potential.**

 **And I somehow ended up ranting again *sigh* can't be helped I guess. Well, see you all next time and don't forget to F/F/R!**

 **Diabolic Tracer out!**


	22. Chapter 22

**So, I just want to put it here once more for those who didn't saw it. There was a huge error in the duel from last chapter where I forgot to write the summoning of Knightmare Cerberus for the Extra Link. The mistake is fixed but I deeply apologize for it. Also, I want to thank to** ScalchopWarrior **for telling me about it before it was too late.**

* * *

Child of Hanoi

"So, what exactly am I looking at?"

I was looking at some sort of tube with the data card that I got form the weird creature floating inside the strange machine that Evan and Avice brought out – the data was dispersing, turning into something completely new. I spent a long time last night thinking on whenever I should tell them about my little adventure in LINK VRAINS or wait for Yusaku to come back and give the data to him instead. I still thought that it would be righter if Playmaker was to have it, but who knew, maybe it was something that I should just keep around in my pocket.

The Greysons looked at me and chuckled like I just said something funny. I wasn't confused which of my words could have caused them to react like that, but I was too busy wondering what the point of the tube was to ask them about it. I didn't even notice that Evan walked over to me until his hand ruffled my hair and I instinctively pulled away. I dislike when people touched my hair like that; it made me feel like they were treating me like some kid!

"The data you collected didn't belong to your opponent, or whatever the thing you mentioned in your story was – it was cards data." I looked up at Evan and pouted. Seriously, after all the dangers that not only we but also the Number 1 put himself through, our rewards were a few cards?

I still looked at the data as it dispersed into small bits and they all began to connect together, building themselves up into three new forms and the familiar orange layer of an Effect Monster was the first thing that I noticed about them. After a few more minutes the artworks began visible as well and I recognized the cards.

"Those are the Cyberse Monsters that the thing used!" I pointed out, remembering them clearly. _Sea Achiever_ , _Formud Skipper_ and _Knightmare Corruptor Iblee_ – all three of them were not real and in our hands. "What should we do with these?"

I looked at Evan for an answer. I didn't need any new cards for my deck and these were Cyberse nonetheless, shouldn't I give them to Playmaker or something? As the one using Cyberse monsters, he should be able to use them much better than me.

"You should do what you find to be the most right thing to do." Evan sat down on the chair next to me and looked at the cards. "If you choose to keep them for yourself or give them to your partner in crime, it's ultimate up to you to make that decision. Just, make sure they are in the right hands, ok?"

His words caught me by complete surprise. Was he actually concerned about the cards, like, seriously corner if they are all going to be fine and not messed up? It was a sort of a weird reaction to get out of a man who so far showed to be rather apathetic toward humans to start carrying so much about trading cards. But his reaction made me think about something, since the cards weren't stolen from Playmaker, he didn't have any right over their possession, right? Like how me having a specific deck wouldn't mean that others aren't allowed to use it, the same logic could be applied about the Cyberse cards.

"Since you care so much, why don't you take this?" I pulled _Knightmare Corruptor Iblee_ out of the tube and handed it over to him. "Seeing how much you care, I'm sure that it would be best to leave it in your possession."

His eyes widened at the offer and Evan slowly reached out to take the card from my hand. Holding it up, his eyes ran over it for quite some time, probably reading the effect and all. I bit my lip remembering that this specific monster's ability was to summon itself on the opponent's field, so probably not that useful in most situation. Evan didn't seem disappointed thought, quite the opposite, he actually smiled at me, a real genuine small instead of his usual weird smirks.

"I will be sure to cherish it." He told me and put the card into his pocket.

"Aww, such a heartwarming moment." I turned toward Avice after the comment. She was holding a hand over her chest with a playful look in her eyes, but the fakeness of her voice gave away that she was making a sarcastic remark and didn't really mean her own words. "Since we already started with the free cards bullshit, why don't you give her the ones that you had prepared for her?"

I eyed Evan and he turned away from me, muttering something that I couldn't quite get. Afterward, he looked up and took a deep breath before finally giving a confirming nod. He stood up and walked toward the stairs that lead toward the third floor.

"Come with me." He turned back and told me. Avice stood up as well and gestured for me to follow them.

To be honest, I always viewed the third and first floors of their house as places that I wasn't allowed to visit unless they gave me permission to do so. I couldn't explain why, but that was how I felt about these areas, even if I legally was allowed to go there without permission from others. We stopped next to the growing circle once again and the slim metal table raised, but this time in addition to the two decks, there were also three cards that lied face-down. Evan reached out to take his own cards and put the _Knightmare Corruptor Iblee_ that I gave him on the bottom, then gestured toward the other three cards.

"They are yours, take them." I did so and took the cards, turning them around to look at them. What I saw surprised me, I had seen this type of cards before, Gloomy Ruby and PhantomFire have both used them, but I never had any of these in my deck!

"Are they seriously for me?" I mean, looking at their requirements, they were meant for my deck, but why now? "Why are you giving me these cards, after I got my deck?"

"They weren't ready back then." Avice walked over to me and took one of the cards from my hand, eyeing it. "You didn't thought that we stopped creating new ones, did you? Duelist always evolve and the same should be true for your deck. It's only natural for it to grow along with you."

"W-what did I do to deserve this?" I haven't done anything special in the last few days to earn these cards, or did I just not notice it? My question caused the Greysons to look at each other before Avice answered.

"Nothing actually…" My shoulders dropped and I felt disappointed in myself to hear that. "Sorry, we aren't giving you the cards because you deserve them, but because you will need them for that's going to come. After all, your adventure inside SOL's data bank won't be peaceful with that Kitamura guy in charge of their security."

"Actually, Playmaker will be doing to infiltration alone." I told them. It did make sense and I wasn't against that decision either because I didn't have any skills when it came to infiltrating enemy territory.

"I never said that you are going to be doing the infiltration for Playmaker." Avice put a hand on my shoulder and pulled me closer, leaning her head against mine. "We have our reasons to want this infiltration to happen and it just so happened that we don't have anyone on our team to get involved into it."

"So you need someone to do your dirty work." I sighed after learning where all of that was going. "But why don't you guys do it instead? I mean, yours skills are far greater than mine, right? Infiltrating the bank should be extremely easy for someone like you two to pull out."

"That's true, but SOL has increased their security." Evan said. "The chances of them to detect us is around ninety percent, so which do you think would be worse? For SOL to detect their business partner or his sister trying to infiltrate their mother computer, or for the one known as Playmaker's ally to be detected at around the same time as the latter is surfing through their data?"

"So you are going to use me as a cover-up for your own actions." I wasn't surprised in the slightest that they would do something like that. "But how will I know when to log in? You can bet that Playmaker won't just tell me his schedule."

"Don't worry, we will get you covered." Avice patted me on the back and stepped away, turning toward the stairs that leaded back down. "We will talk again when I get back from school."

I ran after them and jumped down the stairs to catch up with them and hopefully get the chance to retort, but they were already both at the front door waving at me. Did… Did these two really just ran down, prepared their stuff and unlocked the front doing in under thirty seconds to avoid explaining themselves to me.

"See you later, kiddo." Avice waved at me and went on to close the door behind herself.

"Don't 'see you later' me, you can't do that to me, I got a saying in your plans as well!" I cried out at her.

"Love you too~" …And she closed the door.

Great.

I looked back at the house, what exactly was I supposed to do they come home? Yusaku would be at school and Kusanagi must be busy, logging into LINK VRAINS was a big no as well. I stretched my head trying to come up with something.

Oh well, might as well watch some anime, see why the others seem to like it so much.

* * *

 **3** **rd** **POV**

Vermilya leaned her head against her palm – being back at school was so boring. Although she had always tried to be an excellent student and get the best marks, the lessons themselves were never anything interesting and she most often wondered how she managed to remain wake until the end of each class.

The girl turned back and then she saw him sitting on the last desk, staring at the huge window. Yusaku Fujiki – she heard his name many times before during class roll, but she never paid attention to who he was or how he looked until yesterday when she learned that he was the person behind the Playmaker account in LINK VRAINS. She stared at him, he didn't seem to notice the girl's gaze, or was simply trying to act ignorant, she couldn't tell which one it was. She could never tell with these cold green eyes of his. It made her wonder if it was physically possible for a person to have a complete lack of emotion in their eyes.

She turned back to looking at the board, Yusaku's emotional state was none of her concern. She was trying to act somewhat willingly to be his ally because that was what the Greysons told her to do, not because she cared about him or his problems. She had no desire to get involved any more than necessary.

But she still had to give him back his notebook, damn it!

"That's everything for today. For Friday I want you all to review [] on pages from one hundred twenty seven to one hundred and thirty five." The teacher said and everyone began to collect their belongings.

Vermilya did the same, although she didn't have much things to carry around. The girl never had much money so she made sure to always buy only the most necessary things and because of that her bag was much lighter than that of other students, both girls and boys, But as she opened it to put away her electronic textbook, she saw it lying inside once again – Yusaku's notebook. She sighed, it was almost like the damn piece of paper was haunting her for some reason, best to return it to the owner as soon as possible. She turned to look up for Yusaku, but he was already gone.

Well, shit.

Vermilya took the notebook and walked out of the classroom with it. She looked around and noticed the familiar blue hair walking toward somewhere in the distance. He was alone as ever, therefore approaching the target wouldn't be hard. Best course of action would be to-

"What on earth are you standing like a statue for?" Vermilya's thoughts were interrupted by Avice walking up to her. "You are making it harder for everyone around to pass, you know that?"

"I'm sorry." The red haired girl bowed. "I was just planning how to return Fujiki the textbook that he lent me yesterday."

"What do you mean by 'planning'?" Avice asked, emphasizing on the last word. She crossed her arms and stared at Vermilya with an almost angry look. "Don't you know how to talk with people? Just walk over to him, give him the damn textbook and thank him. Are your social skills so low that you must rely on some over the top plans for a piece of paper?"

"Uhu." Vermilya nodded viciously. "I never had friends and nor did he, so if people saw us talking, I'm worried that they might take it the wrong way and…"

"You are unable to give a boy their notebook without getting flushed, I don't think that this is society's fault." Avice facepalmed. She didn't have another choice. "Ok, give me the damn notebook, I'm going to take care."

"Are you sure?" Vermilya was actually surprised to hear that Avice would actually try and help someone, even if it was about something as unimportant as that. In fact, she was surprised exactly because of how unimportant the problem was, yet the young Greyson would still lead a hand.

"Listen, I'm a lesbian with a brother complex, literally nothing about talking with a boy who isn't in his early twenties with white and red hair and has a bombastic personality could make me give a shit. So hand it over girl, let me take care of this!"

Vermilya sighed and complied with the request. It was still better than if she did it herself, but she was still wary about Avice and her intentions. "I still don't get why you are willing to help me out."

"Oh come on, that's part of my duty as your dueling teacher." Avice shook a finger in front of Vermilya's face. "Well, it technically isn't my duty anymore, but as the older one, I have a duty to help those who are younger than me."

"You are literally one year younger than me." Vermilya pointed out, she was 16 while Avice was 15.

"Then start acting like the older one!" Avice hissed at her. "Now come on, we got a wild Fujiki to catch up to. After I finish this tiresome task for you, I won't mind a kiss as a thank you."

"I will buy you chocolate at the way home instead." Vermilya narrowed her eyes.

"Yay, chocolate!"

It was Vermilya's turn to facepalm. To think that someone who acted like her would be her senior was both embarrassing and pathetic. Almost as bad as having to follow Avice around the school and listen to her sharing, loud for everyone else to hear, some of the most embarrassing moments that the redhead had to endure during her time in the Greyson house. Truly, these siblings were the reincarnations of the devil itself.

"Now, that's a surprise." Avice said and stopped right in front of the room that Fujiki had just entered. The words 'Duel Club' were written with large letters on the open door. "I never thought that he would actually show up to the club room again."

"So you really did join the Duel Club." Vermilya was surprised yet again with Avice's actions. "I thought you didn't like these places, said that they were below your level."

"It's about dueling and Aoi Zaizen is in the club." That was the only sort of explanation that Avice gave for joining, but the redhead was able to understand. The translation to what the Greyson said would be as follow:

 _It was about dueling and I saw a sexy girl, so I totally had to join._

Vermilya didn't comment to that clearly message and just pressed her hand against the back of Avice's left shoulder to make her walk in. The Greyson narrowed her eyes a little annoyed by the redhead's actions, seriously, Vermilya was acting like a little girl holding onto the ends of her mother's skirt, expect that in this situation it was a 16 years old hiding behind a 15 years old because she was too embarrassed to talk with boys. Go figure how she was able to duel against male avatars in LINK VRAINS, or maybe it was the school atmosphere. Yeah, Avice had to admit that the school could be a scary place at times and sometimes a small talk between a few students could turn into life destroying rumors.

That didn't mean that Avice wouldn't laugh at Vermilya after they went back home. She stepped inside and found that the only people who were at the club room at the moment were Yusaku himself and Naoki.

"Zaizen? She hasn't come to school, much less the club." Avice heard Naoki's voice and immediately realized why Yusaku was walking around the school.

"What are you talk about, boys~" Avice asked playfully and knocked three times against the open door to catch the two students' attention.

"Ah, Greyson!" Naoki waved at the newcomer while Yusaku seemed to narrow his eyes a little after hearing that surname. "We were just talking about Zaizen. She hadn't shown up at school today, do you think something happened?"

"She got into an incident." Avice said faking a sad face. "I talked with her brother though, he said that she was alright, but she wouldn't come to school for a few days, you know, just to be sure that she didn't suffer any serious injuries."

"Then I don't have other business here." Yusaku stated and put his hands into the pockets. "If Zaizen isn't here, I don't have anything else to stay here for."

"Aw, come on! You just came here!" Naoki whined behind the taller boy's back. "You won't get eaten if you stayed for a bit, there is time until next class as well!"

"Yes, he is right, stay with us for a bit Fujiki-sama!" Avice called out at him with a huge childish smile that would be able to melt any man's heart in an instant, probably get them behind jail as well, since fifteen wasn't legal. Even Yusaku with his cool act had a trouble withstanding the holy aura that glowed from Avice, she almost seemed like an angel but without the halo and wings. It had begun to expand so far that the students who walked in the corridor had to cover their eyes from the brightness.

"I came to give you back the notebook that you lent to my friend yesterday~" Avice gently handed Yusaku the papers. Then the most unexpected thing happened and sweat formed on the LINK VRAINS hero's forehead while he unsteadily reached out to take the notebook.

"Fine, I will stay for a bit." Yusaku sighed. He couldn't believe that Avice was able to make him change his mind with just a smile and a cute voice, he was starting to fear that woman!

"That's great! Thank Fujiki-sama!" Avice clapped her hands and tilted her head to the side childishly.

"Um, who is the person behind you?" Naoki asked and pointed at the girl lurking behind Avice's back.

"Huh?" The Greyson's shining smile dropped and she turned her head to glance at Vermilya. The redhead was standing behind the shorter girl and holding her back as if trying to use Avice as a human shield. "You mean this useless sack, here? Just another person soaked in the shame of their own incompetence and failure."

Vermilya felt the insult like an imaginary anvil that fell on top of her self-esteem, crushing it underneath its imaginary weight. She thought that she was already gotten used to the verbal abuse from the Greysons' but it certainly wasn't the case. One could never learn to not get hurt by their words, even if they were meant to be taken as praises.

"So, anything about your deck?" Avice asked Naoki and sat down at the other side of the table, across from him. "Did you follow any of my advices?"

"Um, I'm not sure about removing the high level monsters…" Naoki muttered and rubbed the back of his head.

"Jeez, so you didn't listen to my advice." Avice pouted and leaned against the table imitating a sad face. "I told you that you shouldn't be running that much high level monsters unless you have the means to successfully use them at any time in the duel. What did I told you was the most important thing about a deck?"

"Oh, oh, that's an easy one!" Naoki raised a hand to answer. "Believing in your cards!"

Avice stared at the boy for a few moments and then just shook her head. "Ok, that's pretty important as well, I admit that, but the most important thing is consistency. That's what will win you duels, a consistent playstyle that lets you use all of your best combos at any given time, not high attack points. Got it?"

"So, something like Playmaker's deck, huh? Not strong, but effective!" Naoki asked.

Avice glanced at Yusaku at the corner of her eyes and grinned as a thought came to her mind. "Actually, not like Playmaker's. He win's because his opponents are less skilled than him, not because his deck is good. Remember that Naoki, if your deck's best way to swarm the field is through Normal Monsters then you are probably playing a horrible deck in the first place."

"Talking about Playmaker, did you saw his last duel against Ghost Girl?" Naoki asked and turned his school tabled around to show a video. "I downloaded the footage while it happened, isn't he cool?!"

"Heh, you are your obsession with Playmaker." Avice chuckled; how would he react if he learned that Yusaku was the one behind that avatar she wondered. "If you fix your deck and train, you might one day stand beside him as a hero of LINK VRAINS, you know that?"

"S-seriously?" Naoki was taken aback by those words. "Do you really think that it's possible?"

"As long as you don't give up and keep your mind on what you want to achieve, everything can happen." Avice said. "Also, it won't be bad to add Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit to your deck, maybe even a good Synchro if you happen to get your hands on one."

"Ohoho, being friend with Playmaker wouldn't be so cool!" unfortunately, after hearing Avice said it, Naoki began to daydream and didn't hear the rest of what she told him.

"I guess that this is a no." Avice sweat-dropped and turned toward Yusaku. "There is a bit of time before the next class, mind if we talk for a bit?"

Yusaku was a little surprised by that request but he accepted it nevertheless it wasn't like Avice would jump and attack him in school, right? The younger Greyson stood up from her seat and walked out of the club room, gesturing for the boy and Vermilya to both follow after her.

Avice leaded the other two to the rooftop and leaned her body against the wall. Yusaku stepped out next and glanced around, before his eyes moved to the one that invited him there.

"What is this about?" He asked, determined to figure out what the Greyson was up to.

"Hehe~ someone is impatient." Avice giggled at Yusaku's expression and then took on a more serious look herself. "SOL Technology has started a program to create AI duelists. They are still experimental and it's said that they use the mother computer as place to test them out, I figured out that this might be important for you to know if you are going to try and raid their data bank."

"How do you know either of that?" Yusaku narrowed his eyes. "Did Roxanna told you about the raid? And what connections do you have to SOL, to know about their secret experiments?"

"Evan Greyson." Vermilya spoke up and stepped in front of Yusaku. "He has a company that sometimes works alongside SOL Technology. It was him that gave SOL the software needed for the AI duelists, but what he gave them was a simpler one, so it shouldn't be too hard to deal with them if the need occurs."

"As for your first question." Avice continued from where Vermilya left. "Who do you think gave Ghost Girl the idea about hacking SOL's data in the first place?"

 _"Sometimes there are things that are better to remain secrets." PhantomFire sighed. "If you really want a lot of data that people would give crazy money for, then why don't you try to infiltrate SOL Technologies' data bank? Given how self-confident these bastards are I wouldn't expect any strong security."_

 _"Are you suggesting me to go steal from SOL Technologies?" Ghost Girl raised an eyebrow._

 _"I'm not suggesting anything." PhantomFire retorted. "But at any point, you got yourself a semi-influential guy working for them to cover up for you, so I'm surprised that you haven't tried to do that yet."_

Yusaku narrowed his eyes at the thought that Ghost Girl might have fallen for the siblings' manipulations as well. It was hard to believe, she seemed to be too skilled of an individual to let herself get tricked like that, but one could never be sure that they are the smartest in the room. She was after all, working alongside Akira when they tried to capture him after Blue Angel fell victim to Hanoi's virus, so it wouldn't make sense for her to turn against the company that she worked for out of the blue.

"What is your game?" The boy finally asked after thinking about it for a while. What were Avice and Evan trying to achieve by doing all of that?

"We already know most about what happened, that you are a victim of an incident and its name." Avice admitted. "While you were wasting your time fighting against the Knights of Hanoi, we collected the pieces of the puzzle, who did all these horrible things to you, how the Cyberse came to be, what I want is for you to start figuring things out as well."

"So SOL's data bank does contain information about my past?" Yusaku glared at the girl. "If you want me to learn the truth so badly, why don't you just tell me what happened instead of sending me there?"

"Because of three reasons." Avice replied and raised three of her fingers, surprising the Cyberse Duelist. "First, because by going there you will also get a better idea of who your true enemies are and how insignificant the ones you are currently fighting again truly are. Second, because we aren't allies. You don't want to involve others in this fight, then there is no point of either of us to get involved by telling you the truth. Third, because we simply need you to be in SOL Technologies' servers."

"So you kept what happened a secret even though you knew who I was, simply as a revenge because I didn't ask for your help?" Yusaku was beyond furious. That there was his past, these horrible experiments happened to him, not them, so what right did they have to keep it all a secret from him until now?!

"Even if we gave you everything, you still wouldn't have seen it." Avice sighed and pushed herself away from the wall. She stepped past Yusaku and turned around to look at his back. "Your revenge is pointless for us, what we want is to keep peace in LINK VRAINS and get rid of all harmful elements. Did you even ask yourself how SOL Technology has information about Hanoi's activities in the past? Why a company that had such knowledge didn't use it to destroy the Knights before things could escalate? You are getting angry now, but if I told you all of that earlier, would you have suspected SOL Technology?"

Yusaku clenched his fists. He knew that, in a way, SOL would be involved, but for him they weren't important. All that mattered was getting revenge on the Knights of Hanoi and learn the truth about what happened to him ten years ago, but Avice's words made his resolve to waver. He was still furious at the Greysons for keeping such information hidden, in fact, they were still doing that, but if in order to learn all sides of the story he would have to infiltrate the data bank then so be it!

"You should also know that Roxanna has no idea about any of this either, she knows even littler than you about what's going on." Avice added on. "She is innocent, so if possible, don't treat her badly just because she is involved with us."

"Why are you telling me that?" Yusaku asked. So far, everything Avice said had a double purpose, he couldn't believe that she would tell him that just because she cared about Roxy.

"She is going to infiltrate the data bank for our side." Vermilya answered instead of Avice.

"And why would she do that?" Yusaku pressed on with his questions. Why would she accept that in the first place, and more importantly, why would they need to infiltrate the bank if they got all of the data already?

"We have our reasons to believe that the Knights of Hanoi won't stand at the side and let us go with our businesses." Avice explained. "My brother found out that someone with a rather suspicious bio was able to get a work at SOL Technology, so we fear the possibility that they might try to destroy SOL's servers and have LINK VRAINS fall apart from the loss of data. Roxy's mission is going to be to make sure that Hanoi won't get into your way too much. But of course, I'm going to ask something in return."

"What would that be?" Yusaku asked. He didn't mention that he wouldn't need protection because Avice definitely didn't mean to actually help him out in that raid.

"While Roxy is going to try and protect your back, I would like if you could do the same for her. She is still inexperienced and her dueling skills aren't anything worth to brag about. I'm going to have Vermilya with me in case Roxy gets into trouble, but it won't mind if there is someone already logged inside SOL's servers to look after her."

That wouldn't be too hard of a task to manage. Yusaku could just ask Ai to keep a track of Roxy's position once she logged inside. And if Hanoi really showed up, he definitely wouldn't waste a chance to defeat them as well before getting to the core of SOL's mother computer.

"I will see what I can do." Yusaku said and turned around to walk back into the building.

"There is something more that I wanted to tell you personally." Vermilya muttered and the boy stopped in his tracks. He turned his head slightly to glance at her.

"What?" Yusaku asked.

"Why aren't you keeping proper notes in your notebook, it was almost empty!" Vermilya shouted.

"…" Instead of retorting, Yusaku figured out that the best course of action would be to just disappear from the girls' sight and he quickly left the rooftop, closing the door behind himself.

"He is definitely going to look after Roxy." Vermilya pointed out once the boy was no longer able to hear them.

"Of course he will." Avice smirked. "Too bad that we are going to have to use Roxy as a sacrificial lamb, but it can't be helped. Come on, next class is going to start soon."

* * *

"We are back!"

Avice opened the front door of the house and took off her shoes with Vermilya following shortly after. After their talk with Yusaku, the rest of the school day went mostly uneventful. The young Greyson stretched out and yawned before walking into the living room.

"Come on, Roxy. It's time to get to work!" bubbled Avice as she moved to take a cute pose.

"C-can we do it later. This is the most interesting part." Roxy muttered.

The youngest of the three girls was seated on the sofa in front of the TV and was watching some Slice of Life anime. Ever since the Greysons left her alone at the house in the morning, Roxy hadn't taken her eyes away from the anime channel. The only time she wasn't watching it was during the commercials when she resupplied herself with food and drinks for the next one. She definitely didn't expect to get that addicted to some cartoons, and she found out that the Slice of Life genre was her favorite one so far.

"Ok, that's just pathetic." Vermilya chuckled at the sight of Roxy's current condition. "Should I pull out the TV's cable?"

"Don't, she might start to cry." Avice replied and head over to the kitchen. "I'm going to make myself a hot chocolate and then we could get the equipment ready."

"What if she doesn't get over her obsession by the time we are ready?" Vermilya crossed her arms.

Avice looked at the redhead and gave her a simply answer. "I got a baseball bat in my room. Although I don't play baseball it might come into use."

"Shouldn't pulling the plug be better than destroying the TV?" Vermilya sweat dropped at the thought of Avice destroying her own property because of Roxy's sudden anime obsession.

Avice walked back into the living room holding a large white cup of hot chocolate. She had a solemn expression on her face, her green eyes glanced at Vermilya, then moved over to Roxy's figure and she finally responded to the question that the redhead gave her.

"It's not the TV that I'm going to use the bat onto."

In the matters of a few moments the TV was turned off and Roxy was standing next to Avice, saluting her as cold sweat ran down the young girl's face.

"P-p-p-private Roxy reports for duty, sir."

* * *

 **Roxy's POV**

I sat on the ground in the huge open area between the room while Vermilya and Avice were busy getting all sorts of weird machines connected to one another. There were computers, screens and what not, I wasn't helping them wire the devices together but it looked very confusing. It took then almost half an hour to get everything together and Avice sat down on the chair in front of the computer screens.

"Everything is working how it should, perfect." Avice clapped her hands together and turned toward me. "You are ready, right?"

"I'm still worried about all of this, but I will try my best." I smiled.

"Good, then lie down on the mattress." She told me and gestured toward the one that she and Vermilya dragged and put next to all the other machines. "After that take a red plug and connect it to the back of your Duel Disk."

I nodded and lied down, following her instructions. After I finished, Avice began to furiously press the buttons of the keyboard before her and huge walls of code appeared on the screen before her, several small windows popped out and one of the screens that was put sideways from her – which made it the easiest one for me to look at – showed information about my avatar and D-Board.

"Ok, with this we are going to have a visual on everything that you see in there." Avice said and leaned back into her chair, taking another sip from her cup. "I also installed a new antivirus that my brother made, it should be able to protect you from Hanoi's virus if, whatever you find in there choose to use it on you. Vermilya, it's your turn."

"What must I do?" Vermilya tilted her head.

"Refill my cup." Avice replied and I turned my head away so they don't seem me laughing at that.

"I really hate you." I heard Vermilya mutter under her breath and she walked off, probably to do as Avice asked her to. Once I couldn't hear her footsteps anymore, I turned back to look at the other girl and smiled.

"Ok, let's get this started while she is gone." Avice told me. "We are going to be able to talk to one another while you are inside, so I'm going to be able to help you if things get hard."

"Got it!" I nodded and took my deck, putting it into the Duel Disk. "Into the Vrains!"

I reopened my eyes after the logging was complete, but everything I could see were two seemingly endless yellow walls at each side of me with nothing but darkness underneath. I expected to fall or something, but that didn't happen, in fact, it felt like I was underneath water, swimming around like a fish – it was really funny to do. Problem was, how would I move around like this?

" _Can you hear me?"_ Avice's voice suddenly spoke into my ear. It wasn't loud, but it startled me for a moment.

"Um, yeah. Loud and clear." I nodded and looked around myself once more. "How am I supposed to be moving around in this place?"

" _I'm deploying your D-Board."_ Avice said. _"It's going to appear right under you, so make sure to be upright when it appears."_

"Ok." I nodded and moved a bit to take a better position. A moment later blue data merged together under my feet and the D-Board appeared. "I'm on it."

" _That's good. Make sure to go slow, we don't want you to accidentally slam face first into a security trap or one of their AIs, right?"_ I nodded to Avice's words and used my Duel Disk to change the D-Board's speed to slow. _"I also gave you the Master Code."_

"Master Code?" I repeated what Avice told me. I have heard these two words together before.

" _Riiight, we never explained that to you, did we? Do you remember when in the first duel with Picaro one of your monsters appeared before you and blocked the attack despite you not being inside a duel?"_

I thought back when that happened. It was during Picaro's surprise attack on Playmaker, I could never forget how vicious Rocketeer was during that fight. Then Grand Ranger Serene stood in front of us and negated the flames of First of the Dragons single handedly.

" _Master Code is what we call the special ability to summon monsters outside of duels. During that incident, my brother forcefully activated the Master Code on your character to save your life, but now I'm going to give you the ability to use it without anyone else's help. There isn't a limit of how many monsters you could summon this way, but since you don't have control over it, I should suggest to use just one for now."_

"Right." I nodded and held my Duel Disk out. A blue clock gear appeared in front of me and then Grand Ranger Serene flew out of it and floated beside me. "Ok, I summoned a monster, but why exactly is that important?"

" _Remember that I warned you about security traps? If you get near any of them, your monster can just destroy them. This way you won't have to worry about getting deleted or something."_ I looked at my ace; that was surely one useful ability to have. _"That's all I can give you, the rest is up to you."_

"Got it." I nodded and surfed forward with my monster following right behind the D-Board.

This place, it was the same no matter where I went, with just two walls standing at each side of me and nothing else in view. Avice was giving me instructions where I should be going and so on. Then something came into view, a series of green quadrangles that floated around without a specific trajectory, some were going down, then turned left, others suddenly changed from vertical to horizontal moving, etc. I slowed down and gestured for my monster to take them down, but Serene just shook her head.

"Um, Avice?" I called out, hoping that she could hear me. "There are some green… things. What should I do?"

" _They don't seem to be dangerous, just try to avoid touching them and you should be alright."_ I sighed, wasn't the 'don't touch' exactly what I was doing until now?

"This place is creepy." I commented, so silent and empty, like an endless void with only two walls to keep me in place.

" _Don't expect much, I don't think that anyone would decorate their data banks with bright colors to make invaders and hackers feel like at home."_ Avice had a point there. At a moment there I forgot that what we were doing wasn't legal… Yeah, I felt better without that fact looming above my head.

"Are these type of things something that you usually do?" I asked her. This place was so creepy with its silence that Avice's voice talking to me was the only thing I had to keep my fears at bait. "You know what I mean."

" _Raiding high profile organizations isn't something we do often, if that's what you are asking me."_ I sighed in relief, at least they weren't full time cyberterrorists if nothing else. _"But I wouldn't say that everything we did in the past was legal either. A not widely known truth is that if what you are doing will help people, even save them, you won't feel regrets even if your actions are against the system."_

"I guess that this does make sense… somehow." I sighed, it was hard to understand what Avice was saying, I was just agreeing with her as to not insult her or anything.

" _I'm picking on something, it's coming toward you!"_ I panicked and looked forward, but all that I could see was just darkness. _"It's not moving fast, your monster should be able to destroy it before it could get into contact!"_

I narrowed my eyes and gestured for Serene to prepare. My Link Monster activated her bow and aimed into the darkness, ready to shot at anything that could come out. Three more of the same green quadrangles came and I floated around then, when a new one showed up. It was generally the same in shape and size, but red in color, hard to miss! My monster fired one of her arrows and shattered it with the first shot.

" _Good job, I don't pink anything else."_ …Of course, the green one would be harmless while the red were dangerous, that started to feel like an arcade game all of a sudden.

"I still haven't seen any Knight of Hanoi around." I said, taking another look at the empty space around me.

" _Jeez, I wonder why they aren't lurking in plain sight inside the main computer of their biggest enemy."_ I rolled my eyes, ok; no need for sarcasm. _"Hmm, I'm picking a signal toward SOL's AI Duelists, it seems like they found Playmaker. You know who else could try to attack him, right?"_

"The Knights of Hanoi."

" _Exactly! He is in front of you, my computer picks a lot of strange data coming from there, so you might even encounter a Data Storm!"_

"Leave it to me!" I told Avice and surfed forward, changing my D-Board's speed to 'fast'. I trusted that Serene could destroy anything which might try to attack me.

I speeded forward and the feeling of a wind trying to pull me in became… sensible I guess? No matter, the purplish blue data around me was more than enough for me to realize that this was the Data Storm that Avice warned me about. Still, it was pretty weak one, nothing like the one I was sucked into during my duel with Playmaker, maybe that was because we weren't in LINK VRAINS anymore. Everything was even more repetitive than in the other parts of the computer, there I could at least tell where I was going, but the insides of a Data Storm were hard to navigate through.

"P-Playmaker!" I saw him in the distance, he seemed to be in a duel with some green humanoid that didn't look to be human. One of these AI Duelists most likely!

I speeded forward to catch up with him, when suddenly a red AI flew from the side and hit his D-Board, knocking him away.

"Playmaker!" I shouted and flew over to him. "Are you ok?"

"Proxy?" He turned back to look at me. Judging by his expression, he didn't seem too surprised to see me there. "I'm fine."

"No 'we' are not fine!" Ai shouted from the Duel Disk. "These two don't know how to play fair!"

"But now it's a two on two, so…" Before I could finish, the red AI pushed me just like how he did to Playmaker. I yelped and fell on my knees, grabbing onto the D-Board with both of my hands. "H-hey!"

"We must capture Playmaker." The AI told me. "Whoever choose to interfere with our mission must be eliminated."

I gritted my teeth and stood back up, holding my Duel Disk in front of my chest. "Then come at me!"

Surprisingly however, the AI didn't activate its own Duel Disk and instead it jumped toward me and threw a fist to hit me! I closed my eyes and Playmaker shouted something, but I felt no pain. Not even the AI touching me…

"Hey, AIs? Stop doing whatever you want." My eyes shot open at the sound of a familiar voice and I turned around to see Blue Angel on her D-Board next to me. She looked at me and winked. "We meet again!"

"B-Blue Angel?" What was she doing here?

She flew back and her expression returned to being serious as the blue whip that she held in her right hand disappeared and she put a hand over her chest.

"I'm the one who'll defeat Playmaker!" She declared. "So leave!"

"Proxy, look out!" I heard Playmaker shouted at me again and I noticed something coming toward me from the corner of my right eye.

"Serene!" I called out and my monster jumped forward, only for it to be impaled by the front of a D-Board and scream as my ace faded away. "Another one…"

I bit my lip, standing on a D-Board next to mine was a black humanoid, similar to the other two that Playmaker was fighting against, but something didn't felt right about that one. It looked ominous, despite having the same body build, only a different color.

* * *

 **3** **rd** **POV**

"W-what is that?!" Kitamura, who was watching all of the events unfold, yelled at his subordinates.

"Sir, it looks to be made from the same program as our other AIs, but it's not responding to our commands!" one of the assistants explained.

"But didn't you create just two prototypes?! Where did the third one come from!?" Kitamura yelled.

"We don't know that sir."

"Do you know anything about it?" Kitamura gritted his teeth, he couldn't understand where that AI might have come from. "Let it duel."

"S-sir?" the subordinates and looked confused at their boss.

"We are just going to have to erase it from the system." Kitamura conclude. "If it manages to win before that, we would have at least gotten some use out of it."

"Yes sir!" the subordinates all nodded and returned to their work.

* * *

 **Proxy's POV**

"Let's separate and take them down one at a time!" I told Blue Angel and Playmaker.

"Hmm, sounds good enough for me." Blue Angel nodded and flew back to confront the reddish AI.

"Then I'm going to leave this one to you." Playmaker looked back at me and I nodded to confirm.

"Don't you mean 'we'?" Ai persisted, but the poor thing got ignored again as Playmaker flew in a different direction with the green AI following after him.

"I won't be able to help you out in this duel, you are going to be all on your own." Avice told me.

"Don't worry, I can handle myself." I reassured her and looked at the back AI once more. "Come on, let's duel!"

The AI just flew back so that it was positioned behind me and its left arm glowed with two rings appearing around it.

"Speed Duel!"

 **『** **Proxy LP: 4000 Hand: 4 (VS) Prototype Ai-HANOI LP: 4000 Hand: 4** **』**

"H-Hanoi?!" I was taken aback to see that name again, much less as the official name of a SOL Technologies' AI!

"My turn." HANOI stated and four cards appeared before it. "I set a card, turn end."

"That's all?" Wow, maybe that would be a very quick duel after all. "Ok then, I draw!"

 **『** **Turn 2 [Proxy] LP: 4000 Hand: 5** **』**

"First off, I discard a card from my hand to Special Summon _**BrioGear Cryomage**_!" A female monster wearing a long blue and white winter coat with ice crystals hanging from the ends of the hood and sleeves appeared on my field. A simple blue scarf covered most of her face, expect for her crystal white eyes and the few green bangs of fire that fell down her forehead. Despite how warmly the upper part of her body was dressed, her legs were completely exposed and had large white tattoos of strange symbols covering most of them.

* * *

 **BrioGear Cryomage**

 **Level:** **5** **/Attribute: WATER/Type:** **Spellcaster** **/Effect**

 **ATK:** **16** **00/DEF: 1800**

 **Effect:** **You can Special Summon this card (from your hand) by discarding 1 card. If this card is destroyed by battle or card effect and send to the GY, you can target 1 WATER monster in your GY: Add it to your hand.**

* * *

"Now, I activate the effect of _**BrioGear All Stars**_ from my Graveyard! When it's send from my hand or deck to the Graveyard, I can target a monster in my Graveyard and add another one with the same level from my deck to the hand! Of course, I'm going to target All Stars itself and since that one is a Level One, I can add another Level One monster to my hand."

A specific card popped out of my Duel Disk and I took it, adding it to the other cards that were in my hand. "I now activate the effect of _BrioGear Cryo Raptor (Lv.1, DEF: 100)_ in my hand! I Special Summon both it and _**BrioGear All Stars**_ from my Graveyard, so raise up!" A simple purple starfish with a blue gem on the center of its body flew out of my Graveyard like a Frisbee and landed next to my other monsters.

* * *

 **BrioGear** **All Stars**

 **Level:** **1** **/Attribute: WATER/Type:** **Aqua** **/Effect**

 **ATK:** **1** **00/DEF: 100**

 **Effect:** **If this card is sent from your hand or deck to the GY, you can target 1 WATER monster in your GY: Add 1 "BrioGear" monster with the same level from your deck to the hand. If this card is Special Summoned, you can target 1 other face-up monster you control: This card and that target's Levels become equal to their combined Levels until the end of this turn.**

* * *

"Everything is set! Come forth, circuit of life!" I pointed forward and my monsters turned into waves that flew into the quadrangle.

"Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two Level Three or lower Effect Monsters! I set _BrioGear Cryo Raptor_ and _BrioGear All Stars_ in the Link Markers! Link Summon! The dancing spirit of storms! _Grand Ranger Serene (ATK: 2100, Link-2)_!" My ace appeared right over my Cryomage and aimed her bow.

Perfect, he didn't respond to my combination! This was my perfect battle formation, if Grand Ranger Serene inflicts damage to the AI, her effect will let me tribute Cryomage to inflict one thousand and six hundred additional damage. However, nobody said in which orders my attack had to be, so if I went with Cryomage first and then used Grand Ranger Serene to finish, it would be five thousand and three hundred damage!

"Let's go! I attack you directly with _BrioGear Cryomage_!" My monster threw her arms forward and fired several ice blades at the AI, stabbing it in the chest several times.

 **『** **Prototype Ai-HANOI LP: 4000 - 1600** → **2400** **』**

"Yes!" It worked out.

"Trap Open!" Wait, what? HANOI reached out and its set card turned face-up. " _ **Tentacluster Reemerge**_! When I suffer damage from a direct attack, this card allows me to take control of the monster with the highest attack on your field until the end of my next turn!"

* * *

 **Tentacluster Reemerge (Trap) Normal**

 **When you take battle damage from your opponent's direct attack: Take control of the 1 face-up monster your opponent controls with the highest ATK, until your next End Phase. (If it's a tie, you get to choose.) Its effects are negated, also it cannot declare an attack.**

* * *

"W-what? No!" I turned to look at my ace; only for Grand Ranger Serene to disappear from my side and reappeared before the AI, aiming her bow at me. "Damn it! I end my turn!"

"Then it's my turn!" HANOI raised its hand and a new card appeared inside of it.

 **『** **Turn 3 [Prototype Ai-HANOI] LP: 2400 Hand: 4** **』**

"First, I activate the Spell Card, _One for One_! With this I discard _Tentacluster Sawmarine_ from my hand to Special Summon another _**Tentacluster Sawmarine**_ from my Deck!" A purple and black circular monster with saw blades attached to the girdle around its body appeared onto the field.

* * *

 **Tentacluster Sawmarine**

 **Level:** **1** **/Attribute:** **DARK** **/Type:** **Machine** **/Effect**

 **ATK: 0/DEF: 100**

 **Effect:** **If this card is Special Summoned, you can send 1 "Tentacluster" card from your Deck to the GY. If this face-up card you control is destroyed by battle or card effect, you can target 1 face-up monster your opponent controls: Take control of that monster until your next End Phase.**

* * *

I don't get it, why would he use _One for One_ to summon the same monster as the one that he just discarded? I couldn't understand this AI's strategy.

"When it's Special Summoned, the effect of _Tentacluster Sawmarine_ lets me send another _Tentacluster Sawmarine_ from my deck to the Graveyard." HANOI continued. "Circuit open!"

"A Link Summon…" Damn it, and the AI still had my ace monster under its command!

"Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two monsters, including oneTentacluster monster! I set _Tentacluster Sawmarine_ and the Link Two _Grand Ranger Serene_ in the Link Markers! Link Summon complete. Link Three, _**Tentacluster Opabinia**_!"

A giant fish-like monster with a segmented body that had lobes along the sides and a fan-shaped tail came out of the glowing circuit. Its head was made from silver metal with five red eyes, and a mouth under the head that was facing backwards.

* * *

 **Tentacluster Opabinia**

 **Attribute:** **DARK** **/Type:** **Machine** **/** **Link/** **Effect**

 **L-Markers: Bottom Left, Bottom, Bottom Right**

 **ATK: 0** **/Link-3**

 **2 + monsters, including 1 "Tentacluster" monster**

 **Effect:** **This card cannot be destroyed by battle and is unaffected by monster effects. You take no damage from battles involving this card.** **At the end of the Damage Step, if this card was attacked by an opponent's monster: You can place that opponent's monster in a zone this card points to and take control of it.**

* * *

"Zero attack? It must have a powerful effect then, right?" There was no chance that the AI would summon a monster that required the use of three monsters without any benefits.

"Next, I activate the Equip Spell, _**Tentacluster Reflect**_!" HANOI gestured forward as his monster's body got covered in armor. "This card can be equipped only to a Tentacluster monster and when it battles, that monster's attack becomes the same as the monster it battles!"

* * *

 **Tentacluster Reflect (Spell) Equip**

 **Equip only to a "Tentacluster" monster. If the equipped monster attacks an opponent's monster, the equipped monster's ATK becomes equal to the ATK of the monster it is battling during damage calculation only. If the equipped monster destroys a monster by battle: Inflict damage to the controller equal to the ATK the destroyed monster had on the field.**

* * *

"I set a card, now battle!" HANOI played its last card and then gestured toward me. " _Tentacluster Opabinia_ attack _BrioGear Cryomage_! At this moment, the effect of Tentacluster Reflect activates and my monster's attack becomes the same as the monster it attacks!"

 **Tentacluster Opabinia** **, ATK: 0** → **16** **00**

"W-what?!" My monster fired sharp ice, but the Link just reflected all of them away and then pierced my Spellcaster with its mouth, destroying her.

" _Tentacluster Opabinia_ can't be destroyed by battle. Also, Reflect's effect deals damage to the opponent equal to their monster's attack!" HANOI's monster swung its mouth at me and hit my shoulder.

 **『** **Proxy LP: 4000 - 1600** → **2400** **』**

"Damn it!" I cursed and held my shoulder. "As _BrioGear Cryomage_ was sent to the Graveyard as a result of a destruction, I can add _BrioGear Cryo Raptor_ from my Graveyard to the hand."

For that AI to get my Life Points down to the same amount as its own while also clearing my field… I should be extremely cautious dealing with that thing. Problem was how to defeat a monster that was practically unbeatable, unaffected my monsters' effects, indestructible through battle and an effect to reduce damage.

"It's my turn, I draw!" I told the AI and drew my next card.

 **『** **Turn 4 [Proxy] LP: 2400 Hand: 5** **』**

Nothing good, my main monster was resting in the grave and most of my other Extra Deck monsters were support oriented. Actually, the new cards that Evan and Avice gave me were Extra Deck monsters as well and they were powerful ones on top of that! I know that you couldn't help me in the duel, but please, watch me as I win this duel using the cards that you gave me.

"This one is for you, Avice!" I called out and took a card from my hand, slapping it onto my Duel Disk's blade. "I Normal Summon _BrioGear Geratorned (Lv.4, ATK: 1400)_! Now open, circuit of life!"

My monster transformed into a single wave of water that flew into the huge circuit that formed in front of me.

"Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements is a WATER monster with a Level! I set _BrioGear_ _Geratorned_ in the Link Marker! Link Summon! Link One, _BrioGear Lotaxol (ATK: 600, Link-1)_!" My Link 1 monster appeared next to my on the field and its link arrow glowed. "I activate Lotaxol's effect to Special Summon _BrioGear All Stars_ _(Lv.1, DEF: 100)_ from my Graveyard!"

"Now for the second time! Open circuit of life!" My two monsters turned into waves of water and flew into the appropriate arrows. This will be for you, Avice! "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two WATER monsters! I set _BrioGear All Stars_ and _BrioGear Lotaxol_ in the Link Markers! Link Summon, Link Two, _**BrioGear Shark Wise**_!"

A strange combination between a humanoid and a sea serpent appeared out of my circuit. Its lower body was like that of a shark with a greyish-blue color and several sharp fins all around it. Its upper body was covered in blue armor with a white line going down the middle of its chest. A huge white cylinder with metal fins was attached to its back with a breathing hose forcefully implanted into the side of the monster's neck. Its head was that of a shark with hundreds sharp teeth inside of its mouth and black waterproof goggles protecting its eyes. Lastly, the monster held a trident made from golden clock gears put together with three clock arms of different sizes functioning as the blades.

* * *

 **BrioGear Shark Wise**

 **Attribute:** **WATER** **/Type:** **Sea Serpent** **/** **Link/** **Effect**

 **L-Markers: Bottom Left, Bottom**

 **ATK:** **80** **0** **/Link-2**

 **2 WATER monsters**

 **Effect:** **When this card is Link Summoned: You can Special Summon one Level 3 or 4 WATER monster from your GY to a zone this card points to, but it has its effects negated. If a monster(s) Special Summoned to a zone this card points to: You can target 1 face-up monster this card points to; the Level of all monsters this card points becomes the same as that target's.**

* * *

"Now, I activate Shark Wise's effect!" I pointed at my monster and it aimed its trident forward. "When Shark Wise is Link Summoned, I can revive a Level Three or Four monster from my Graveyard but with their effect negated. Come out, _BrioGear Geratorned (Lv.4, ATK: 1400)_!"

"Calculating." HANOI said. "Chances to turn this duel around with a Link Three monster is thirteen percent."

"That's not what I'm going to do." I muttered; my strategy was much more different than that. "I now activate the effect of _BrioGear Cryo Raptor (Lv.1, DEF: 100)_ in my hand once more! I Special Summon both it and _BrioGear All Stars (Lv.1, DEF: 100)_ from my Graveyard!" My Raptor appeared on the very left zone while All Stars was summoned right under _Shark Wise_. "Next, Shark Wise's effect activates! When a monster is summoned a zone it points toward, I can choose one of the monsters that Shark Wise points toward and all of my monsters will become that level! I choose the Level Four, _BrioGear Geratorned_."

My monster raised its trident and fired a beam of electricity at the monster that it pointed at, pumping them with energy.

 **BrioGear All Stars, Lv. 1** → **4**

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, remembering all of the details. "Let's do this." I opened my eyes and pointed up, a galactic portal opening right above my head. "Summoning conditions are two Level Four WATER monsters. Howl, unknown roar! Rise from the darkness of the abyss! Xyz Summon, _Bahamut Shark (Rank.4, ATK: 2600)_!" A huge humanoid blue and white shark fell from the portal and landed right behind _Shark Wise_ on the field.

"…Xyz Summon?" HANOI tilted its head to the side.

"That's right." This was the new power that Evan and Avice gave me for this duel! "I activate _Bahamut Shark_ 's effect, at the cost of its battle for the turn, I can detach one of its Xyz Materials and Special Summon a Rank Three or lower Xyz Monster directly from my Extra Deck!" My monster bit onto its Xyz Material and shattered it, opening another cosmic portal before me.

"Savage lured of the deeps, slashing through storms become a force that even Poseidon bows before! Come out, _**BrioGear Razor Shark**_!"

Out of the cosmic portal came a cyborg shark with rusty mechanical fins covering its lower body and most of the back. Its chest was covered in metal parts with several hoses connecting these pieces to the back of the monster's neck, injecting a green liquid into its head. The shark had two huge sharp fins attached to the side of its body like arm blades. The lower chin of the creature was completely made out of metal and its left eye was replaced by a red binocular.

* * *

 **BrioGear Razor Shark**

 **Rank: 3** **/** **Attribute:** **WATER/** **Type: Sea Serpent/Xyz/Effect**

 **ATK:** **20** **00/DEF:** **10** **00**

 **2 Level 3 monsters**

 **Effect: When this card is Special Summoned: You can attach 1 WATER monster from your hand or your side of the field to this card as an Xyz Material. Once per turn: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card, then** **for the of this turn, this card** **can attack your opponent directly.** **If this card is targeted by a card or effect, you can** **detach 1 Xyz Material from this card** **: Negate the effect, and if you do, destroy that target.**

* * *

"Now, I activate Razor Shark's effect to attach, from my hand, _BrioGear Madoor_ to it as a Xyz Material!" I'm going to end this match in one turn! "I set a card for good measure and then I activate Razor Shark's other effect! I detach one Xyz Material to let it attack you directly this turn, go! _**Shark's Storm Slash**_!"

My monster flew over HANOI's monster and swung its claws to hit the AI directly. Of course, that would be just two thousand damage, but I wasn't done yet.

"I activate _BrioGear Pale Crawfish_ 's effect from my hand!" I put my card into the Graveyard and gestured at the Xyz Monster. "By discarding _Pale Crawfish_ all of my BrioGear monsters are going to gain six hundred points of attack during this turn."

 **BrioGear Cryo Raptor, ATK: 400 + 600** → **1000**

 **BrioGear Shark Wise, ATK: 800 + 600** → **1400**

 **BrioGear Razor Shark, ATK: 2000 + 600** → **2600**

"I activate my Continuous Trap, _**Tentacluster Fall Wave**_!" a card that showed different _Tentacluster_ monsters fleeing from an opening in the deeps of the ocean, through which lava was invading their world. A barrier formed around HANOI's body and blocked my monster's attack.

* * *

 **Tentacluster Fall Wave (Trap) Continuous**

 **If a non-Link Monster or a Link Monster whose Link Rating is lower than the highest Link Rating among the "Tentacluster" Link Monster(s) on your field declares an attack, destroy all monsters your opponent in the same column as that monster. If a monster(s) is destroyed by this effect, inflict damage to your opponent equal to highest original ATK among the monster that were destroyed by this effect. If you don't control a "Tentacluster" Link Monster, destroy this card.**

* * *

"The effect of Fall Wave activates, since the monster that you attack with isn't a Link Three or higher, it's destroyed and its original attack will be inflicting to you as damage!" The invisible barrier suddenly set my shark on fire. The Xyz Monster roared and threw its body around before it exploded and the flames flew over to me.

 **『** **Proxy LP: 2400 - 2000** → **400** **』**

"T-turn end." I managed to say before I dropped on my knees. That AI had skills, not that others I dueled didn't, but this specific one's strategy was able to lock me down completely. The card that I set was Drowning Mirror Force, it was a strong trap, but I wouldn't be able to activate it unless the AI declared a direct attack. "At the end of this turn, the attack of all my monsters returns to normal."

 **BrioGear Cryo Raptor, ATK: 1000 - 600** → **400**

 **BrioGear Shark Wise, ATK: 1400 - 600** → **800**

With the _Tentacluster Reflect_ equip, no matter which of my monsters it attacks, his Link Monster would be able to reduce my Life Points to zero. That was if I didn't have one last move up my sleeves!

"My turn, draw."

 **『** **Turn 5 [Prototype Ai-HANOI] LP: 2400 Hand: 1** **』**

"Battle! I attack _Bahamut Shark_ with _Tentacluster Opabinia_! Also, the effect of _Tentacluster Reflect_ changes my monster's attack to become the same as the monster it attacks!"

 **Tentacluster Opabinia** **, ATK: 0** → **26** **00**

HANOI's monster flew at mine and its strange mouth wrapped around my sharp pulling it closer. If I let this attack go, it would cost me 2600 Life Points and the game.

"I activate the effect of BrioGear Madoor in my Graveyard!" A huge wall of ice formed between of two monsters and freed my shark from Opabinia's grab. "When you declare a direct attack while I have no cards in my hand, _BrioGear Madoor (Lv.6, DEF: 3000)_ can Special Summon itself from the Graveyard and end the Battle Phase! Also, because this is a Speed Duel, after your Battle Phase your turn will end."

"My turn shall be completed then." HANOI pressed a card in his hand to look at it. "Take your turn."

I looked down at my deck and clenched my fist. With zero cards in my hand, I would have to bet everything on this draw once again. Time seemed to slow down around me and my mind cleared from worries. That strange feeling, it was almost like I could hear the beating of my BrioGear cards. Yeah, that was right, with all of their strength…

"This is the last turn, I draw!"

 **『** **Turn 6 [Proxy] LP: 400 Hand: 1** **』**

"It came!" I shouted, the card I needed came to me! "Here we go, I play the Spell Card, _**Ark of BrioGear**_!" The card I played showed an image of Serene and most of my Level 5 and higher BrioGear monsters creating a great storm in the middle of a fleet, debris and soldiers being taken away by the windows, while the more unlucky soldiers were left to drown in the giant waves.

* * *

 **Ark of BrioGear (Spell) Normal**

 **You can activate this card only while you control 3 or more face-up "BrioGear" monsters. Pay half of your Life Points and target 1 face-up WATER monster you control: You can't Summon or Set monsters for the rest of this turn, also shuffle all other cards on the field into the deck. After you activate "Ark of BrioGear" the turn player cannot cards or effects for the rest of the turn.**

* * *

"This spell lets me, at the cost of half my Life Points, the ability to summon other monsters and the ability to activate other effects, to shuffle all but one card on the field back into our decks!" The choice I would go with was pretty obvious, there was only one monster on my field that could defeat the AI within this turn. "I target _Bahamut Shark_ so all of our other cards get back into the deck!"

 **『** **Proxy LP: 400 / 2** → **200** **』**

The Data Storm began to become unstable and huge waves raised around us, shaking my D-Board while _Bahamut Shark_ let out a loud roar and all of the winds flew toward it. All of our other cards, monsters, spells, traps, they were taken by the storm and faded away into pixels, leaving just me, my Xyz monster and the open field on my opponent.

"That's it!" I called out and gestured toward HANOI. " _Bahamut Shark_ attack directly!"

"I activate my skill!" HANOI raised its left arm upward and it began to glow with light. A Skill during a time like this?!

"W-what are you doing?!" I shouted at the AI. It was so blinding that I couldn't see anything in front of me.

"When aTentacluster Link Monster leaves the field because of an opponent's card effect, I can Link Summon a Tentacluster Link Monster from my Extra Deck by banishing cards in my Graveyard as Link Materials!" A Skill like this…

"Circuit open!" the spirits of his three _Tentacluster Sawmarine_ raised from the Graveyard and flew into the markers.

Since my spell's effect shuffled cards back into the deck and his monster was a Link Monster, it meant that it went back into his Extra Deck instead of the Main Deck.

"Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two monsters, including oneTentacluster monster! I set three _Tentacluster Sawmarine_ in the Link Markers! _**Necro Link**_ Summon complete. Link Three, _Tentacluster Opabinia_ _(ATK: 0, Link-3)_!"

I looked down, if my monster attacked, the effect of _Tentacluster Opabinia_ would just activate and it would steal my shark. I had no choice but to end this turn without declaring an attack. "I end my turn."

"You don't." I was taken aback when the AI told me that, its voice suddenly became a lot deeper than that of the other two and various red lines appeared all over its body. "When a monster is summoned by the effect of Necro Link, you take three hundred points of damage per Link Rating. _Tentacluster Opabinia_ is Link Three, therefore you take nine hundred points of damage!"

"W-what?" The DARK Link Monster looked down at me and fired three purple orbs at me. All of them exploded into _Bahamut Shark_ erasing it from the field while also throwing me off the D-Board.

I couldn't believe it. I felt tears forming in my eyes and everything that I could see started to slowly fade to white, I probably wasn't going to be conscious when my body finally crashed somewhere, but I remembered what my final thoughts were. Sorry Avice, I failed to make you proud of me once again.

 **『** **Proxy LP: 200 - 900** → **0** **』**

 **『** **Winner: Prototype Ai-HANOI** **』**

* * *

 **3** **rd** **POV**

"Vector Square Archfiend attacks Tentacluster Nautilus! Diabolic Spin!" Playmaker's monster wrapped itself around its cloak and flew through the enemy AI's monster, destroying it while also ending the duel.

 **『** **Prototype Ai** **-A LP: 1100 - 2400** → **0** **』**

 **『** **Winner:** **Playmaker** **』**

"That was easy enough." Ai crossed its hands smugly. "I don't see how anyone could have a problem with these stupid AIs. There aren't nearly as smart as I'm, right Playmaker?"

The Cyberse Duelist however was concerned with other thoughts. True, these AIs were much trouble for him, but he was a veteran, while others like Proxy were still newbies. She would actually be extremely lucky if she got to duel against a hand destruction deck, but for some reason he still felt an urge to check on how she was doing.

"Can you figure out how Proxy is doing?" Playmaker asked his computer partner.

"Hmm, you are worried about the cutie?" Ai teased the LINK VRAINS here.

"Just do it." Playmaker order him firmly.

"Ok, ok. Give me a moment, but she is definitely good, I don't see how she could…" Ai suddenly stopped talking and its shoulders fell a little as it looked up at the Cyberse Duelist. "Um, I can't locate her within this space anymore."

Playmaker keep looking forward as to not show Ai that these words worried him. Proxy wasn't the type of person that would run away, so if she wasn't inside the computer that would mean that she must have lost the duel.

"So, she was forcefully logged out?" Playmaker sighed. It was still better than anything else.

"Um, negative." Ai shook its head and looked down. "Her data is still here, but it's not here at the same time…"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Playmaker asked.

"I don't know, but it seems we got more pressings matters on our hands." Ai replied and turned to look behind Playmaker.

The Cyberse Duelist stopped his D-Board and turned around. Standing behind him was Prototype Ai-HANOI, but its body had grown larger and with three large spikes formed on the top of its head. A human and a machine stared at each other while Ai hid back into the Duel Disk. This mission had just gotten much more complicated that it would have liked it to be.

* * *

 **Skills:**

 ** _Necro Link_ : If a "Tentacluster" Link Monster leaves the field as a result of your opponent's card effect, the user can Link Summon 1 "Tentacluster" Link Monster from they Extra Deck by banishing "Tentacluster" monsters in their GY as Link Materials. When a"Tentacluster" Link Monster is Special Summoned by this effect, inflict damage to your opponent equal to that monstr's Link Rating x300.**

* * *

 **A/N: Just saying, but Avice's dialogue with Naoki was actually written before the last episode aired and it was based on his opening hand from his duel with the Knight of Hanoi. Seems like he hasn't learned anything since Season 1 *sigh***

 **Also, something sort of important I want to announce. If any of you guys and gals has any ideas for cards to suggest it will be great. I use my own fan-made cards all of the time, so it made me wonder, what would it be like to use cards that you guys made for my story. If you have any suggestions or anything like that, just tell me in a PM or write it in a review. Thank you in advance.**

 **Thanks to** Snakey1998 **for favoriting this story! Thanks to** SakushiRyu **for following and favoriting my story. For those curious enough to check, he writes a LINK VRAINS story with an OC as well, so take a look, you might love their work.**

 **Now to the reviews... Honestly, I was thinking that this section would be left empty until like, two days ago, so thanks to** MusicianWish **and the** Guest **for saving it.**

Guest **: Thanks a lot, actually, Roxy is the bigger otaku from this episode on, so funny how that turned out. I just, don't mean to be rude, but the "** **Also forgot to tell you last time** **" confuses me a little, because I can't remember when you are refering to, pealse remind me if you could. Thank you. Also, that last thing about which song would fit which character, oh boy. I had actually waited for someone to ask me that, but since this is my VRAINS fic I will reply only about my main VRAIN OCs, if you guys are interested after this, I might do it for the side characters like Nulline and the others. Before that however I would like to apologize because all of the songs I listen to are Nightcore so I mostly don't know how the "normal" version of them actually sounds.**

 **Evan/PhantomFire -** **Don't Stop by Innerpartysystem**

 **Avice/Silver Star -** **Castle by Halsey**

 **Vermilya/Blaze Rose - Just like Fire by Pink**

 **?/Rockteer/Picaro - I Don't Really Care by** **Blacklite District**

 **Roxanna/Proxy - Still Here by Digital Daggers**

 **That ofcourse are just my picks, but I wonder what songs you guys think would fit with these characters!**

MusicianWish **: "** **My long, passionate and meaningless comments have returned. I'm sorry.** **" Don't be, you save my desire to write every time! Honestly, how important Elizabeth's role depends on what you mean by "** **important** **". She won't have much of an inpact over the plot itself, but the existence of a friend somewhere out there that is waiting for Roxy is "** **important** **" for my character because the memory Eli is really the only thing keeping Roxanna standing when she had lost everything. Also yes, Elizabeth and Evan are the same age (they are twins, duh) which is 19. Not to far from 20, am I right?**

 **Sorry for ruining the PlaymakerxProxy ship for everyone, I have to admit that the YusakuxAoi ship isn't my favorite one either, the anime ruined it for me, but this whole "shipping" thing won't pay a huge role into the story (yes, it isn't a love story) and I definitely won't be mentioning official ships either, so, we can all pretend that our ship is canon to the story despite it not being true... I guess?**

 **"A virtual arm, a purple eye? ... WTF." I want to apologize to everyone for this bizzare and undetailed description, but that there was the monster from the sewers. The one that attacked Yusaku in episodes 30-31. I don't blame anyone for forgetting about it, was pretty useless in the anime.**

 **I'm grateful that my mini rants about VRAINS and Arc-V aren't annoying, I try not to talk too much about them because, well, as you said everyone has their own opinions on the subjects and since mines are most often negative, people probably don't like when people bash their favorite shows or characters like how I do.**

 **That's all I had to say for this chapter. Thanks to everyone for reading it and see you next time!**

 **Diabolic Tracer out!**


	23. Chapter 23

Hanoi Strikes Back

"Can't we talk this through as AI to AI?" Ai asked from inside Playmaker's Duel Disk. "This is a misunderstanding, you see, the Knights of Hanoi don't exactly like our kind, so there isn't a point in fighting for them."

The Hanoi possessed prototype looked down at the DARK Ignis prompting it to turn back into its eye form, while HANOI raised its head to glare at Playmaker. The duelist and the machine stared at each other with equally emotionless looks onto their faces for a few seconds until one of them finally choose to break the tense silence that built up around them.

"My duty is to take the DARK Ignis." HANOI stated. "I won't hesitate to use force if necessary, it's in your best interest to surrender peacefully."

"This one doesn't sound like a broken record, Playmaker." Ai said perplexed. "Could have Hanoi created one with consciousness?"

"I'm not a servant of the Knights." HANOI shook its head. "I was given this name as to not have my creator's loyalty be questioned by the higher-ups."

"So, your creator is a Knight of Hanoi after all?" Playmaker asked. "Then that makes you an enemy that I must defeat at any cost!"

"So be it." HANOI bowed and then flew past Playmaker and activated its Duel Disk. "I'm going to defeat you and start the first stage of my master's plan to unite humanity and the Ignis!"

"Unite…?" Ai tilted its head in confusion as to what the other AI meant by those words. But Playmaker didn't pay much attention to HANOI's words. Instead, he turned his D-Board around to follow after the prototype. The wind coming from the Data Storm became powerful and LINK VRAINS' hero noticed how it suddenly began to, almost respond to HANOI and blew stronger against the Cyberse Duelist, keeping him permanently behind the AI.

"The AI is using the Data Storm against us!" Ai exclaimed in panic. "Even I'm not able to use them like this!"

"You can worry about that after the duel." Playmaker said.

"I just hope that we won't end the same as Proxy." AI gulped.

Playmaker narrowed his eyes. He wondered how Proxy could lose against a hand destruction deck when her deck focused around discarding cards. Even if he took into account her more amateurs dueling skills such an outcome would be unlikely unless each of the AIs they saw was running a different kind of deck. Yes, that must have been it!

"Let's get this done!" HANOI turned its head to make sure that Playmaker was following him.

"Speed Duel!"

 **『** **Prototype Ai-HANOI LP: 4000 Hand: 4 (VS) Playmaker LP: 4000 Hand: 4** **』**

"I will take the first turn!" HANOI stated and looked at the four cards that he drew for his opening hand. "I will make this quick. First, I Normal Summon _Tentacluster Sawmarine (Lv.1, ATK: 0)_ then I activate _Machine Duplication_ to Special Summon two more _Tentacluster Sawmarine (Lv.1, ATK: 0)_!" The copies of the monster that HANOI used in his duel against Proxy appeared filling all of his Main Monster Zones. "Circuit open!"

"Ugh, it's going to Link Summoned already!" Ai panicked and looked up at Playmaker whose expression still remained neutral. "Eh-he… no reaction…? Ok."

"Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two monsters, including one Tentacluster monster! I set three _Tentacluster Sawmarine_ in the Link Markers! Link Summon complete. Link Three, _Tentacluster Opabinia (ATK: 0, Link-3)_!" The giant monster flew above HANOI's head and turned around to face its opponent.

"That's a creepy face!" Ai shrieked before it noticed something. "Huh, it has zero attack points? Then it must have an effect!"

"Indeed." HANOI nodded in confirmation. " _Tentacluster Opabinia_ can't be destroyed by battle and I take no damage from battles involving it. Also, it's unaffected by monster effects!"

"An invulnerable monster so early in the duel!?" Ai dropped its shoulders in defeat. "Is there even a watch to get past such a powerful monster?"

"The female that I dueled previously thought that she could get rid of my monster through other methods, but that mindset only cost her." HANOI replied and pressed two remaining two cards, setting them both onto its field. "Your changes to get rid of my monster and reduce my Life Points to zero is currently at one percent. It's not necessary for me to tell you that this means your defeat is predetermined already."

"My turn!" Playmaker declared ignoring HANOI's berating.

 **『** **Turn 2 [Playmaker] LP: 4000 Hand: 5** **』**

"I Normal Summon _Lady Debugger (Lv.4, ATK: 1700)_!" a female monster whose appearance had similarities to that of a Lady Bug appeared onto the field and winked. "When _Lady Debugger_ is Summoned, I can add a Level Three or lower Cyberse monster from the deck to my hand; I add _Cyberse Converter_!" A card popped from Playmaker's Duel Disk and he took it. "Then, since all of the monsters I control are Cyberse, I can Special Summon _Cyberse Converter (Lv.2, ATK: 1000)_ from my hand!" A white drone with two yellow eyes on a black screen flew next to the lady bug monster.

"Appear, the circuit that leads to the future!" Playmaker raised his right hand forward, opening the Link Portal. "Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are two Effect Monsters. I set _Lady Debugger_ and _Cyberse Converter_ in the Link Markers! Circuit combine! Link Summon! _Code Talker (ATK: 1300, Link-2)_!" The grey warrior with two yellow eyes appeared on the field with a swing of its sword.

"When I control a Cyberse monster, I can Special Summon _Backup Secretary (Lv.3, ATK: 1200)_!" A blue vortex appeared on Playmaker's field and another female monster flew out, landing in the middle zone. "Appear again, the circuit that leads to the future!" the square appeared once more. "Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are two or more Effect Monsters. I set _Backup Secretary_ and Link Two _Code Talker_ in the Link Markers! Circuit combine! Link Summon! _Decode Talker (ATK: 2300, Link-3)_!"

"You already got Decode Talker out!" Ai would have jumped in happiness if his body wasn't connected to the Duel Disk. "Although Decode Talker is our most reliable monster, you can't attack with it because of his annoying monster's effect."

"You are too short sighted." Playmaker replied and took another card from his hand before playing it. "I activate _Cynet Backdoor_ to banish Decode Talker until my next Standby Phase and add a Cyberse monster with less attack from my deck to the hand!" A blue vortex appeared above the Code Talker's head and the monster jumped into it, disappearing from the field. "I can _Cyberse Gadget_!"

"A monster banished by Cynet Backdoor has the ability to declare a direct attack during the turn in which it returns to the field." HANOI pointed out, catching Playmaker off guard. "Did you really expected me to not have something ready in case you try to avoid dealing with my monster? I trap my trap, _**Tentacluster Smokescreen**_!" The card that HANOI played depicted _Tentacluster Opabinia_ pulling a monster that was trying to hide in the ground using tentacles from its mouth.

* * *

 **Tentacluster Smokescreen (Trap) Normal**

 **If a monster your opponent controls is banished while you control a "Tentacluster" Link Monster, you can Special Summon that monster to your opponent's side of the field, but it has its effects negated, also increase its ATK by 600.**

* * *

"This trap's effect allows me to Special Summon the Decode Talker that you just banished back onto your field with its effects negated and a boost of six hundred attack points!" the blue vortex through which the Code Talker disappeared came onto Playmaker's field once again, dropping the monster which looked confused as to what happened.

 **Decode Talker, ATK: 2300 + 600** → **2900**

"Why did you betray my trust, Decode Talker?!" Ai exclaimed and dropped onto his knees while the monster stretched the back of its helmet still not understanding how it appeared back onto the field.

"I will set a card and end my turn!" Playmaker finished and looked toward his monster. He understood why HANOI would pull it out of Cynet Backdoor's effect, but he wasn't so sure about the attack boost.

"Then I'm going to finish your monster!" HANOI drew its card.

 **『** **Turn 3 [Prototype Ai-HANOI] LP: 4000 Hand: 1** **』**

"Perfect." HANOI the card and a red aura covered its monster. "I play the Equip Spell _Tentacluster Reflect_. A monster equipped with this card has its attack power changed to match that of the opponent's monster when it declares an attack! So, let's battle! Tentacluster Opabinia destroy Decode Talker!" The Link Monster opened its mouth and flew at Playmaker's ace swallowing it whole.

 **Tentacluster Opabinia, ATK: 0** → **2900**

"Decode Talker was just reduced to fish food!" Ai's hands dropped at the side.

"After the monster equipped with Tentacluster Reflect destroys one of yours by battle, the attack of the destroyed monster is taken straight out of your Life Points!" Tentacluster Opabinia turned toward Playmaker and roared, creating a powerful gust of wind that launched the Cyberse Duelist's D-Board back a few feet.

 **『** **Playmaker LP: 4000 - 2900** → **1100** **』**

"He just eliminated more than half of our Life Points!" Ai panicked and looked back Playmaker who was observing his opponent's plays. "But you don't care about that, do you?" Ai sighed, his duelist was acting more like an AI than an actual one.

"It's my turn then, I draw!" Playmaker drew his next card and looked at it.

 **『** **Turn 4 [Playmaker] LP: 1100 Hand: 2** **』**

"This will do." Playmaker said and slammed the card that he drew onto his Duel Disk. "I activate the spell _Cybersal Cyclone_! When this card activates I can banish one Link Monster in my Graveyard to destroy a monster on the field with the same Link Rating! I banish Decode Talker to destroy Tentacluster Opabinia!" A whirlwind formed out of the card and shot at HANOI's ace, destroying it.

"Ha, his monster is unaffected by monster effects, but that's a different story for Spells and Traps!" Ai threw its hands in the air triumphantly.

"You are struggling pointlessly." HANOI raised its left arm and it began to glow.

"Something's going to happen!" Ai panicked again.

"When a Tentacluster Link Monster leaves the field because of a card effect I can activate my Skill!" HANOI called out and raised its arm forward opening a square. "Circuit open! Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two monsters, including one Tentacluster monster! I set three Tentacluster Sawmarine in the Link Markers! Necro Link Summon complete. Link Three, _Tentacluster Opabinia (ATK: 0, Link-3)_!" A second copy of the familiar monster appeared onto the field and roared at Playmaker.

"It's back!" Ai dropped its shoulders. "We sacrificed Decode Talker for nothing!"

"The effect of Necro Link doesn't end there." HANOI turned around to face Playmaker. "When my monster is successfully summoned you take three hundred damage per every link that it has. There are three, therefore you take nine thousand points of damage!" Tentacluster Opabinia opened its mouth and released several shards that cut Playmaker's shoulders and chest, making him cry out in pain.

 **『** **Playmaker LP: 1100 - 900** → **200** **』**

"Your chances to defeat me have just become zero!" HANOI called out. "Give up and I won't cause you anymore harm!"

"N-no, I can still go on." Playmaker shook his head and looked around spotting a Data Storm. He dashed toward it. "I will now activate my own skill! When my Life Points are at a thousand or less, I can add a random Link Monster to my Extra Deck! Storm Access!"

The duelist shoved his hand into the wind with silhouettes of various monsters flying past him while the card began to form. Playmaker pulled his hand out and showed the new card to Ai.

"Eeeeeeehhh? It's just a Link One!" Ai whined. Playmaker ignored that and put the card into his Extra Deck.

"Now I can make a comeback!" The Cyberse Duelist declared and took the last card in his hand, slapping it onto the blade of his Duel Disk. "I Normal Summon _Cyberse Gadget (Lv.4, ATK: 1400)_!" a humanoid white and blue robot appeared before Playmaker. "When _Cyberse Gadget_ is summoned, I can revive a level two or lower monster from my Graveyard in Defense Position. Raise, _Cyberse Converter (Lv.2, DEF: 1000)_!"

"Appear, the circuit that leads to the future!" The square portal opened before Playmaker. "Arrowhead confirmed! The summoning condition is one Level Two or lower monster. I set _Cyberse Converter_ in the Link Marker! Circuit combine! Link Summon! _Talkback Lancer (ATK: 1200, Link-1)_!" A black humanoid monster covered in purple circuit lines came out of the portal wearing heavy blue and green armor with a spear in its right arm.

"This is the monster that you got from the Data Storm…" Ai pointed out the obvious and looked back at his duelist. "What are you going to do?"

"I now activate Talkback Lancer's effect! I release one Cyberse monster to revive a Code Talker from my Graveyard!"Cyberse Gadget burst into pixels and Code Talker appeared behind Talkback Lancer with its 1300 attack.

"Ha, because of its own effect Code Talker gains five hundred attack points for every monster that it's linked to!" Ai crossed its arms proudly.

 **Code Talker, ATK: 1300 + 500** → **1800**

"Cyberse Gadget's additional effect!" Playmaker gestured toward his field. "When it leaves the field, I can Special Summon one _Gadget Token (Lv.2, DEF: 0)_!" A small white and red robot that had an appearance similar to Gadget's head was summoned in the middle zone. "With this, everything is set. Appear, the circuit that leads to the future!"

"Another Link Summon…" HANOI clenched its fists slightly.

"Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are two or more Cyberse Monsters. I set _Gadget Token_ and Link Two _Code Talker_ in the Link Markers! Circuit combine! Link Summon! _Excode Talker (ATK: 2300, Link-3)_!" The green Code Talker raised from the Link Portal and flew behind Talkback Lancer. "Excode Talker's effect activates! When it's Link Summoned, I can deny you access to a number of Main Monster Zones up to the number of monsters in the Extra Monster Zones! Grasp Zone!"

Two black vortexes formed in the Code Talker's palms and it threw them toward HANOI's field, making the two zones that his monster pointed to unusable.

"Furthermore, while Excode Talker is linked toward another monster, that monster gains five hundred attack points." Talkback Lancer raised its spear and a yellow aura overtook its body, raising its attack to 1700. "Now battle, Talkback Lancer is going to attack Tentacluster Opabinia!"

"W-wait, what?" Ai's eyes widened and he looked back at Playmaker.

"Interesting." HANOI observed. "Because Excode Talker blocked my monster zones, Tentacluster Opabinia's effect to steal the monster that it battles against won't activate. But I was prepared for that as well, Continuous Trap open - _Tentacluster Fall Wave_! When a monster with a lower Link Rating that my Tentacluster declares an attack, I can destroy all of the monsters in that column and inflict their attack to you as damage!" The trap fired a red laser straight at Talkback Lancer's head

"But due to Excode Talker monster it points to can't be destroyed by card effects!" Ai pointed out and indeed, Talkback Lancer jumped away from the attack.

"True, but Excode Talker's effect don't protect itself!" HANOI pointed out and the attack stuck the Code Talker. "Farewell, Playmaker! This duel is over!"

"Is that so?" Playmaker smirked and gestured toward his set card. "Despite the powerful ability of your monster, there were ways to avoid them. Because of that I figured out that you might have cards meant to make-up for those weaknesses. I can activate my trap, _Shield Handler_! When a card or effect that would destroy monsters is activated this trap let's me negate the effects of one Link Monster on the field!" A grey aura covered Tentacluster Opabinia, taking away all of its effects. "Then, _Shield Handler_ equips itself to another Link Monster and grants it immunity to effect destruction! I choose Excode Talker!"

The Code Talker's eyes glowed and it activates its claws, slashing through the laser, cutting it into two parts that flew past it.

"Now the attack continues." Playmaker pointed out. "And since your monster's effects are negated, it can no longer protect itself, so Talkback Lancer is going to destroy Tentacluster Opabinia!" the Link One charged forward and swung its spear, cutting the Tentacluster in two before it blow up and the debris hit HANOI.

 **『** **Prototype Ai-HANOI LP: 4000 - 1** **7** **00** → **2** **3** **00** **』**

"When I have no Tentacluster Link Monsters _Tentacluster Fall Wave_ destroys itself." HANOI pointed out as its trap shattered into pixels. "Playmaker… You really are something else."

The Cyberse Duelist didn't respond to his opponent and just gestured for Excode Talker to attack. "Excode Talker will declare a direct attack, Excode Close!" The monster flew over at HANOI and cut it through the waist using the claw weapons.

 **『** **Prototype Ai-HANOI LP:** **23** **00 -** **23** **00** → **0** **』**

 **『** **Winner: Playmaker** **』**

HANOI's remains flew off the D-Board and toward the edges of the Data Storm, when suddenly the whole place shook and the broken AI's parts got stuck into an intense mass of wind with the silhouettes of monsters flying through it. Playmaker didn't notice that, but Ai did, the Dark Ignis stared as the Data Storm embraced HANOI's broken body and it shivered a little.

"Ugh…" Ai crossed its arms and looked up at Playmaker. "Let's get out of here sooner, this place is giving me a creepy feeling."

"What is it?" Playmaker asked. He most often wasn't interested in what the AI had to say, but that could be worth listening to.

"I don't know." Ai admitted. "But there was something lurking in that Data Storm. It felt… familiar."

Playmaker didn't question what that meant and instead he turned around to get back on track and find the Data Bank before any more of those AI Duelists showed up.

* * *

 **Proxy's** **POV**

"A… …ou th…"

"…re yo… th-re?"

"Are you there?" A voice was talking into my ear, my body felt cold, probably because of the ground on which my body was lying. My head was killing me, it was almost like someone spent the last few minutes yelling into my ears… Well, technically that was what happened, but still, I was sure that something else must have caused it.

"Do you hear me, Proxy?" I could finally make out that the voice talking to me was that of Avice. I put my hands on each side beside my body and lifted myself off the perfectly white floor on which I must have spent the last – I really had no idea how long I was unconscious. The last memory I had was of that creepy AI defeating me, everything after that was blank.

"I'm here." I finally choose to answer to Avice and stood back up to look around. I was in a huge white room of some sort with nothing else, just four walls, a ceiling and a floor. It was like a prison meant to keep its victim locked inside until the end of time. Of course, I could probably just use Serene to break free from this cell. "Are you seeing, what I'm seeing?"

" _Negative. We lost visuals right after that AI curb stomped you."_ I bit my lower lip, did she really need to make it sound so brutally? _"According to my computers you are still in SOL's computer, but I'm no longer able to locate your location. Would you try to describe your current location?"_

"A white room." I replied simply. "That's literally everything."

" _That's… not bad actually. It means that you are mostly safe."_ I would be almost relieved to hear that if it wasn't for the little 'mostly' which, knowing Avice, meant that I was most likely put into an execution chamber. _"I'm going to send Vermilya to save you from… whatever shit you got yourself into, just try not to get yourself blown to pieces. But you shouldn't have a problem with that, seeing how well you handed dueling that AI."_

"A-Avice… zzhhhh...! I can't zzhhhh...! Hear yo... zzhhhh!..." Yes, that was right, I would rather fake that the connection was getting worse than sitting through another session of Avice laughing at my poor dueling skills.

"That's immature." I jumped when suddenly a male voice spoke up from behind me. Standing there was a man in a white coat with heavy black armor on his shoulders and chest. I couldn't see his face, partially because of the large hood, but also because of the grey demon mask that he wore. A green sash was tied around the waist and his footwear were heavy metal sandals, his whole design looked like a weird combination between a samurai and a ninja.

"Hanoi…" I leaned forward and held my Duel Disk in front of me. "So their worries were justified. You really came here."

"You must be the one that they call Proxy, correct?" I was taken aback that he knew my name, but I tried my best not to show it. "My name is MetalX, I was warned that the family you are working for would try to get in our way, but I didn't expect them to send their weakest to confront me."

"Family?" was he referring to Evan and Avice? They were the only 'family' that I had any ties to in this world, so most likely it was about them. "Why did you came here? What do your people want from SOL Technology?"

"Hmm, I'm happy that you asked me that." MetalX put his hands on his hips. "I was actually waiting for you to ask me to explain you my evil plan in this empty room where no one would interfere."

"Ok then, I'm listening." I nodded. Phew, it's a good coincidence that both of us want him to tell me what that evil plan is.

"I was sarcastic."

"Oh…" For the record, I knew that he wasn't honest about what he said previously. "But do you really think that you are going to get away with this? SOL is definitely going to find out about you being on their server sooner rather than later and when they do, you will get captured!"

"That's not something you must worry about." MetalX pressed a hand against his chest and smirked. "For you see, I'm not really here. This avatar is being remotely controlled, so even if they caught it, I won't be losing anything. In the worst case scenario, I'm going to blow it up and use a backup to remake it anew."

I bit my lower lip, this was the first time that I heard about something like a remote controlled avatar and I was unsure what to make out of this new info. Was he honest, or just lying to trick me into thinking that capturing him wouldn't be worth it? From what I collect so far from my experience in LINK VRAINS an avatar was controlled by the consciousness of a user, so it shouldn't be possible for a body to move without a brain controlling it. Then again, here we weren't psychical being, but just data that was controlled through commands that our Duel Disks translated to our digital bodies. Taking that into account, controlling an avatar would truly be much easier to program than the technology we were using to upload our consciousness into the net.

"What's this place anyways?" I asked and looked around the white room once more to be sure no other surprised popped out of thin air while I was busy talking to this man. "You from Hanoi surely seem to like taking hostages every chance that you get, don't you?"

"That's not mine." MetalX shook his head. "Did you forget that we are within SOL Technologies' computer? This is where the consciousness of any hacker they find trying to sneak in gets trapped. It's also used to get rid of computer viruses that try to infect the system. The Prototype AIs you encountered were all programmed to send intruders here once they beam them – even the one that I hacked into had to follow the same algorithm. Since you were the only one who lost, you are also the only one to get imprisoned, obviously."

"So, this is jail and you are inside as well." I pointed out. Seems like that guy already failed with his evil plot without the need for me to get involved. "That's great! All I have to do now is just relax and wait for SOL to come and blow you the fuck out."

"You see, this is where you are wrong." I eyed MetalX when he began to walk toward one of the walls. "With that moron of a security manager that they currently have, it was easy for me to hack this cell's programming as well. The only reason why I came here was to see who was caught before I let the system erase you like a useless malware."

The wall that MetalX walked toward suddenly changed into a portal and he stepped through it. Too bad that he already warned me what was going to happen and that he showed me how to get out! I ran toward the portal and reach out for it, but… Something wasn't right. I felt a chill down my spine and instinctively stepped to the side, only for a red lightning to fall exactly where I stood a moment ago. That was close!

I turned back toward the portal, but it was already gone. More and more lightnings fell from the ceiling and connected to the ground and walls, creating pillars of electricity that began to move around the room. Well, at least they were using a stupid, not sure to actually work, way of erasing things instead of the more effective recycle bin way of erasing unwanted files.

"Um, Avice?" I called out. She definitely hasn't turned off her headphones, has she? "Are you there? Hey, Avice?" I jumped to the side and made a roll to avoid one of these pillars from touching me. Damn, they were getting closer! "Hey, can you hear me?!"

" _Oh, it's you."_ I sighed in relief hearing her voice speaking inside my head once again. Thankfully she hasn't abandoned me. _"Are you done trying to fake a disconnection and actually listen?"_

"Wait, is that why you weren't responding to me before!?" I yelled even though she wasn't here. What I did might be stupid, but leaving me alone in a life or death situation like this one because she didn't like my response was just screwed up! "W-whatever… It seems like I'm currently in some sort of virtual jail designed to keep hackers. A Knight of Hanoi just showed up as well, he left, but now the cell I'm trapped into is trying to kill me! Can't you do something?"

" _No worries, I already sent Vermilya to come and rescue you."_ At least that was something. _"I'm still trying to pinpoint your exact location, but the info that you gave me is helping to reduce the search space by a lot! All you gotta do is not die until we find you."_

"Ah, thanks. I didn't know that I should try to STAY FREAKING ALIVE!" I crawled onto the ground as the electricity floated above my head. Honestly, I wanted to just summon Serene and have her blast a hole through this whole thing, but of course I couldn't do that. There was barely enough space for me.

" _No worries, we are professionals. Have fun!"_

"Don't tell me to have fun when my life is on the line!" I yelled back, but Avice didn't respond. Damn it, she must have muted me! Why did I even accept to do this?

* * *

 **3** **rd** **POV**

"How can something like this happen!?" Kitamura screamed inside his office where most of his workers couldn't hear him.

On the screen through which he watched the duel between Playmaker and Akira. Currently, the former was controlling both Decode Talker and Firewall Dragon and had used the effect of his spell to destroy all Tindangle monsters of his opponent and was about to attack directly.

"Come on Zaizen, my promotion depends on you!" Kitamura shouted into the computer screen. "Tch, what about… Oh no… Nononono!"

SOL Technologies' security direction jumped off his chair and pulled his hair. He had just changed the screen to show where Blue Angel was, however instead of catching the Charisma Duelist's tracks, he saw a recording of MetalX making his way toward the Data Bank.

"A Knight of Hanoi too?! Is there anyone who hasn't infiltrated the computer!?" Kitamura shouted.

* * *

"I infiltrated the security sector." Blaze Rose stated.

" _That's good, but I got no idea where Roxy might be."_ Avice sighed. _"You know, I'm always open up for ideas…"_

"Most of my ideas usually involve huge explosions, so I give you the chance to rethink your decision." Blaze Rose responded.

" _That's SOL's property not mine, so I don't mind if you blow their shit up."_ Avice admitted. _"At twelve o'clock, a large number of dangerous objects are moving in toward you!"_

"I see them." Blaze Rose dropped her arms, a huge number of red squares flew out of the darkness and headed straight toward her. "Set these losers ablaze, _NitroGear Warrior_!"

A red clock gear appeared in front of Blaze Rose and grew up, transforming into the huge green monster which clenched its fists, setting them on fire. NitroGear Warrior roared and launched itself forward, passing right in between the squares which then melted away because of the heat that radiated out of the monster's body. Blaze Rose flew through the opening that her ace created and looked back at the security traps, smirking at her little victory that was sure to piss off a certain security manager and probably get him fired as well.

"How do you rate this one?" Blaze Rose asked.

" _Six out of ten, too much fire."_ Avice replied. _"Now focus on the task at hand. You can melt SOL's security codes later."_

"Yeah, yeah, I got it." Blaze Rose sighed and stopped. She looked at the wall in front of her and the closed her eyes to focus. "There!"

The Charisma Duelist gestured in the distance and NitroGear Warrior charged toward the wall, slamming its flaming fists against the hard surface. Flames burst out of the synchro's hands and grew in sides, engulfing more and more of the data inside their destructive ring. NitroGear Warrior roared and pulled back, the fire burst, destroying the first layer of the wall.

Only for another one to show up right underneath it.

" _Amazing! You pushed a wall! Such a heroic deed, I must tell my brother and prepare you a surprise party for managing to do this!"_ Blaze rolled her eyes at the obvious sarcasm of her mentor.

"You can either annoy the hell out of me or act as a proper support!" Blaze shouted at the disembodied voice of her ex-teacher. "I thought that the walls could be jamming the signal! My job is to push things and destroy them, not be good with computers and computer programs, that's your job!"

" _Oh, because unjamming signals is easy for a fifteen years old, isn't it?!"_ The Charisma Duelist closed her eyes and put both hands over her ears. Whose brilliant idea it was to have the microphones built into the avatars' heads!

"Listen you little-" Blaze Rose began when suddenly a huge blue beam blaster through the wall and flew a few inches away from her face, managing to incinerate some of the fair on the Charisma Duelist's forehead in the process.

The NitroGear Duelist turned her attention toward the huge hole in the wall and Proxy walked out of it. The BrioGear user leaned against the remains of her prison and took a few deep breaths, her whole body was trembling and her skin had gone pale; for a moment she really thought that her life was going to end inside that hell. The only thing that saved was a single moment during which the lasers separated enough for her to summon Serene and use the Link Monster's attack to break through the cell. After regaining back some of her composure she turned toward Blaze Rose and yelled.

"I almost died in there while you were busy arguing!"

"Heh, whoops." The Charisma Duelist pressed her index fingers together and smiled awkwardly.

Proxy rolled her eyes and jumped onto her D-Board. "I'm sure that the Knight of Hanoi I met is still somewhere inside these servers. Just like we thought, they were even able to invade SOL Technology."

"That's what happens when you don't run proper background checks on your employs." Blaze Rose sighed.

"If you don't mind, could you duel the knight after we find them?" Proxy looked at the Charisma Duelist, almost begging her with the expression of a sad-puppy.

"Why? You are still 'tired' from your last duel?" Proxy rolled her eyes at the comment. Was Blaze really going to start mock her as well.

The complete truth was that despite being brave enough to talk back to the Knights of Hanoi, Proxy was still too scared to actually duel against them. Say that she was all bark no bite, but she couldn't stop the awful memories of all the past times she had to face one of them from resurfacing during each one of her duels.

But she couldn't admit about her fears to neither Blaze Rose nor the Greysons. She simply couldn't do that!

"L-let's just find them first!" Proxy stuck out her tongue and Blaze Rose and speeded forward.

* * *

While the two Gear Duelist were on their ways, inside the center of SOL's databank a duel was already on its way to end. Playmaker controlled Firewall Dragon, Recovery Sorcerer and Security Gardna while Akira had only a 0 ATK Tindangle Acute Cerberus and nothing that he could use to stop the upcoming attack. It was his lost, completely.

"Firewall Dragon! Tindangle Acute Cerberus! Tempest Attack!" The dragon fired its red blast at Akira, the attack raising a huge veil of smoke as it hit.

After everything cleared, Akira was holding Blue Angel, shielding her from the attack just like how she wanted to do for him.

 **『** **Akira** **L** **P:** **11** **00 -** **25** **00** → **0** **』**

 **『** **Winner: Playmaker** **』**

"Brother!" Blue Angel cried out as Akira fell from the damage that he took.

Meanwhile, Ghost Girl turned to look at Playmaker as his monsters disappeared in a wave of flames and he stepped toward databank. He was impressive, to make a comeback from that situation. No one might be able to erase his fire for revenge now.

"As promised, I'm taking the data." Playmaker stated as he walked past the Zaizens. He stopped in front of a golden column with a black sphere floating above it. "Ai, eat as much as you want."

"Playmaker, what did you just say?" Ai peaked out of the Duel Disk. To be invited to a full table like this, and more importantly… "Did you say my name?"

"Hurry up." Playmaker retorted.

"Okay, okai. Sheesh." Ai returned back into the Duel Disk and prepared itself. "Leave it to me!" In an instant, the little AI flew out and toward the black sphere in his monster-like form. "I'll eat everything!"

"You really think that I would let that happen?" A new voice called out and two white spheres fell in front of both Playmaker and the Zaizens' blowing up. Everyone cried out as they were hit by the surprise attack and launched back.

"That's bad!" Ai called out as the sudden attack caused its body to return back into the Duel Disk.

"What just…" Ghost Girl narrowed her eyes. Stepping out of the smoke caused by his own attack, was MetalX.

"A Knight of Hanoi?!" Ai panicked while Playmaker was still trying to force himself to get back up.

"Brother!" Blue Angel cried out again and reached out toward her brother.

Akira, who was already completely exhausted after his lost to Playmaker just a few moments ago was reduced to lying on the flow, unable to move his body after the blast caused the main that he felt to increase. All he could do was stare at the Knight of Hanoi.

'So that's what Greyson meant.' He thought to himself, remembering Evan's warning.

 _"Have you ever heard about the Trojan Horse?"_

 _"Do you mean the computer virus or the Trojan Horse from the Greek mythology?"_

 _"The second one. I'm asking because SOL Technology's might have just turned into Troy."_

There was no way for Hanoi to hack into SOL's servers without anyone noticing, so he must have gained access to the backdoor from within the company. Those all sounded like far stretches and guesses without actual prove, but Akira knew better, if Evan himself had visited to tell him that, it was serious.

"So, you are the infamous Playmaker?" MetalX turned toward Playmaker. "I'm not going to try and stop you from destroying the rest of Hanoi, but I must take that Ignis from you."

"Ah, nononono!" Ai waved its hands rapidly in front of its face. "I'm fine here, no need to worry about me!"

"I would never help the likes of you!" Playmaker shouted back and raised his left arm with the Duel Disk on it. "I swore to become the embodiment of vengeance that's going to destroy you all for what you did to me and many others!"

"Fool." MetalX clenched his fist. "You think that by brainlessly going after every Hanoi that you encounter, something's going to change for the better!"

"Better?" Blue Angel interrupted, catching the two duelists by surprise. "Are you saying that you hurt my brother to make things better? If so… Then I can't accept the world that you want to create!"

"Blue Angel…" Playmaker looked back at the Charisma Duelist. But he had to agree with her, innocent didn't have to be involved and he would never be able to forgive Hanoi for doing so in the first place.

"Duel me!" Blue Angel declared and pointed at the knight.

"No!" Playmaker waved off the Charisma Duelist. "He… he is one of the people that took my past, this duel should be mine, not yours! Take care of your brother, don't let him get hurt anymore!"

"This man is the one who hurt him in the first place!" Blue Angel remind the Cyberse hero. "That's why… I can't forgive him either!"

"Interesting." MetalX chuckled, he just wanted to get rid of Playmaker faster; that was why he used the bombs at the start, but he didn't expect things to turn out like that. Both Blue Angel and Playmaker wanted his head, he could just let them fight among each other and enjoy the show however… He was there on a mission and it was his duty to complete it as fast as possible.

"Since you both seem to hate my guts, why don't we do something that would be satisfying for everyone involved." MetalX raised his Duel Disk and it glowed for a moment, causing both Blue Angel's and Playmaker's to activate at the same time.

"What the…" The Charisma Duelist exclaimed.

"You and Blue Angel were both forced into a duel!" Ai pointed out.

"Me against Blue Angel?" Playmaker gritted his teeth. Of course, Hanoi weren't above using such dirty tactics.

"No, it's you AND Blue Angel against me." MetalX pointed at himself. "I'm going to show everyone the power that I acquired under Picaro's leadership by dueling both of you at the same time!"

"What?!" Blue Angel was taken aback. Was that duelist crazy to challenge both her and Playmaker at the same time!? Or… has there some truth behind his talk about power?

"A two versus one duel, hm." Ai crossed its arms in thought. "According to the rules, there are two ways that this could play out, either you are going to have to share fields, graveyards and life points, or you can share a single field and nothing else. It seems like your opponent already choose the first option at the start, so be careful Playmaker. According to the rules, you can't communicate to form a strategy nor see each other's set cards!"

"A single field and we won't know what's on it half of the time?" Blue Angel couldn't help but hear the AI's words. That just put both her and Playmaker at a huge disadvantage at the start.

"It's too late to turn back on your word now." MetalX put a hand on his hips. "But of course, if you want, you can always forfeit and let me walk away with the Ignis."

"I'm not going to give up." Playmaker stated.

"Neither will I!" Blue Angel followed suit.

"Then let's start this!" MetalX raised his right hand toward his Duel Disk.

"Duel!"

 **『** **MetalX Hand: 5 [LP: 4000] (VS) Playmaker Hand: 5 & Blue Angel Hand: 5 [LP: 4000]** **』**

"As I'm the one at the losing end of this deal, it's only fair if I get the first turn!" MetalX stated. "And what better way to kick this duel off than by starting with the best? I'm going to activate my two Continuous Spells, _Six Samurai Unite_ and _Gateway of the Six_!"

"A Six Samurai deck?" Ai looked at the Knight of Hanoi in confusion. "Isn't that, like, an antique already?"

"Old doesn't always mean bad." MetalX pointed out. "I Normal Summon _Legendary Six Samurai – Kageki (Lv.3, ATK: 200)_ and activate its effect! When Kageki is Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon a Level Four or lower Six Samurai monster from my hand, come out, _Kagemusha of the Six Samurai (Lv.2, ATK: 400)_!" The two warriors raised on the field next to each other while the spells behind them glowed.

"Now, the effects of both Six Samurai Unite and Gateway of the Six activate!" MetalX continued. "When I Normal or Special Summon a Six Samurai monster Unite gains one Bushido Counter and Gateway gains two!"

"Huh, that means…" Ai paused for a moment and began to count on its fingers. "He summoned two monsters and the total Bushido Counters for each summon is three which means… He got six counters in total!"

"Six Samurai Unite's effect and send it to the Graveyard in order to draw two cards." MetalX pulled two cards from his deck, adding them to his hand. "Then, I activate Gateway of the Six's effect to remove four counters and add Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan to my hand! Now, I tune my Level ThreeLegendary Six Samurai – Kageki to the Level Two Kagemusha of the Six Samurai! Synchro Summon, _Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En (Lv.5, ATK: 2500)_!" A monster wearing red armor appeared on the field holding a katana in its right arm.

"So, he's not running any Link Monsters." Playmaker narrowed his eyes. That would mean that MetalX was unable to control more than one Extra Deck monster at a time…

"While I control a Six Samurai with a different name, I can Special Summon _Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan (Lv.4, ATK: 1800)_!" A warrior in black armor appeared behind Shi En holding a katana as well. "Let's not forget, Gateway of the Six gains four more counters thanks to Shi En and Kizan! I use all of them to add Grandmaster of the Six Samurai to my hand, then I Special Summon it since I control a Six Samurai monster!" An old man with an eyepatch and robotic arms stepped onto the field next to the other two monsters. "Now, I put two Bushido Counters on Gateway of the Six!"

"He keeps on putting counters and search cards." Ai scratched the top of its head. "But I don't see much of a danger coming from his cards." Playmaker ignored the AI. "So cold…"

"I'm ending my turn here!" MetalX stated and pointed at the two duelists before him. "Now, come at me!"

* * *

Unknown to either Kitamura or the duelists inside the mother computer, somewhere else inside the network three figures were watching the events through a holographic screen coming out of one's eyes. Although their appearance was covered in shadows to make it harder to detect, their built didn't appear anywhere close to that of a human.

"Knights of Hanoi, SOL Technology, Playmaker and the Greyson Family, all four factions have gathered at once place." The smallest of the three figures said in a voice that sounded half robotic half like a child. "This would be the best time to strike, don't you think so, brother?"

"Yes." The tallest of the figure nodded in agreement with the other one. "My brother is right, we have watched them fought against ones another like children for a candy for quite some time now, they wouldn't expect if we strike now!"

"Negative." The leader, whose voice sounded like a robot woman shook its head. It reached toward its eyes and grabbed the hologram that it was projecting, pulling it out with ease. "In order for our goals to have an over ninety percent success rate we will need to wait for a bit longer. Humans love to cause chaos, destroy their own creations and fight like animals. As it's going, Hanoi will soon declare a full out war to the other three and then, during all of the panic, you can go and complete the mission given to us by the greater ones!"

"After years of isolation…" the smallest one reached for the hologram and pressed it, changing the screen to another one that showed Blaze Rose and Proxy surfing through the data. "We will take the six gear decks and unlock the gate that enslaved our kind!"

* * *

 **A/N: And that was it. I'm perfectly aware of my track record when it comes duels with 3 or more duelists, so I'm actually going to take my time to make this one the best team duel I wrote so far! Because of that it would take some time for the next update, is what I would have said if my next sentence wasn't going to negate this one.**

 **The main announcement for today is that I'm going to put this story on hiatus (hopefully a HUGE hiatus). During the next weeks/months I hope to improve the quality of my context. So, if there is something you would think I should focus on improving, or you want to see something more specific, I'll be more than happy to hear you out. Of course, you probably don't care either way so moving on.**

 **I feel that this story might have dragged a bit, so I will try to accelerate it when I come back from hiatues. My plans for the next chapters at the moments are:**

 **Chapter 24 - the full Playmaker and Blue Angel vs MetalX duel and some side things.**

 **Chapter 25 - mostly a plot chapter with Evan giving the backstory of the oGear decks and what's their inportance.**

 **Chapter 26 - The Another Arc begins, and I plan to have a lot of duels during that arc.**

 **(Of course, those are just my initial plans and everything that I listed here might change.)**

 **There is also the chance that I'm going to start another YGO story some time. That one is going to be a completely original one though and will feature most of my already existing OCs like Evan, Avice and Roxy. Not much to say about that project except that it's going to most likely be published in either the Arc-V/Vrains crossover tab or the Duel Monster tab.**

 **Response to** Starman 003 **: Yeah, I had the feeling that the Guest was you but I didn't want to jump the gun too quickly. To reply to your more important question, anime characters don't see themselves the way we seem them, but when they watch anime, they see the same thing that we do. About Evan and Avice's decks... Well, I previously already gave a backstory, but I choose to retcon it so their actual backstories will be explored in Chapter 25.**

 **Response to** ScalchopWarrior **: When was there a SOL infiltration during Season 2? I don't remember it...**

 **Response to** ThePLOThand **: I had thoughts about reintroducing the Transformation Summon in her new AstroGear deck, so she might reuse that. As for Astral Angels, even if they appear in the story, it will be the same deck that Avice used three years ago, no Link updates.**

 **Anyway, that's all for today. See you all next time and don't forget to fav/follow/review.**

 **Diabolic Tracer out!**


	24. Chapter 24

Fervor for Victory

"So now, Playmaker. Won't you come against me?" MetalX asked one of his two opponents, catching the duelist by surprise.

The duel between MetalX, Playmaker and Blue Angel had just started and the first turn, which belonged to the Knight of Hanoi had ended. On MetalX's side of the field were _Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan (Lv.4, ATK: 2100)_ , _Grandmaster of the Six Samurai (Lv.5, ATK: 2100)_ , and in the Extra Monster Zone - _Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En (Lv.5, ATK: 2500)_. Gateway of the Six was face-up on his field with two Bushido Counters and there were no set cards, while a card was yet to appear on Playmaker and Blue Angel's side of the field. Despite how good his first turn was, the Knight of Hanoi remained focused, knowing that the opponents he faced were experienced duelists as well.

"Of course you will." MetalX chuckled. "Just like a fly, you will always fly toward the light, even if it might burn your wings. But isn't it ironic? The 'enemy' that you are fighting against is the light that gives you a reason to keep moving forward. Playmaker, you are nothing more than a walking contradistinction!"

"You are wrong." Playmaker shook his head. "There are no contradictions in the path that I have chosen. Hanoi, the pain that I felt because of you all those years ago, the despair and loses that I suffered, I'm fighting to take back what you took from me! You are no light, but a dark abyss of nightmares that's pulling me back to these cursed memories from ten years ago."

"Well said, Playmaker!" Ai clenched its fist triumphantly. "Let's beat him and take the data we came here for!"

"Playmaker, wait!" the Cyberse Duelist stopped himself and turned toward Blue Angel to hear what she had to say. "I know that your fight with the Knights of Hanoi is on a personal level and that you would never dueling until you make them all pay for hurting you, but this Hanoi put my brother's life in danger. He hurt the only thing that I had left in this world, so, please, let me be the one to face him first!"

"Aoi…" Akira looked up from the place where he was lying. He saw his sister standing there, fighting for him as Blue Angel. The emotions that he felt were hard to describe, he was the one who had to protect his little sister, not the other way around.

It wasn't right, but his body was already too worn out from his duel with Playmaker followed by the chain explosions caused by MetalX, to move.

He spent years trying to protect Aoi from things like this. He was never against her going to LINK VRAINS and having fun, but he never wanted her to get involved in such dark matters. Not just because it was bad, but because he already saw the sort of evil things that remained hidden in the darkest corners of the network. With all of this, the idea that his little sister, the one person he was trying to protect, would swap their roles so drastically, made him feel so useless at the moment. He felt like a weakling that wasn't even able to take care of his family properly.

"Don't push yourself." Surprisingly, Ghost Girl didn't use the Hanoi's attack as a chance to escape. She was still there, standing next to Akira, looking down at her partner in crime.

What surprised Akira even more was when the Treasure Hunter kneeled down and took one of his arms, putting it over her shoulder, while holding his back with her hand. Slowly, she helped him stood back up, a position from which it would be much easier to watch the duel, at least for him.

"Why are you still here?" He asked her directly. Ghost Girl wasn't the type to follow a moral code, it would even be a surprise if she had any morals in the first place. He wasn't even going to pay her because they were working together, so her motives for remaining instead of running away were unclear to him.

"There's no point in running." Ghost Girl sighed. This caused Akira's eyebrows to raise, her voice sounded like that of someone who was defeated, tricked, played for a fool, but such a tone wasn't in character for Ghost Girl, not in the least. "Don't you get it? All of this was organized long before we got here. I should have figured out that the idea of doing this wouldn't just slip out of PhantomFire's mouth."

"I thought that this would be a common knowledge for you by now." Akira couldn't help but sigh. Even though Evan warned him about Hanoi's appearance, both of them knew at with his current position, there was nothing that could be done to prevent the attack. The real reason why Evan shared that information was to bloom Akira's 'interest' in joining Emma's infiltration operation.

Noticing that her older brother was coming home later, Aoi was naturally going to investigate as well and with her stubbornness, a confrontation with either Akira or Emma would only encourage her to jump into the action.

"Despite being so much younger than us, he still managed to play everyone in this room like complete fools." Ghost Girl rolled her eyes. "I now understand how you feel when I do that to you."

"Very well then, Blue Angel." The two adults turned their attention back to the ongoing duel and saw Playmaker taking a step back. "You can take the second turn of this duel."

"Thanks." The idol smiled and turned back to face MetalX, her eyes burning with determination to win. "It's my turn, I draw!"

 **『** **Turn 2 [Blue Angel] LP: 4000 Hand: 6** **』**

"So I'm going to face the little idol first?" MetalX put a hand on his hips and narrowed his eyes. "Disappointing. I thought you were more of a man, Playmaker. Hiding behind a girl is just pathetic."

"You don't have the right to talk about cowardliness!" Playmaker growled at the Knight.

"That's right!" Ai joined in. "After using cowardly methods to try and kidnap me without a duel, you already showed us who the real coward is!"

"Hmm, maybe in your eyes I'm a coward for doing this, but I wanted to get my job done without getting into an uncomfortable situation, such as the current one." MetalX explained and then pointed at Playmaker. "We are trying to make the world a better place! You are the ones that are getting in the way of progress!"

"No kind of progress is worth it, if people are going to suffer because of it." Blue Angel retorted. "Your actions so far showed what your true intentions are. I'm not to forgive you for playing with people's lives like they are some sort of puppets! I activate the Field Spell, _Trickstar Light Stage_!"

Blue Angel pressed one of the cards in front of her and it turned around, revealing itself to be the card that the idol just named. It began to glow, as its effect was applied onto the field.

"When Light Stage is activated, I can add a Trickstar monster to my hand!" Blue Angel stated.

"Naïve! I activate Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En's effect! Once per turn, I negate the activation of a spell or trap and destroy it!" MetalX countered, his monster drew its katana and swung it around, destroying Blue Angel's field spell.

"He was able to counter Blue Angel's usual strategy from the start of her turn!" Ai rubbed its chin. The AI looked back at Playmaker who was watching the field with a stoic expression. "Oi, do you listen to me? This is bad!"

"Blue Angel isn't the type of duelist that would be stopped by a single setback." Playmaker pointed out.

"Then I will have to do this!" Blue Angel called out and pressed another card from those in her hand. "I Normal Summon _Trickstar Candina (Lv.4, ATK: 1800)_ and activate her effect to add a Trickstar card to my hand!" The Trickstar monster in light orange clothes appeared with a wink.

"Of course you would have this card in your hand." MetalX sighed.

"But I'm not done yet!" Blue Angel smiled and pressed another card, activating it. "I chain Trickstar Lycoris' effect to _Candina_! When Lycoris is in my hand, I can return a different Trickstar to my hand and Special Summon it! At that moment I'm also going to chain the Quick Spell, _Chain Summoning_! When this card is activated as a Chain Link three or higher, I get to Normal Summon three times in the same turn!"

"T-three Normal Summons?!" Ai's eyes bulged. "Candina's search effect isn't a once per turn either, so that means that she could make up to three search in just one turn!"

"Interesting." MetalX muttered. "Since you weren't able to use the extra search from Trickstar Light Stage, you choose to use a more colluded way of reaching the same result."

"Now the effect of my cards resolves." Blue Angel ignored the Knight's words. "I return Candina to my hand and Special Summon _Trickstar Lycoris (Lv.3, ATK: 1600)_. Then I add another copy of Lycoris to my hand through Candina's effect!" A Trickstar in a red dress appeared and tapped Candina on the shoulder, causing the other trickster to disappear from the field.

"Next, by Chain Summoning's effect, I Normal Summon _Trickstar Candina (Lv.4, ATK: 1800)_ a second time and use her effect to add _Trickstar Lilybell_ to my hand. When Trickstar Lilybell is added to the hand through a card effect, she can Special Summon herself on the field." The pink fairy monster carrying a large bell on the end of a staff appeared next to the other two monsters on Blue Angel's field with 800 ATK.

"I activate the effect of my second to _Trickstar Lycoris_ to return Candina back into my hand and Special Summon it!" the orange colored fairy waved and disappeared for a second time with another copy of the red fairy joining the first, holding 1600 ATK. "I Normal Summon _Trickstar Candina (Lv.4, ATK: 1800)_ for the third time and use its effect to add _Trickstar Reincarnation_ to my hand."

"Trickstar Reincarnation? I see, you are planning to deal a massive amount of damage to me during my next turn, don't you?" MetalX asked. Too bad, Blue Angel's popularity made reading through her strategies a piece of cake.

"I'm not done yet. Come out, the circuit of dreams and hope!" Blue Angel threw her arm upward and a circuit appeared above her. "Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are two Trickstar monsters. I set Trickstar Candinaand Trickstar Lycoris in the Link Markers! Circuit combine! Link Summon! Appear, Link Two! _Trickstar Holly Angel (ATK: 2000, Link-2)_!" Blue Angel's ace, a blue fairy flew out of the circuit and landed in her Extra Monster Zone.

"Argh!" Ai grabbed its head and threw it backward overdramatically. "Holly Angel's attack is too low to destroy his annoying Synchro Monster."

"Lilybell's effect allows it to attack my opponent directly." Blue Angel threw her arm forward and her fairy swung its bell at MetalX, hitting the Knight of Hanoi in the chest. The samurai gritted his teeth and stepped back, grabbing his chest in pain.

 **『** **MetalX LP: 4000 - 800** → **3200** **』**

"When Lilybell inflicts damage to my opponent, I can return a Trickstar monster from my Graveyard to the hand. I choose Lycoris and then I activate its effect to return Lilybell back into my hand and Special Summon her!" the pink fairy swung her bell in front of herself and disappeared from the field, only for Lycoris to take her place with 1200 DEF. Holly Angel's bottom right arrow glowed to show that Lycoris was summoned there.

"Holy Angel's effect activates!" Blue Angel continued with her turn. "When a monster is summoned next to her link, you take two hundred points of damage!" The monster fired small needles from her wings at MetalX, earning a small cry out of him.

 **『** **MetalX LP: 3200 - 200** → **3000** **』**

"And when a Trickstar inflicts effect damage to you, Holly Angel gains attack equal to that damage! Holy Blessing!" A golden aura surrounded Blue Angel's ace, raising her attack to 2200. "But don't forget that we are still in the middle of a battle! Go, Holly Angel! Destroy Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan!" Holly Angel swung her whip at the samurai, smashing its head, destroying the warrior.

 **『** **MetalX LP: 3000 - 100** → **2900** **』**

"Fourteen hundred points of damage in one turn." MetalX muttered and looked at Blue Angel. "I'm still surprised how easily you lost to Playmaker in your last duel with skills like these."

"I'm just getting warm." Blue Angel replied and pressed three of the cards in her hand. "I set three cards on my field and end my turn with this. During the End Phase, Holly Angel's attack returns to normal." The aura around Blue Angel's ace disappeared and her ATK dropped to 2000. "I advise you to rethink each of your moves twice because my Trickstar monsters still have a lot of tricks up their sleeves and trust me, you won't like them even one bit!"

"You are certain that victory is going to smile upon you, aren't you?" MetalX narrowed his eyes. "Hmm, if I didn't know better, I would have thought that you were one of the six test subjects."

"Test subjects?" Playmaker asked. His hands clenched into fists and his face acquired a livid expression that would have sent chills down the Knight's back if he wasn't used to it. "Were you involved into the torture that I went through ten years ago? Answer me!"

"As you probably already know, the Lost Incident was known as the Hanoi Project." MetalX crossed his arms. "While the Knights of Hanoi aren't directly responsible for what happened, both the project and our organization were ran by the same people. In fact, just like how the Hanoi Project turned you into this, it turned us into the Knights of Hanoi."

"So, you were part of the Lost Incident?" Now Playmaker was beyond mad. There he was, standing in front of him, one of the men responsible for the hell that he went through. So close, another step to fulfilling his revenge.

"I was part of the research team, yes." MetalX nodded. "Although I wasn't given access to how the project collected data until its very end, I was one of the monsters involved in the creation of your personal hell."

"You are the worst." Blue Angel muttered. "How could you torture little kids, and then dare to stand in front of one of your victims, and act like it's you that's in the right! You gave up your morality, and for what? What did you earn from ruining the lives of children?"

"Progress." MetalX stated simply. There wasn't even a trace of regret in his voice. "Even if I wouldn't have agreed with the methods used, the Hanoi Project was the first step toward the next stage of humanity's evolution! It's something that kids like you two won't understand."

"Is that your excuse?!" Playmaker roared. "I was unable to move forward since the incident occurred! The things that Zaizen talked about, youth, friends, creating memories that I would cherish in the future, all of this was taken away from me, by you! Not only my past, the Hanoi Project stole my future as well, it opened a hole in my heart that can't be fixed, no matter how much I tried to forget, the memories would still come back, haunt me!"

MetalX chuckled at those words. "Your past is closer that you think, Playmaker! It's not even a hand away, but you are too ignorant to realize that. This blind hatred of yours is what will bring you down in the end. My turn!"

 **『** **Turn 3 [MetalX] LP: 2900 Hand: 4** **』**

"The effect of my two Lycoris activated!" Blue Angel called out. "When you add a card from your deck to the hand, they inflict two hundred damage to you!" The two fairies pointed at the Knight of Hanoi and fired needles of light at him, stabbing him in the shoulder.

 **『** **MetalX LP: 2900 - 200** → **2700 - 200** → **2500** **』**

"Also, when a Trickstar monster inflicts effect damage to you, Holly Angel gains that much attack power! Holy Blessing!" The golden aura appeared around Holly Angel's body for the second time, raising her attack power.

 **Trickstar Holly Angel, ATK: 2000 + 200*2** → **2400**

"Ha!" MetalX breathed out and raised his head to look at the idol. "You aren't done yet, are you?"

"No." Blue Angel confirmed and one of her set cards flipped face-up. "I activate Trickstar Reincarnation to banish you entire hand. Then you must draw the same number of cards from your deck!"

"If I draw four cards, the effect of your Lycoris will inflict sixteen hundred damage to me." MetalX calculated. That wasn't enough to defeat him, but with just 600 Life Points, it would be way too easy for Playmaker and Blue Angel to defeat him on their next turns. "Because of that I'm going to activate Shi En's effect and negate Trickstar Reincarnation!"

The monster swung its katana at Blue Angel's trap, shattering it into pieces. The idol of LINK VRAINS cried out and raised her hands to protect her face from the shards of her destroyed trap. Just like she expected, he wasn't going to risk taking all of that damage.

"If I add any cards to my hand while your Trickstar monsters are on the field, I will keep taking damage and your ace will grew stronger." MetalX observed. 400 damage per every card he adds was something he didn't have the luxury to allow. "First, I activate another _Six Samurai United_ and then, I Normal Summon _Secret Six Samurai – Hatsume (Lv.3, ATK: 1600)_!" A woman in a pink Japanese dress with a ninja mask on her face appeared on the field. "And since a Six Samurai appeared onto the field, my Gateway of the Six gains two more Bushido Counters while Six Samurai United gains one."

"He started collecting counters again." Ai said, observing the Hanoi's plays. "My instincts are telling me that bad things are going to happen, Playmaker."

"AIs don't have instincts." Playmaker pointed out firmly, making Ai winch at the coldness of his partner.

"Ouch. That hurt my feelings." Ai muttered and returned into the Duel Disk.

"I activate Hatsume's effect." Two cards were rejected from MetalX's Duel Disk and he showed them to Playmaker. "I banish Legendary Six Samurai – Kageki and Kagemusha of the Six Samurai from my Graveyard to Special Summon _Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan (Lv.4, ATK: 1800_ → _2100)_!" The warrior in black armor appeared beside its comrades and prepared its sword. "Then, three Bushido Counters are distributed between my two spell cards."

"Eight counters." Ai counted on its fingers. "That are eight counters that it can use against us!"

"Now behold, as my Six Samurais are going to reach the next evolution in their combat skills!" MetalX cried out and threw his left arm into the air. "I fuse Grandmaster of the Six Samurai, Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En and Secret Six Samurai – Hatsume!"

The three monsters turned into blue, red and pink particles that flew into the sky and mixed together into a vortex of colorful lights.

"Legends living in the shadows of their own stories, join together and let the world tremble before your new might! Fusion Summon! _Secret Six Samurai – Rihan (Lv.5, ATK: 2400)_!"

In a brilliant flash of light, a warrior, wearing a dark uniform with bright green lights coloring his armor and the blades of his weapons jumped into the air and made several flips before landing on both of his legs and right hand while holding out the left, which had five claws attached to the back of the wrist.

"Huh? Why would he get rid of his stronger monster to summon a weaker one?" Ai tilted its head to the side in confusion. "What do you think, Playmaker?" And silence… "Why do I even bother asking?"

"With another Six Samurai making its entrance, Gateway of the Six gains two more Bushido Counters, raising to eight!" MetalX's spell glowed to showcase that effect. "Now I remove four counters from Gateway of the Six along with two from Six Samurai United to revive _Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En (Lv.5, ATK: 2500)_!" The red Synchro monster returned behind the Fusion. "I remove two counters from Gateway to increase Shi En's attack by five hundred. Now battle! Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En attack Trickstar Holly Angel!"

The 3000 ATK samurai charged at its target. Holly Angel flew back and swung her whip, but Shi En cut through it with his katana and then slashed at the trickster as well, destroying the fairy. Blue Angel winched, feeling the pain from that attack through her body.

 **『** **Blue Angel & Playmaker LP: 4000 - 600 **→ **3400** **』**

"Since a Trickstar battled this turn, I can activate my trap!" Blue Angel called out and another of her set cards flipped face-up. "I activate Trickstar Scatter to destroy Shi En!"

MetalX scoffed "When a Spell or Trap activates, Shi En can negate and destroy it."

"What?" Blue Angel gasped as MetalX's monster slashed through her trap for a second time this turn. Damn it! She thought that Shi En's effect could activate only once per turn, but it seemed that the Hanoi's monster didn't an absolute restriction after all.

"Next, I'm going to attack your attack position Trickstar Lycoris with Secret Six Samurai – Rihan!" The ninja charged at the teen idol and cut through her, earning a cry from the fairy as she faded away.

 **『** **Blue Angel & Playmaker LP: 3400 - 800 **→ **2600** **』**

"Lastly, Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan destroys your last Trickstar Lycoris." The last Trickstar only closed her eyes as she was cut down as well.

"He cut through my Trickstar monsters like a hot knife through butter." Blue Angel gritted her teeth.

MetalX narrowed his eyes, ignoring the anger of the idol. He gave a quick glance to the last two cards in his hand and then took one of them.

"I set one card. Turn end." MetalX sighed. "At this moment, the effect of Gateway of the Six ends as well and Shi En's attack returns to normal."

 **Legendary Six Samurai – Shi En, ATK: 3000 – 500** → **2500**

"Then it will be my turn next." Playmaker muttered.

He looked carefully at MetalX' field. He had three monsters with over 2000 ATK, one of which was able to negate any spell or trap's activation and a Fusion whose effects were unknown. There was also that Six Samurai were an old deck, so not many duelists bothered researching how it worked because the chance of actually facing against it were very low and insignificant. That was probably the reason why MetalX choose to play it instead of something more new, easier to use with Master Rule 4. All of that made dueling this particular Knight of Hanoi a real challenge.

"It's my turn! Draw!" Playmaker drew his sixth card. He knew that the answer to defeating MetalX's formation lied somewhere inside his deck, hopefully within the cards he had access to at the moment.

 **『** **Turn 4 [Playmaker] LP: 2600 Hand: 6** **』**

"I Normal Summon _Link Streamer (Lv.4, ATK: 1600)_." The strange Cyberse monster that looked like a combination between a bird and a satellite appeared on Playmaker's field, under his Extra Monster Zone. "And since the only monster I control is a Cyberse, I can Special Summon _Cyberse Converter (Lv.2, DEF: 1000)_ from my hand!" a second monster that looked like a drone appeared next to Link Steamer's left side. "Then, the effect of Link Streamer Special Summons one _Data Token (Lv. 1, DEF: 0)_ when another Cyberse is summoned on my field."

The center of Link Streamer's chest glowed and a much smaller satellite flew out of it, landing at the monster's right side. He already had the materials needed for a Link 3, but that wasn't enough. He needed more, something that would let him take a huge portion of MetalX' Life Points in one swing.

"Appear, the circuit that leads to the future!" Playmaker threw his left arm in the air and a circuit opened above his head. "Arrowhead confirmed! The summoning condition are is one Normal Monster! I set the Data Token in the Link Markers! Circuit combine! Link Summon! Appear, Link One, _Link Spider (ATK: 1000, Link-1)_." Playmaker's spider Link monster appeared in the Extra Monster Zone. Although he preferred not to use it unless he had a Normal Monster to summon out with its effect, he couldn't wait for one in this duel.

"For the second time, appear, the circuit that leads to the future!" the Link circuit opened once again. "Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are two Effect monsters! I set Cyberse Converter and Link Spider in the Link Markers! Circuit combine! Link Summon! Appear, Link Two, _Underclock Taker (ATK: 1000, LINK-2)_! A strange blue Link Monster landed in the right Extra Monster Zone.

"Hmm, Underclock Taker could reduce a monster's attack power by the power of a monster it points at." Ai observed the field noticing that Playmaker's strongest monster so far was right under Underclock Taker's arrow. "Ha, you can reduce a monster's attack by sixteen hundred, Playmaker!"

"I activate Underclock Taker's ability!" Playmaker gestured toward his monster. "I reduce Shi En's attack by Link Streamer's sixteen hundred until the end of this turn!"

 **Legendary Six Samurai – Shi En, ATK: 2500 – 1600** → **900**

"Now my Shi En is the weakest monster on the field." MetalX observed. "You plan to attack it and dish out some damage, don't you?"

"No! I'm ending the duel this turn!" Playmaker declared and threw his arm upward once more. "For the third time, appear, the circuit that leads to the future! I set Link Streamer and the Link Two, Underclock Taker in the Link Markers!" The two monsters turned into whirlwinds that flew into Playmaker's circuit, hitting the top, bottom left, and bottom right arrows.

"Circuit combine! Link Summon! Appear, Link Three, _Decode Talker (ATK: 2300, LINK-3)_! Playmaker's ace, the DARK Code Talker jumped from the circuit and landed in front of its master, groaning angry as it swung its sword.

"It's here! It's here!" Ai jumped on Playmaker's Duel Disk. "Using Decode Talker, we are sure to win this duel!"

"When there is a Link Monster on the field, I can Special Summon _Link Infra-Flier (Lv.2, DEF: 1800)_ next to one of the zones that Decode Talker points at! And with a monster summoned next to Decode Talker's Link Arrow, I can Special Summon _Sea Archiver (Lv.3, DEF: 2100)_ from my hand!" The two monsters appeared behind Decode Talker, giving it a burning red aura.

"So, you got both your ace out and materials for another Link Summon." MetalX chuckled. "You have really gotten better since the last time, Playmaker."

The Link VRAINS hero gritted his teeth and gestured toward his monster. "Decode Talker's effect makes it so that he gains five hundred attack for every monster it points to! _Power Integration_!"

 **Decode Talker, ATK: 2300 + 500*2** → **3300**

"If you attack him now, MetalX will still have a hundred Life Points left." Ai pointed out before patting Playmaker's deck. "You know whom you must call, right?"

"Appear, the circuit that leads to the future!" cried out and a fourth circuit appeared immediately. "Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are two Cyberse monsters! I set Link Infra-Flier and Sea Archiver in the Link Markers! Circuit combine! Link Summon! Appear, Link Two, _Flame Administrator (ATK: 1200, LINK-2)_!"

"Because now Decode Talker is linked to less monsters it losses attack." Ai lowered its head sadly. Then it jumped up cheerfully. "BUT Flame Administrator's effect raises the attack of all our Link monsters by eight hundred!"

 **Decode Talker, ATK: 3300 - 500** → **2800 + 800** → **3600**

 **Flame Administrator, ATK: 1200 + 800** → **2000**

MetalX stepped backward. Playmaker - one of the children that were imprisoned for six month and used for the creation of the Ignis. When Picaro ordered him to infiltrate the Data Bank and duel this unstoppable force of nature, MetalX knew that it wouldn't be an easy fight, but the boy's dueling skills have really gotten better from what they used to be ten years ago.

The Knight of Hanoi lowered his head a little. "So, that's how much you hate us, Playmaker."

* * *

"After the knight left me trapped, where could he have gone?" Proxy asked.

She and Blaze Rose rode their D-Boards through the field, looking for the escaped Knight of Hanoi. There was no sight of him in the sectors where they searched and Avice had yet to give them instructions. Although she hated that the Greysons often used her as a bait, Proxy had to admit that when it came to the serious parts, she would always dependent on either Evan or Avice to lead her.

Judging by how Blaze Rose looked left and right every four seconds, Proxy wasn't the only one dependent on the Greysons.

" _What are you two doing?"_ Avice asked the two girls through their Duel Disks.

"What do you mean by that?" Proxy looked at the screen. "We are looking for the Knight of Hanoi that you sent me here to capture."

" _Exactly! Why are you still there when the knight is in the center of the Data Bank?"_ There was a moment of silence.

"Why did you tell us that earlier?!" Blaze Rose finally snapped.

" _Why else would the Knights of Hanoi infiltrate SOL Technologies' mother computer? I thought that this was common sense!"_ Avice retorted.

Proxy sighed. It was so hard to hold off on the urge to facepalm. They spent ten whole minutes flying through the computer, avoiding death traps and what not just to learn that they were doing everything wrong. She was never the type to quickly get angry and always believed that trying to solve problems peacefully and level headed always the best solution. Despite that, her personal believes didn't stop her from getting livid at Avice.

* * *

Back to the duel, MetalX waited for Playmaker to call his attack. With its 3600 ATK, Decode Talker was able to caused 2700 damage, more than enough to win the duel on Playmaker's first turn. The Knight of Hanoi chuckled at the thought, it would be so pathetic if he lost on his nemesis' first attack. How would he look Picaro in the eyes ever again after such a humiliation?

"Playmaker! Use my power as well!" Everyone's eyes were drawn toward Blue Angel.

The duelist in question was looking at Playmaker, who blinked in confusion. Don't take it wrong, he knew what Blue Angel was referring to, she wanted him to use her monsters and power-up Decode Talker even further. Finally, he understood her intentions. Blue Angel probably believed that this way, she would get revenge for her brother.

"Right." Playmaker nodded, agreeing with Blue Angel.

"I activate Trickstar Reincarnation's effect from the Graveyard! By banishing it, I can revive a Trickstar monster from my Graveyard." Blue Angel exclaimed and a portal appeared behind her. "Come back, _Trickstar Holly Angel (ATK: 2000, Link-2)_!"

Out of the portal flew Blue Angel's ace. The blue fairy swung a few times in the air and landed on Decode Talker's spare zone, boosting the powerful monster once more. The warrior raised its sword and a golden aura surrounded its body.

" _Power Integration_!" Playmaker declared.

"On top of that, Holly Angel gains extra attack points because of Flame Administrator!" Ai threw its arms outward.

 **Decode Talker, ATK: 3600 + 500** → **4100**

 **Trickstar Holly Angel, ATK: 2000 + 800** → **2800**

"That's overkill…" Ai muttered to itself.

"Battle!" Playmaker shouted. "Decode Talker destroy Legendary Six Samurai – Shi En and end this duel! Decode End!"

The link monster charged at its opponent and swung its broadsword, which Shi En blocked with its katana. The two monsters began to trade blow after blow until the samurai finally made a mistake. Shi En swung its katana aiming for Decode Talker's head, when the Link Monster ducked to avoid the attack and then slashed at the warrior's waist, cutting the monster in half.

"Argh!" MetalX gritted his teeth. "I activate the trap, _**Bushido's Resolve**_! This negates the damage from a battle involving a warrior monster I control, then I get to Special Summon two monsters from my deck whose combined attack is equal or less than the damage negated!"

* * *

 **Bushido's Resolve (Trap) Normal**

 **During your opponent's turn, at damage calculation involving a Warrior monster you control: Make the battle damage you take from this battle 0, and if you do, Special Summon 2 Level 4 or lower monsters from your Deck whose total ATK is equal to or less than the damage you would have taken from that battle.**

* * *

"He already had something ready to counter our attack!" Ai's head fell in disappointment.

"Unlike Blue Angel, whose Trickstar deck focuses on effect damage and isn't offensive by itself, you, Playmaker, use a pure Beatdown strategy, so it was obvious that you would try to finish this duel with high attack numbers." MetalX pointed out. "Your strategy isn't all that profound or hard to read through. Despite what others might try to paint you as, you aren't anything special, Playmaker! By the effect of Bushido's Resolve I Special Summon _Secret Six Samurai – Kizaru (Lv.4, DEF: 1000)_ and _Secret Six Samurai – Fuhma (Lv.1, DEF: 1800)_!"

As Shi En disappeared from the field, a warrior in a black and white outfit, as well as a warrior in a purple and red outfit appeared to replace it. Of course, MetalX could have just used his Synchro's effect to protect it, but then, the next attacks would have caused him much damage.

"The effects of Gateway of the Six and Six Samurai United now activate." MetalX pointed out. "Since my monsters were summoned at the same time, only three Bushido Counters are distributed between my spells." The two spells glowed with new counters appearing on top of them. "Then Kizaru's effect lets me add a Six Samurai monster from my deck to the hand, but its attribute has to be different from the ones on my field. So I add _Secret Six Samurai – Douji_."

"Um, I think that he outplayed you." Ai pointed out dumbly.

"I'm not done." Playmaker said. "Trickstar Holly Angel will attack Secret Six Samurai – Rihan!"

The fairy jumped up and hit the Fusion warrior in the face, shattering its body into pieces. MetalX grumped and stepped back, covering his face with a hand from the damage.

 **『** **MetalX LP: 2500 - 400** → **2100** **』**

"Finally, Flame Administrator is going to destroy Secret Six Samurai – Kizaru!" The FIRE Link raised its arms and fired a stream of flames at the warrior, burning it alive. Playmaker knew that this wasn't enough, be was barely able to cause any damage, but at last the Extra Monsters were all gone. "I activate the Spell, Cyberse Cache to draw two cards since a Cyberse monster whose attack is different from its original attack appeared on my field. I set a card and end my turn!"

"In the end, if it wasn't for the power lent to you by Blue Angel, you wouldn't have been able to deal any damage to me." MetalX pointed out. "In fact, Playmaker, you might try to act tough, but things wouldn't have gotten this far if it wasn't for the skill that the Ignis lent you!"

Playmaker gritted his teeth. He knew that the Knight was trying to anger him and make him take actions based on emotions instead of logic. Problem was that this tactic was working! This deck he had was the strongest weapon against the Knights of Hanoi and Playmaker's dueling skills were the hand wielding it. To have his entire growth as a duelist, all the fear and panic episodes he underwent before being able to hold a deck again, denied by his sworn enemy was enraging.

"That's why you can never be forgiven…" Playmaker threw his right arm forward and pointed at MetalX. "Not only did you take away my past, my future, and my entire life, but you don't even feel regret for what you did!"

The smut look on MetalX's face dropped and was replaced by a grimace. "Oh, I had a lot of regret about the past, Playmaker. "I regret and hate the Hanoi Project no more than you do. I hate myself for not wondering how my colleagues' were able to gather the data of the project, but tell me, doesn't it feel good to hold the fruit of our success in your hand?"

"The fruit of your success?" Playmaker's eyes widened. "What do you mean by that?"

"He is just trying to confuse you!" Ai suddenly interfered and pointed at the Knight. "Didn't you figure out that he is trying to win by manipulating you?"

"What's the point in trying to cover-up the truth when he is going to figure it out from the Data Bank, Ignis?" MetalX asked, causing the AI to start sweat bullets and his color scheme to turn completely white.

"Cover-up the truth?" Playmaker looked down at his Duel Disk and narrowed his eyes. Unlike him, Ai was horrible at hiding his true emotions, so the Cyberse Duelist was able to easily notice the anxiety of his companion. "Did you hide something from me?"

Ai winched and slowly turned around to look at his partner. "I… Um, you… see…"

"Revolver already told you most of the truth during you duel with him." MetalX pointed out. "He told you what the Ignis truly is, but he never told you how it was created!"

Playmaker felt a chill go down his spine. "You don't mean…"

"Exactly!" MetalX shouted and pointed at Ai who was hiding inside Playmaker's Duel Disk. "The Ignis was created from the Lost Incident! The answer why you had to suffer and go through all of the pain was sitting on top of your wrist all this time!"

"W-what?" Blue Angel stepped back and turned toward her brother. "Niichan, is that true?"

Akira looked at her sister for a moment before turning his head to the side. He meekly nodded to confirm what MetalX said. It was all written inside the files that SOL Technology tried to hide. The name of the Project, the staff that worked on it, and of course the purpose of all that happened ten years ago. He didn't want to start imagine how Playmaker would feel to learn that information, which was also why he didn't want the Cyberse Duelist to get his hand on SOL Technology's data bank. To learn that the Ai he was protecting from Hanoi was the reason behind his suffering in the first place would be truly devastating.

"Why?"

"Huh?" Everyone's eyes turned back to Playmaker after he whispered something. Ai gulped, but didn't look his partner in the eyes.

"Why did you hide this?" Playmaker asked again, but no answer came. "Answer me, Ai!"

"B-because I was scared." Ai muttered and slowly lowered itself back into the Duel Disk until only the top of its head remained outside. "After the Knights of Hanoi came and attack my home, I wasn't sure if I could trust humans. The moment I saw you, I recognized who you were, and I knew that if you learned what I was, how I came to be, you will erase me. I spent the last five years running away from Hanoi, afraid that they might capture and destroy me, so I lied to you about not remembering anything. I'm sorry Playmaker."

"The Knights of Hanoi are fools, too afraid of the future!" MetalX shouted. "They saw the potential that the Ignis has, so they wanted to destroy it, but Playmaker, this program that you are holding hostage, has the ability to unlock the stairway to a perfect utopia!"

"What are you saying?" Blue Angel asked.

"I'm saying that I'm not a shortsighted fool like Revolver and his followers." MetalX chuckled at the idea and then looked directly at Playmaker. "I want the Knights of Hanoi destroyed just as much as you do, Playmaker. But unlike me, you don't need the Ignis in order to achieve your goals! I bet you also don't want it after hearing the truth, so just give it over to me! Let us work together to bring this corrupt group to the ground and create humanity's virtual utopia in spite of their believes!"

"Nononono!" Ai waved his arms in front of Playmaker. "Please, don't give me to him! I know that I don't have the right to ask you for this, but pleasepleaseplease, don't do it! It's a bad idea!"

Playmaker looked down at Ai and then back to MetalX. What choice was he supposed to make there? Yusaku never trusted Ai all that much, he always knew that it was trying to hide something, but for it to hide the truth about the incident despite that it saw how desperately Yusaku was trying to discover what happened ten years ago. And now he knew everything. His past, the innocent life that he had were all taken away, he was stripped of the chance to grow into a normal human being and why? To be used as folder for the creation of an AI?

No, there was no point thinking about it. There was only one true decision for Playmaker.

"I will never accept your offer!" Playmaker responded and looked down at Ai.

"Playmaker you…" if an artificial intelligence was able to cry, Ai was definitely going to break down into tears.

"You will choose to keep the Ignis despite knowing its true origins?" MetalX clenched his fists in anger. "You will choose to keep it selfishly instead of aiding me in destroying our true enemy?!"

"Yes." Playmaker nodded and closed his eyes. "I admit, there is no friendship between me and the Ignis - he is just a hostage. But I can understand its motives for hiding the truth." Playmaker opened his eyes with a newfound resolve in them. "Back when I was locked inside that white room with no hope of ever seeing the outside world again, I was scared as well. Even after I was rescued and undergo months of therapy, I was never able to overcome that fear. I was unable to fully trust anyone ever years after. I understand best of anyone what it's like to live alone, unable to trust the people that are around you!"

"Damn you, Playmaker!" MetalX roared and raised his Duel Disk. "If you won't aid me, then I will destroy you and tear that Ignis right out of your Duel Disk! My turn!"

 **『** **Turn 5 [MetalX] LP: 2100 Hand: 3** **』**

"I Normal Summon _Secret Six Samurai – Douji (Lv.4, ATK: 1700)_!" A rifleman in purple armor landed on MetalX's field and aimed at his opponents. "And with its appearance, the effects of Gateway of the Six and Six Samurai United activate, gaining three more Bushido Counters in total! Now I remove four from Gateway and two from Six Samurai United to revive _Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En (Lv.5, ATK: 2500)_!"

"Aaaaaand he keeps bringing that one back from the grave." Ai groaned.

"With Shi En back, my spells gain three counters again." The spells glowed again, their counters raising to 4 on Gateway of the Six and 1 on Six Samurai United. "And when a Six Samurai is summoned onto the field, Douji's effect lets me send a Six Samurai from my deck to the Graveyard. I send _Secret Six Samurai – Genba_. I also remove four counters from Gateway to return Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan back into my hand, and then Special Summon it since another Six Samurai is already on my field."

The familiar warrior appeared on the field once again with its 1800 ATK that quickly raised to 2100 because there were other Six Samurai monsters beside it. Gateway of the Six and Six Samurai United glowed, the total amount of Bushido Counters on the field becoming 4.

"I use all four counters to return Secret Six Samurai – Rihan back into my Extra Deck!" the glow of MetalX's cards died down completely as he returned one of his boss monsters for later use. "Then I activate the Quick-Play Spell, Shadow Art of the Six Samurai to release Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan and Special Summon my banished _Legendary Six Samurai – Kageki (Lv.3, ATK: 200_ → _1700)_ , raising the total amount of Bushido Counters to three!" The four Six Samurai monsters already on the field put their weapons together to greet their comrade's return through a blue vortex in the ground.

"The preparations are complete!" MetalX cackled. "I fuse, Legendary Six Samurai – Kageki, Secret Six Samurai – Doujiand Secret Six Samurai – Fuhma! Legends living in the shadows of their own stories, join together and let the world tremble before your new might! Fusion Summon! _Secret Six Samurai – Rihan (Lv.5, ATK: 2400)_!"

"He recycled even the Fusion Monster?!" Blue Angel gasped. The Knight of Hanoi had practically just rebuild his entire field with just two cards.

"But he's not bringing out anything new." Playmaker pointed out. "His entire strategy is linear without any progression after he summons his two Extra Deck Monsters."

"So you finally figured that out?" MetalX raised an eyebrow. "But it's too slow, I distribute three Bushido Counters between my spells since another Six Samurai joined the field. Then, I'm going to use four counters from Gateway of the Six to add Secret Six Samurai – Kizaru into my hand and then I activate Rihan's effect! I banish Kizaru from my hand to banish Decode Talker!"

Rihan's blades began to glow white and the monster fired its claws toward Playmaker's ace. Decode Talker's eyes glowed and it jumped away from the blades using its sword to deflect some of them away.

"I activate Decode Talker's second effect!" Playmaker exclaimed and gestured toward his monster. "When a card on my field is targeted with a card effect, I release a monster that Decode Talker points to and negate that effect! Then Decode Talker destroys the card whose effect it negated. _**Cyberse Sanctuary**_!"

Trickstar Holly Angel's body faded and its spirit was absorbed into Decode Talker who swung its blade and send the remaining blades flying back at Rihan. The Six Samurai made a backflip, dodging the blades, until one of them hit the warrior's shoulder and the monster exploded.

"I activate Secret Six Samurai – Fuhma's effect in my Graveyard! When exactly one of my Six Samurai monsters would be destroyed by a card effect, I can banish it from my Graveyard instead!" The smoke around MetalX's monster disappeared and Rihan stepped forward, pulling out the blade that was stuck into its shoulder. "Of course, since Decode Talker now points to one monster less, its attack power drops!"

 **Decode Talker, ATK: 4100 - 500** → **3600**

"Let's battle Playmaker! I attack Flame Administrator with Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan!" The samurai monster jumped in front of the red robot and brought its katana down onto the Cyberse.

"Oh, no!" Ai panicked. "If Flame Administrator goes down, Decode Talker will lose all of its extra attack points!"

"I activate my Trap, Doppler Phase Coating and equip it to Flame Administrator!" Playmaker replied calmly, a barrier forming around his monster. "With Doppler Phase Coating the equipped monster won't be destroyed by battle once every turn."

"Very well then, but damage calculation will still proceed as usual." MetalX pointed out. As Kizan's sword made contact with the barrier, a spark of electricity fell toward Playmaker, causing him to wince.

 **『** **Blue Angel & Playmaker LP: 2600 - 100 **→ **2500** **』**

"He, you probably expected me to use Shi En's ability to negate your trap, but I'm not stupid enough to fall for that!" MetalX pointed at his remaining monsters. "Secret Six Samurai – Rihan finish Flame Administrator!"

The fusion Six Samurai flew over the Cyberse and destroyed the barrier with its blade before cutting the robot into pieces.

 **『** **Blue Angel & Playmaker LP: 2500 - 400 **→ **2100** **』**

"Now your Decode Talker loses all of its attack boost!" Playmaker glanced at his ace and indeed, the knight had dropped its sword and was breathing heavily.

 **Decode Talker, ATK: 3600 - 800 - 500** → **2300**

"But because Doppler Phase Coating left the field, the Battle Phase ends." Blue Angel glanced at Playmaker who nodded.

"Our Decode Talker is safe for now!" Ai cheered.

"I activate the effect of Six Samurai United to release it along with the two counters that it holds in order to draw two new cards." MetalX's spell faded away along with the last Bushido Counters on his field and two new cards appeared in front of him. "I set a card and end my turn!"

"It's my turn to shine then!" Blue Angel exclaimed. "Draw!"

 **『** **Turn 6 [Blue Angel] LP: 2100 Hand: 3** **』**

"I'm going to start by activating the Spell, Trickstar Temptation! With this spell, I get to Special Summon a Trickstar from my hand at the cost of negating its effects and halving its attack!"

"Don't think I will let you swarm your field, Blue Angel! Shi En's effect negates Trickstar Temptation and destroys it!" the idol winched after her spell shattered into pieces and disappeared from the field.

"That's what I was hoping of." Blue Angel smirked and tapped another card from her hand. "I Summon _Trickstar Lilybell (Lv.2, ATK: 800)_ next to Decode Talker's arrow."

"She's powering up our monster!" Ai exclaimed and Decode Talker raised its sword once again.

 **Decode Talker, ATK: 2300 + 500** → **2800**

"Let's battle!" Blue Angel smirked and reached with a hand toward the Cyberse, who kneeled in front of her, like a knight to a princess. "Playmaker, I hope you won't mind if I borrow Decode Talker for a bit."

The Cyberse Duelist only glanced at the idol and gave a nod of approval without saying anything to her.

"Thanks, but first, Lilybell is going to attack the opponent directly!" the little fairy swung her bell and slammed MetalX in the chest, knocking him back.

 **『** **MetalX LP: 2100 - 800** → **1300** **』**

"And if you forgot, when Lilybell inflicts damage to you, I can return a Trickstar monster from my Graveyard to the hand." Blue Angel continued. "I choose Lycoris and then I activate its effect to return Lilybell back into my hand and Special Summon her!" the pink fairy waved goodbye disappeared from the field, only for Lycoris to take her place with 1600 ATK.

"Finally, Lilybell's first effect activates, when she is added to my hand, I get to Special Summon her on my field." The smaller fairy appeared yet again holding the huge bell. "Also, since Decode Talker now points to two monsters, its attack gets a buff again!"

 **Decode Talker, ATK: 2800 + 500** → **3300**

"I'm going to attack Shi En with Decode Talker! Decode End!" The Cyberse turned around and its sword slammed against Shi En's katana. The two warriors pushed away from one another and then charged again, trading blow after blow, until Decode Talker pushed its enemy's sword off its arms and then swung the broadsword to finish off the warrior.

"I activate Shi En's second effect! If it would be destroyed, I can destroy Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan instead!" As Decode Talker was about to finish off MetalX's strongest monster, one of the lesser Six Samurais jumped in and took the hit instead. "Of course, I'm still going to take the damage from that battle."

 **『** **MetalX LP: 1300 - 800** → **500** **』**

"Finally, because Lilybell left the field and then was summoned again, my monster is able to attack you again." Blue Angel stated victoriously and her fairy swung its belt to finish off the limping Knight of Hanoi.

"I activate my trap, _**Secret Defense Art**_ , to negate your attack." A barrier formed around MetalX and reflected the attack, pushing the fairy away. "Then, I gain Life Points equal to the attack power of the strongest monster on the field, which is Decode Talker!"

* * *

 **Secret Defense Art (Trap) Normal**

 **If your opponent declares a direct attack while your LP are 1500 or less, you can negate that attack, and if you do, gain LP equal to the ATK of the monster with the highest ATK on the field. During the End Phase, expect during the turn in which this card was sent to the GY: You can banish this card from your GY; Special Summon 1 Warrior-Type monster from your GY that was destroyed by battle and send there this turn.**

* * *

"Oh, what?!" Ai slammed its head against Playmaker's Duel Disk as a blue aura flew from Decode Talker toward MetalX, healing him.

 **『** **MetalX LP: 500 + 3300** → **3800** **』**

"Tch, I might have been unable to defeat you, but my move is far from complete!" Blue Angel shouted and raised her arms above her head. "Come out, the circuit of dreams and hope!"

A square opened above the idol and Lilybell winked before transforming into a purple heart that flew into the circuit.

"Arrowhead confirmed! The summoning condition is one Level Two or lower Trickstar monster. I set Trickstar Lilybell in the Link Marker! Circuit combine! Link Summon! _Trickstar Bloom (ATK: 100, Link-1)_!" A little fairy with yellow and green clothes flew out of the circuit and landed on Blue Angel's field.

"When Trickstar Bloom is Link Summoned, you draw one card." Blue Angel declared, and then gestured toward Lycoris. "Then, when you add cards from your deck to the hand, Trickstar Lycoris inflicts two hundred damage!"

 **『** **MetalX LP: 3800 - 200** → **3600** **』**

"I activate my trap, Trickstar Maribold. When I Link Summon, this card lets me return second Trickstar Lycoris from the Graveyard to my hand and then I Normal Summon _Trickstar Candina (Lv.4, ATK: 1800)_ whose effects lets me add Trickstar Mandrake from my deck to the hand."

"Are you done already?" MetalX gritted his teeth.

"Not close!" Blue Angel replied before summoning another square. "First, I return Candina to my hand in order to Special Summon my second Trickstar Lycoris (Lv.3, ATK: 1600)! Now, come out again, the circuit of dreams and hope! Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are two Trickstar monsters. I set Trickstar Bloom and Lycoris in the Link Marker! Circuit combine! Link Summon! _Trickstar Crimson Heart (ATK: 2000, Link-2)_!"

"This one looks creepier than Holly Angel." Ai muttered to itself.

"I activate Crimson Heart's effect! I discard a card to let both of us draw one more card!" Blue Angel tapped one card from her hand, causing it to fade before a new one formed in its place. "And since you added cards to your hand, the effect of Lycoris activates again, dealing two hundred damage!"

"That's getting annoying." MetalX breathed out after another small needle hit him in the shoulder.

 **『** **MetalX LP: 3600 - 200** → **3400** **』**

"The effect of Trickstar Mandrake activates from my Graveyard! Since it was sent there from the hand, I can Special Summon it" the little fairy appeared on the field with 1000 defense next to Crimson Heart. "Crimson Heart's effect then heals us by two hundred points!"

 **『** **Blue Angel & Playmaker LP: 2100 + 200 **→ **2300** **』**

"I open the circuit of dreams and hope again!" Another square formed above Blue Angel. This time Lycoris and Mandrake flew into the arrows that were located at the sides, making them glow red.

"Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are two Trickstar monsters. I set Trickstar Mandrake and Lycoris in the Link Marker! Circuit combine! Link Summon! _Trickstar Black Catbat (ATK: 2000, Link-2)_!" the Trickstar wearing black clothes appeared next to Crimson Heart's Link Arrow. "The effect of Crimson Heart activates again!"

 **『** **Blue Angel & Playmaker LP: 2300 + 200 **→ **2500** **』**

"But in order for Catbat to be summoned next to Crimson Heart, Decode Talker must be linked to one less monster!" Ai grabbed its head and looked over to the Link 3, whose attack dropped from 3300 to 2800.

"I'm not done yet! For the last time, open the circuit of dreams and hope!" The circuit appeared for the fourth time, but this time it was in front of Blue Angel instead of above her. "Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are at least two Trickstar monsters. I set Trickstar Crimson Heart and Black Catbat in the Link Marker! Circuit combine! Link Summon! _Trickstar Bella Madonna (ATK: 2800, Link-4)_!"

"You had a Link Four monster hidden away?" MetalX gulped, feeling what was going to follow next.

"Since Bella Madonna doesn't point to a monster, it's unaffected by card effects!" Blue Angel pointed out. "And once per turn, if Bella Madonna doesn't point to any monsters, I can inflict two hundred damage to my opponent for each different Trickstar in my Graveyard!"

The Trickstar raised its arm and a ball of light formed inside of it before she threw it at MetalX, launching the Knight of Hanoi backwards.

 **『** **MetalX LP: 3400 - 1800** → **1600** **』**

"I set a card and end my turn!" Blue Angel finished.

"Woah, she just wiped out three thousand and eight hundred points worth of Life Points in a single turn." Ai gulped and looked back at Playmaker. "You are lucky that the two of you are on the same side and this isn't a rematch."

"It seems like I underestimated the two of you a little bit." MetalX groaned, getting back up after taking so much damage. "Picaro was right, you both are troublesome opponents."

"Picaro? Is he the one who sent you here?" Playmaker asked.

"Yes, he is." MetalX nodded to confirm. "He knew that sooner or later you will pick up on the trail that would lead you to SOL Technology, so he had me infiltrate the company and wait for you to show up."

"So the two of you were working together to get me?" Ai asked.

"Yes, we still do." MetalX looked down to his palm before clenching it into a fist. "Picaro was the one who showed me the true importance of the Ignis' existence and gave me a reason to continue moving forward."

* * *

 _It all happened in the underworld server of Link Vrains 8 months ago. After I learned the truth about how the Hanoi Project happened and about the six children that were tortured to create the Ignis, I began to despise both the project and my older colleagues who had united under the group known as Knights of Hanoi._

 _They were everywhere, hunting and destroying and Cyberse that they could find. I was never a good duelist, but I wanted to fight against them like everyone else, so I did something else. With my knowledge about programming, I was able to hack their servers and accounts, extract information and then sell it to the black-market or post it anonymously in forums._

Yukimuro Hiroki, a scientist in his early thirstiest was writing and decrypting codes from inside his bedroom, when suddenly someone knocked on the front door. The man stopped writing and looked toward his living room. Strange, he wasn't expecting anyone to visit today.

"Who is it?" Hiroki asked.

Instead of getting an answer, someone knocked on the front door again, this time more impatient than before. Hiroki bit his lip, whoever it was, they weren't going to reveal their identity unless he unlocked and let them inside, which might be too late. Of course, he could just not answer at all, but he already let them know that he was inside the apartment, and they could probably break his door.

"I-I'm coming." Hiroki gulped and stood up.

The scientist walked into the living room and then, instead of opening the door, he walked into the kitchen and opened one of the drawers, pulling a knife out of it. After arming himself somewhat, the man took a deep breath and went back to the door.

"Took you long enough, old man." Before Hiroki could reach the door was kicked open so suddenly that it made the scientist tumbled back, dropping the knife.

He gasped and looked up to see an eighteen years old in front of him. The young man was tall with long blue hair that was tied into a ponytail and had lightning-shaped yellow bangs that juts upward. His eyes were pink. He wore a torn grey singlet, worn out jeans and calf-high motorcycle boots. Five golden bracelets on his arms and two triangular earrings of the same material hanging from his ears finished the man's appearance.

"I have been looking for you for a while, MetalX." The young man said, shocking the scientist.

"H-how do you know this name?" Hiroki asked, his arm searching for the knife that he had dropped while his eyes remained locked on the boy in front of him.

"If you think that the Knights of Hanoi wouldn't be able to figure out who's been hacking their servers and giving out our information, you are wrong." The man replied with a smirk and walked past the scientist.

Hiroki gritted his teeth. He could feel the knife against his fingers and gripped it with his arm.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Hiroki cried out, the man's leg stepping on the back of his wrist.

"Don't be a fool." The man narrowed his eyes. "Do you even know why I came here?"

"To take me out!" Hiroki hissed from the pain on his hand. "The Knights of Hanoi send you to silence me because I know what monsters your leaders are!"

Much to Hiroki's surprise, the young man chuckled and stepped off his hand. The scientist retreated back and held his hand, his eyes carefully following for the unknown intruder's movement.

"The Knights of Hanoi really sent people to get rid of you, but I got rid of them all before anyone could find your address." The man replied, sitting down on the sofa. "You don't need to thank me for that."

"Wait, you have been protecting me from the Knights of Hanoi?" That surprised Hiroki, he didn't think that anyone had the courage to face the group on their own. "But why?"

"Because I need help, and out of everyone you would understand me the best." The man replied, closing his eyes. "I know that you were part of the project that created the Ignis, and that means you are probably also aware of the world that they created."

"The Cyberse…" Hiroki muttered, confirming his knowledge on the subject. "But why is that interesting for you? Don't tell me… Are you one of the six?"

The man chuckled again. "No, thankfully I'm not one of them. But it would be hard to explain, so take a look into it instead."

Saying that, the man pulled a small flash drive and threw it over to Hiroki who caught it, albeit with some difficulties. Nodding, he walked back into his room and inserted the flash drive into his computer. Momentarily, everything showed up on the screen and his eyes widened as realization stuck him.

"This is…" He couldn't believe it! He just couldn't believe that such a thing could possibly exist.

"A virtual world similar to the Cyberse, but created with a completely different algorithm." The man walked into the room and leaned against the wall. "From what I know, this place wasn't created by neither an Ignis nor a human and its possibilities are much bigger than those of a normal virtual reality. If we discover it, that virtual world might be the answer to saving humanity, to immortalize our species. A perfect utopia with no crimes, hunger or wars!"

"Magnificent." Hiroki whispered, but his smile soon turned into a frown and he looked back at the young man. "But how will my knowledge about Cyberse be of use for you?"

This question caused the smile on the young man's face to drop as well. "There is a gate that connects Link VRAINS with that unknown world, but it was sealed with a gate that needs six specific keys in order to be unlocked. One of the keys was entrusted on me and I was able to get away before they took it away from me, but the other five are all in the hands of people that I have no chance of defeating. However, I recently found out that it's possible for a similar gate to exist inside of Cyberse as well. I need your help in order to get there and locate it."

"You want my help to travel into the Cyberse?" Hiroki muttered and looked back at the screen in front of him. "From the data you gathered, I could say that the chance of a gate to exist there would be eighty seven percent."

"So, are you going to help me?" the man asked.

"Yes." Hiroki nodded and looked forward with determination in his eyes. "I created the Ignis because I believed that they could save humanity, be the perfection that we could never be. I would never want them to be destroyed and if there truly is a utopia hidden inside the network, the power we gather there might help us destroy Hanoi and reset the peaceful coexistence between humanity and the Ignis."

"Heh, that's the spirit." The young man smiled and walked over to the scientist, reaching out for a handshake. "My name is Takuma Kita, my virtual alias is Rocketeer."

 _After that day, I joined with Picaro within the ranks of Hanoi and began my research on the hidden utopia while planning my revenge on the Knights of all of their sins against humanity and the Ignis._

 _With Picaro I was able to see a light in my work for the Hanoi Project. He gave me something worth fighting for!_

* * *

"A utopia hidden within the network?" Ai rubbed his chin in thought. "That's the first time I hear about this, but I was never interested in such things to begin with."

"So Rocketeer was working for the Knights of Hanoi all along?" Blue Angel clenched her fist. He was always someone that she could sit down with and talk, tell him about her struggles, the difficulties she had in both the virtual and real world. Then he would always say something to cheer her up and they would laugh it off together. To think that his kind persona might have all been just a false mask…

"I don't care about your reason to fight." Playmaker closed his eyes for a moment. "All that matters for me is to defeat every single Knight of Hanoi that stands in my way and this includes you as well."

"So in the end you are still going to say this?" MetalX barked in anger. "Fine! I'm going to destroy you then, Playmaker! My turn! DRAW!"

 **『** **Turn 7 [MetalX] LP: 1600 Hand: 5** **』**

"First off, I banish Elder of the Six Samurai from my hand to activate Rihan's effect and banish Decode Talker!" the warrior activated its claws and fired all of the blades toward the Cyberse monster, which raised its sword to defend.

"Oh no!" Ai's eyes widened and it turned back to Playmaker. "Quickly! Use its effect to negate the effect."

"It would be pointless to do so. The enemy could just defeat it in the battle phase if I used the effect." Playmaker shook his head, letting the blades pierce through his Link's body and erase it.

"No! Decode Talker!" Ai cried out in despair.

"I Normal Summon _The Six Samurai – Irou (Lv.4, ATK: 1700)_!" MetalX continued, summoning a warrior in green armor holding a katana. "Then, I activate _Asceticism of the Six Samurai_ to Special Summon a monster with the same attack as Enishi from my deck! Come out, _Legendary_ _Six Samurai – Enishi (Lv.4, ATK: 1700)_!" another warrior in dark purple, appeared on the field carrying a katana as well. "While Enishi is on my field along with two or more Six Samurai monsters, it gains five hundred attack points. Also, since I summoned two Six Samurai monsters, Gateway of the Six is going to gain four counters! Now I remove all of them to increase Shi En's attack by one thousand!"

 **Legendary Six Samurai – Enishi, ATK: 1700 + 500** → **2200, DEF: 700 + 500** → **1200**

 **Legendary Six Samurai – Shi En, ATK: 2500 + 1000** → **3500**

"Let's finish this! I attack Trickstar Bella Madonna with Legendary Six Samurai – Shi En!" The Synchro's eyes glowed and it swung its katana at the fairy, cutting through her scythe and flesh with a single strike, the following explosion throwing both duelist in the air.

"Kyyyyaaaaaaaa!" Blue Angel and Playmaker cried out before their bodies slammed hard on the ground!

 **『** **Blue Angel & Playmaker LP: 2500 - 700 **→ **1800** **』**

"Aoi!" Akira shouted, but Ghost Girl held him.

"Don't! You can't help her in your condition!" the treasure hunter tried to talk sense into the older Zaizen but it was pointless.

"It was just seven hundred damage, yet it hurt so much!" Ai whined. "Quick, Playmaker, stand up!"

The Cyberse Duelist didn't respond. He was lying on the ground and despite how hard he was trying to get back up, the damage he took during his duel with Akira was putting its toll on his body already. He wasn't sure if there was anything that they could do. There was just a single face-down card on their field and Shi En had the ability to negate any Spell or Trap's activation, which mean…

"Playmaker! Blue Angel!" The two duelists raised their heads, hearing a familiar voice.

"P-Proxy?" Blue Angel was the first to see the BrioGear duelist running toward them with Blaze Rose following shortly behind her.

"Y-you!" Blaze Rose stopped and glared at MetalX, while Proxy tried to help the fallen duelists back up.

"I thought that you were captured when the AI Duelist defeat you." Playmaker muttered and stepped back up on his own.

"You two know each other?" Blue Angel raised an eyebrow, watching Playmaker and Proxy.

The young girl blushed a little and looked away while Playmaker just stared toward their opponent. Of course, with neither of them saying anything explain this became Ai's duty…

"Proxy is Playmaker's sidekick!" Ai shouted and gestured toward the two.

"S-seriously?" Blue Angel gasped and turned toward Proxy. "So that was why you were there to save Playmaker from Picaro that one time!"

"Excuse me, but we are in the middle of a duel here!" MetalX crossed his arms. "You can talk after I defeat them and take the Ignis from Playmaker!"

"I won't let you!" Proxy stepped in front of the Charisma Duelist and Playmaker. "I came here to stop you from hurting my friends! And although I'm too weak to fight on my own, my goal hasn't changed!"

"That's heartbreaking and all, but its bad sport to interrupt in the middle of a duel." Ai coughed into its palm, before realizing something. "Wait! We are the ones losing right now, right? Forget what I said and go for it, Proxy!"

"That's enough." Playmaker sighed and stepped forward, putting a hand on Proxy's shoulder.

"P-p-p-playmaker?" Proxy gasped in surprise, then felt a hand on her other shoulder as well. "Blue Angel?"

"I appreciate that you care about us, and think of me as a friend, but this duel is ours to finish." Blue Angel smiled at the young girl. "Right, Playmaker?"

"Yes." The Cyberse Duelist nodded and the two of them pulled Proxy behind themselves. To be pushed back and protected after saying that she was going to be the done doing the protecting embarrassed Proxy so much that her face went completely red. It wasn't helping that Blaze Rose was standing at the side, laughing so much that she was having trouble breathing.

"Don't worry, I'm going to make this duel a short one! I attack you directly with Secret Six Samurai – Rihan!" MetalX shouted, his Fusion Monster jumped into the air and threw its blades toward the two duelists.

"I activate my Counter Trap, _**Link Barrier**_!" Blue Angel threw her right arm forward and a barrier of solid light formed out of her palm, freezing the blades midair.

"W-what?!" MetalX shouted.

"Link Barrier allows me to banish Trickstar Bella Madonna from my Graveyard to negate a direct attack and end the Battle Phase!" Blue Angel stated. "Because it's a counter trap, Shi En is unable to negate its activation and effect!"

* * *

 **Link Barrier (Trap) Counter**

 **When an opponent's monster declares a direct attack: Banish 1 Link Monster with the highest Link Rating; negate the attack, then end the Battle Phase. When this card's effect resolves, you must send 2 cards from the top of your deck to the GY, times the Link Rating that the banished monster had.**

* * *

"Then, after this trap resolves, I must send eight cards from my deck to the Graveyard." Blue Angel stated, taking the cards and dropping them in the Graveyard slot. "Then, I banish the two copies of Trickstar Reincarnation that I sent to the Graveyard in order to revive _Trickstar Black Catbat (ATK: 2000, Link-2)_ and _Trickstar Crimson Heart_ _(ATK: 2000, Link-2)_!" Crimson Heart landed on the middle Main Monster Zone while Black Catbat made her appearance at the most right zone, leaving one empty space between them.

"Tch, during the End Phase the effect of Asceticism of the Six Samurai should destroyLegendary Six Samurai – Enishi, but I banish Secret Six Samurai – Douji from my graveyard to negate it." Electricity formed around Irou, but the dark monster swung its katana, dispersing the negative effect of the spell. "Then I'm going to set two cards and end my turn!"

"I will leave the rest of this up to you, Playmaker." Blue Angel looked over and the Cyberse Duelist nodded.

"I'm going to end the duel this turn for sure." Playmaker said. "My turn, draw!"

 **『** **Turn 8 [Playmaker] LP: 1800 Hand: 3** **』**

"First off, I activate Crimson Heart's effect to discard Parallel Port Armor from my hand and let both of us draw a new card!" Playmaker looked over his new card and nodded. "I activate the Equip Spell, _Cynet Deflag_ to revive Link Streamer from my Graveyard!"

"I activate Shi En's effect to negate your spell from activating and destroy it!" MetalX declared, shattering Playmaker's card. "Your hope has been shattered, Playmaker."

"You think so?" Playmaker asked and then pointed toward the ground. "I pay half of my Life Points to activate Deflag's effect from the Graveyard!"

"You what?!" MetalX yelled.

 **『** **Blue Angel & Playmaker LP: 1800/2 **→ **900** **』**

"Revive, _Link Streamer (Lv.4, ATK: 1600)_!" the satellite-like monster appeared back on Playmaker's field. "Next, I Normal Summon _Cyberse Gadget (Lv.4, ATK: 1400)_ and activate its effect to revive _Link Infra-Flier (Lv.2, DEF: 1800)_!"

"Hmm, what are you aiming for, Playmaker?" MetalX narrowed his eyes. Playmaker's strategy was to summon multiple monsters to Special Summon a strong Link Monster, but his Code Talkers were no match for the Six Samurais, so… "Don't tell me that you are going to summon THAT monster?!"

"Appear, the circuit that leads to the future!" Ignoring his opponent's question, Playmaker opened a square above his head. "Arrowhead confirmed! The summoning condition is one Level Two or lower monster. I set Link Infra-Flier in the Link Marker! Circuit combine! Link Summon! _Talkback Lancer (ATK: 1200, Link-1)_!" The little warrior appeared in the Extra Monster Zone, pointing down at the zone between the two Trickstar monsters.

"The effect of Link Streamer Special Summons one _Data Token (Lv. 1, DEF: 0)_ when another Cyberse is summoned on my field." Playmaker continued. "Appear, the circuit that leads to the future! Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning condition are two or more Cyberse monsters. I set Link Streamer, Cyberse Gadget and Data Token in the Link Markers! Circuit combine! Link Summon! _Excode Talker (ATK: 2300. Link-3)_!"

"With Excode Talker's effect you can boost all of our other monsters!" Ai pointed out.

"That still won't be enough." Playmaker stated. "I activate Cyberse Gadget's effect! Since it left the field, I can Special Summon one Gadget Token (Lv.2, DEF: 0)! Now for the third time! Appear, the circuit that leads to the future!"

The square appeared much higher than it did before. "Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning condition are two or more monsters. I set Gadget Token and the Link Three Excode Talker in the Link Markers! Circuit combine! Link Summon! Appear, _Firewall Dragon (ATK: 2500, Link-4)_!" A single beam fell from the circuit and landed on Playmaker's field letting out a fierce roar.

"So you summoned your strongest monster." MetalX took a step back. He knew what effect this monster had and that it wasn't going to end well for him.

"I activate Firewall Dragon's effect!" Playmaker declared. "Once while its face-up on the field, I can return a number of monsters from either side of the field or Graveyard to the hand, up to the number of monsters its co-linked with! Firewall is co-linked with Trickstar Crimson Heart, Trickstar Catbat and Talkback Lancer, so I return Legendary Six Samurai – Shien, Legendary Six Samurai – Enishi and Secret Six Samurai - Rihanback to your hand. _**Emergency Escape**_!"

MetalX took his cards and removed them from the field. "Fusion and Synchro monsters return to the Extra Deck instead of the hand."

"Now you can finish this with our four monsters!" Ai pointed out.

Playmaker looked carefully at his opponent's field once again. MetalX only had The Six Samurai – Irou to protect him from a direct attack, but there were still two set card on his field, which could be troublesome to deal with.

"I activate Micro Coder's effect from my hand!" Playmaker stated and another square above him. "When Micro Coder is in my hand, it can be used as material for the Link Summon of a Code Talker monster. Appear, the circuit that leads to the future!"

"You can use monsters in your hand as Link Materials?!" MetalX and Blue Angel shouted almost simultaneously with one another.

"Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning condition are two or more monsters. I set Micro Coder and Talkback Lancer in the Link Markers! Circuit combine! Link Summon! _Code Talker (ATK: 1300, Link-2)_!"

Playmaker threw the last card that he held into the air and it transformed into a grey whirlwind with Talkback Lancer turning into a blue one. The two monsters slammed into the up and down arrows of the square after which the smaller version of Decode Talker landed into the Extra Monster Zone.

"While Code Talker is linked to another monster it can't be destroyed by card effects and also gains five hundred attack points!"

 **Code Talker, ATK: 1300** → **1800**

"And since Micro Coder was used as Link Material from the hand, we get to add a Cynet card from our deck to the hand." Ai put its arms on its hips proudly while Playmaker showed that the card he added was Cynet Backdoor.

"Let's battle!" Firewall Dragon roared, hearing Playmaker's declaration and took off, flying high above the field. "I attack The Six Samurai – Irou with Firewall Dragon! _**Tempest Attack**_!"

MetalX could only cover his face with both arms as Playmaker's monster fired a red beam of energy at his samurai, obliterating the warrior with its tremendous power.

 **『** **MetalX LP: 1600 - 800** → **800** **』**

"Double Traps activate!" MetalX cried out as both of his set cards flipped face-up. "First, I activate the effect of Shien's Scheme to Special Summon _Legendary_ _Six Samurai – Enishi (Lv.4, DEF: 700)_ and _The Six Samurai – Nisashi (Lv.4, DEF: 700)_ from my hand, and then I use Return of the Six Samurai to revive _Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan (Lv.4, DEF: 500)_!" All three of MetalX's monsters appeared in front of him one after another. "Then, Enishi and Kizan gain bonus attack points by their own effects."

 **Legendary Six Samurai – Enishi, ATK: 1700 + 500** → **2200, DEF: 700 + 500** → **1200**

 **Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan, ATK: 1800 + 300** → **2100, DEF: 500 + 300** → **800**

"With the way things are, even if we destroy all of his monsters, his Life Points will remain unchanged." Ai stated. "Also, because of his trap, he already got four Bushido Counters and could use them to search any card he needs during the next turn! You have to find a way to finish it this turn, Playmaker!"

"Trickstar Crimson Heart, Trickstar Black Catbat and Code Talker will attack your remaining monsters!" the three Link Monsters brought their weapons together and unleashed a wave of red, black and grey energy that cut all of the remaining Six Samurai monsters.

"Not half bad." MetalX dusted his clothes. "But you failed to defeat me in this turn, again and there is nothing to protect your field from me during my next turn."

"But we got the advantage!" Ai exclaimed.

"If your opponent gets The Six Samurai – Yariza and another monster out on the field, it will be over for you." Blaze Rose explained from the side. "And even if he doesn't draw it, with four counters on, Gateway of the Six would be able to search it out."

"Eh?!" Ai's eyes became the size of dinner plates.

"I said that the duel will end this turn." Playmaker replied and raised his arm. Firewall Dragon raised its head and roared in agreement. "I activate the effect of Parallel Port Armor from my Graveyard! Banish it along with Link Spider and Talkback Lancer in order to allow Firewall Dragon a second attack this turn! _Tempest Attack_!"

The Cyberse monster connected its wings together and its color scheme changed from blue to red with a pulse of energy forming behind it. MetalX had only 800 Life Points remaining while the dragon had 2500 attack power, the outcome of that attack was obvious. The Knight of Hanoi closed his eyes and spread his arms out, waiting for the attack. The dragon finished charging its attack and fired a beam of red light that enveloped the entire area and MetalX's body faded away.

 **『** **MetalX LP: 800 - 2500** → **0** **』**

 **『** **Winner: Playmaker & Blue Angel** **』**

"Well, that was it." Blaze Rose sighed and walked over to the two duelists. She looked over to the area that MetalX was standing a moment ago, but there was nothing there. "It seems our little guess was using a remote program to duel from a safe distance. What a coward."

Blue Angel turned on her heel to face the Charisma Duelist. "So, how long have you been a part of this?"

"Hmm?" Blaze Rose raised an eyebrow at the question. She looked around, Ghost Girl was still holding Akira, Proxy was shyly trying to approach her 'partner'. All in all, none of the things around her gave the Nitro Duelist the slightest of idea what 'this' thing that Blue Angel talked about actually was. "What are you referring to?"

"Everything! The fight against Hanoi, being always beside Playmaker's 'partner' and such." Blue Angel gestured around. "How long have you… had a purpose to duel?"

"Since I found out that there were people who needed my help." Blaze Rose replied simply. "I never dueled for popularity, but lately, with all of the Hanoi attacks and all that happened in my personal life, I realized that people like us, with our dueling skills, had a responsibility. Why are you asking?"

Blue Angel just shook her head and turned to walk back to her brother. "Let's just say that everything that happened today made me wonder what my purpose is."

"Good luck finding it." Blaze Rose shrugged and turned back to Proxy. "Well, that was a weird conversation, but jobs done so how about we,"

Blaze Rose stopped herself, noticing that Proxy wasn't paying any attention to her. In fact, the BrioGear duelist had slowly walked over to Yusaku, who was standing at the center of the Data Bank waiting for Ai to finish eating all of the necessary information. He probably wouldn't need it since Ai sort of revealed that its memories were still intact, but it did lie to him once and there was nothing stopping it from doing so again. It was best to be cautious, even if Ai wasn't the smartest.

"Sorry." Proxy muttered, looking down at her feet. "I was supposed to find the Knight of Hanoi and stop him before he could reach you, but like usually, I failed and you had to clear up my mess."

"Don't apologize."

"Hmm?" Proxy raised her head, surprised to hear that.

"Thanks to you failing, I learn things that would have otherwise remained hidden from me." Playmaker stated. "You were of big help for me."

"R-really?" Sparks appeared inside Proxy's eyes and she looked like a little child that was praised by its parents for completing a difficult task.

"Ah, I'm full!" Ai interrupted, floating on top the Duel Disk with its belly visibly sticking out. "I got everything, Playmaker. It's time to go back."

"Yes." Playmaker nodded and turned back to leave. Alarmed, Proxy reached out to stop him, but she suddenly stopped herself. What was she ever doing? The girl slowly retracted her hand back and lowered her head, not saying a single world as the Cyberse Duelist jumped on his D-Board and flew away. With the BrioGear Duelist now alone, Blaze Rose walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"You did your best. That's what counts."

Proxy raised her head to look at the older girl and smiled a bit to show that everything was ok. But on the inside, she felt conflicted.

* * *

 **A/N: I feel that this might be an underwelming way to come back, but I'm back. Yay!**

 **In all seriousness, it took me two months to write this chapter! And while the reasons for that were many, the main one was that I realized midway through writing it that Six Samurai aren't as good in Master Rule 4 as they were before it... It was also hilaroious to me that a 1 vs 1 duel against Trickstar would end in Six Samurai getting completely rekt, while a 1 vs 1 duel against Cyberse would end with Cyberse getting completely destroyed before turn 4 comes around the corner.** **I surely hope that Konami is going to keep printing good Cynet Spell/Trap Cards like those from the last Structure Deck instead of whatever the heck Yusaku's Spell/Trap lineup is supposed to be...**

 **Also, I want to point out that I'm apperently borderline stupid because when I wrote the last chapter, I was expecting Secret Six Samurai to be the highlight of MetalX's deck with their awesome protection from the Graveyard. Then I re-read the effects and found out that it protects only from effect destruction and only 1 monster. I don't know why, but I always thought that** Secret Six Samurai – Rihan **'s self-banishing effect was negating targeting effects. When I learned that I'm wrong, I had to completely change my plans for how the duel's going to go and rewrite the chapter.**

 **At the time I'm writing this chapter, there were also several news about YGO that came out and I would like to cover these as well. Not spoiling the anime, but the card game just got a Cyberse and BorreLOAD Synchro Monsters, so that might be something. I'm just happy that the team is following the trend of giving Playmaker more DARK monsters, because that's his Ignis' attribute, but it would have been much better in my opinion if they gave him ONLY Dark Cyberse monsters from the beginning.**

 **Also something hilarious to me is that both the TCG and OCG keep banning cards connected to Firewall loops instead of hitting the actual problem itself. I mean, at this point Firewall Dragon has appeared so little in the anime that people probably wouldn't know the card existed if it wasn't for all of the loops and FTKs connected to it! But at least now Superpoly is unbanned when both Evan and Avice's Fusion Monsters are almost generic, so my OCs are getting more powerful with every banlist. Mwahahaha!**

 **Now, to the reviews.**

ScalchopWarrior **: Thanks for the review.**

ThePLOThand **: There are three reviews so I will start from the oldest one. No, in this story Evan and Avice don't hate humans, but they still see them as bugs, but despite that they have enough self awarness to know how much of an asshole is unhealthy to be while living in a society.**

 **I really don't see why some people think that using old summoning methods makes you "outdated" in Link VRAINS. I guess that it might be because** **OPFan's fanfic treated Fusion/Synchro/Xyz that way, but none of the other VRAINS writers whose stories I read do this, so I don't understand why some people expect that treatment as default... The 1 card draw from Burning Draw is stupid indeed, but he summoned Sunlight Wolf only once so that might be the reason why he didn't use Reincarnation on it. Remember that Soul Burner's Ritual and Fusion have a similiar Reincarnation mechanic (in the OCG at least) but he never used it.**

 **Finally, I don't understand the first part of your third review, but currently Proxy is trying to figure out what happened after the crash incident that caused her to wake up in Den City, but she is also trying to help out as much as possible before she finds out the truth and leaves.** **As for Evan and Avice, I already got a plan how to make their appearance here make sense, but that's not something people who read this fanfic alone should worry about.**

 **So, that's all. Thanks fo reading, I hope you liked the chapter and if you do, please leave a a review and maybe, you could favorite/follow the story if you liked it really that much.**

 **Diabolic Tracer out!**


	25. Chapter 25

Metal Hearts Beat Again

Ha, the last few days were just brutal on all fronts. Weird creatures showed up in Link Vrains, the Knights of Hanoi attacked SOL Technology's Data Bank and by some convenience I was always there to get thrown around like a ragdoll by the bad guys. But lately things had gotten quiet, Playmaker was busy finding information about the Hanoi Project and some guy named Kiyoshi Kogami. I suggested to help him out, but he turned me down and I couldn't blame him for that decision, really. Yusaku was the cautious type that doesn't trust people easily, if he somehow found out that I'm working alongside the Greysons he would naturally become more cautious.

All I could hope was that he wouldn't think that I'm betraying him. I want to help him find a reason to live and disperse the dark memories that are holding his future hostage, but I wouldn't be able to do it if he thought of me as an enemy. Damn it! I should have talked with him when we meet at the Data Bank and clear things out, but my shyness had to kick in just then. I'm even worse at talking to people that Yusaku himself and he was an introvert for crying out loud!

Stupid!

I slammed my head with a pillow for being so stupid and lied onto the sofa. Vermilya was sitting next to me, but she didn't seem to care much about my inner struggles. Actually, she was watching another anime! Seriously, does everyone come to this room only in order to watch anime? In the last few days Evan was coming to the house only to eat dinner, sleep, eat breakfast and then went back to his work, but everyone else seemed to treat the house like their personal anime streaming cinema. Even Avice was doing that!

But this was half her house as well, so I probably shouldn't be judging how she used it.

"You seem angry." Vermilya finally appeared to be noticing me, although she wasn't looking at me.

"I need someone to complain to!" I pouted and pressed my head against her shoulder, but she pushed me away. "Hey, no need to be rough! I thought that you had a responsibility to help out people who were less skilled than you."

"So you heard that?" Vermilya rubbed her temper while I just laughed at her reaction. Even if I wasn't looking at her back then, I still listened to what she and Blue Angel were saying. "If you need an ear, why don't you go bother Avice, I'm in the middle of something here."

I looked at the TV screen. Yeah, she surely was in the middle of something, watching people in weird clothes blowing up half a city while 'fighting' each other by jumping from rooftop to rooftop. A very productive activity this was. Don't take me wrong, I would much rather go talk to Avice than deal with someone who could break all of my bones just because I spoke while she watched an anime episode, but I couldn't find the Greyson anywhere in the house.

"I would talk to her if I knew where to find her." I groaned.

"Hmm?" This seemed to completely catch Vermilya's attention because she actually broke eye contact with the TV screen. Cheers everyone! "Did you look for her on the third floor? She's probably doing a security checkup."

"A security checkup? Don't they only hold their decks there?" I understand that trading cards were a big deal, but security check-ups? That level of cautiousness was leading more toward paranoia that rational security.

"Only? That's where they hold all of the treasures that they have collected throughout the years! It's filled with all sort of legendary items!" Vermilya shouted and before I knew, she grabbed my hand, pulling me toward the stairs. "Come! If Avice's up, she probably won't mind showing you some of their treasures!"

I didn't even try to say anything and just followed after Vermilya, trying to keep up with her fast pace. I won't admit it to her, but what she said about the treasures made me a little excited. I wondered what sort of amazing antiques could be stored there. Was there gold as well? I don't think that the Greysons should be allowed to keep ancient material made out of gold inside their house, but I haven't seen what's hidden in the first place!

Just… I hope those treasures aren't only more cards.

We got up and Avice was the first thing that came into view. She was standing in the center of the empty area with a tablet in her hand. I did notice that the floor seemed a bit different than before. The doors and everything else was still present, but it was clearer than the last few times I came here. The white walls were shining brightly and I could see my reflections in them. Ha, if it wasn't for that, I would have never noticed that the walls were made of metal.

"If you here to entertain me, I'm a bit busy to care at the moment." Avice turned her head to look at us. Her expression was all solemn, like when she gets pissed or something.

"Could I show Roxy your treasures?" Ladies and gentlemen, I present you Vermilya, the queen of subtle approaches! I already backed away, hearing Avice's solemn no echoing inside my head.

"Sure, just give me a second to unlock the vault." Avice pressed several buttons on her tablet and four metal circles locked onto the wall in front of us made a loud, cracking sound before retreating to the side. After that happened, the wall separated into four pieces that slide into the other walls, the ceiling and the ground.

After this 'vault' opened, lights turned on inside of the hidden room, and large wall-sized display cases came to my attention. Even though I suspected it, all of these cases were holding decks of cards inside. They were probably a hundred or more decks that were being held there! I stepped into the room and looked at the cards, they didn't have either ChronoGear or AstroGear in their names. No, every deck I found here was of a different archetype. Blackwing, Masked Hero, Timelord, Relinquished, I have not heard any of these names, before!

So that's why Vermilya called this treasure, I had no idea how much cards and decks existed in the game, but I'm sure that most of them are right here, sitting inside a hidden room, behind glass cases that keep them just out of touch. I looked even further and found a wall-mounted trophy case that was apparently supposed to hold the rarest of the cards in the Greysons' collection. Let me read some of their names. Um, there were cards named Loki, Lord of the Aesir; Thor, Lord of the Aesir and Odin, Father of the Aesir…

That was interesting, but there were even more cards inside that case. The next ones were put in pairs. Elemental HERO Neos and Astral Hero Neos, Stardust Dragon and Stardust Quark Dragon, Number 39: Utopia and Number 98: Antitopian. Those were just a few of the large collection, but before I could examine the other cards, Avice stepped in front of me and, with a smile of satisfaction on her face, looked over at the cards herself.

"Amazing, aren't they?" She asked me. "I and my brother collected those from across the world. The most rare and valuable cards that existed. They once belonged to heroes, legends, villains, but I personally think that they only serve to decrease the value of these fine decks. After all, what's the point of collecting items held by creatures whose name are as insignificant as the rats crawling in the sewers? You must agree that being part of a collection worthy only for a God gives these antiques a newfound radiance and makes them look like true treasures."

Yeah, I'm sure that a room filled with trading cards behind glass cases could have more worth that real treasures. I simply nodded to Avice's question and looked around the place once more. Still, the siblings must have been really devoted to their goal, if they traveled around the world to collect these cards. I wonder, do they even use them, or did they collect these decks only to put them behind glass and look at them all day long?

"Of course, the cards aren't the only things we collected throughout the years." Avice stated and gestured toward the inner section of the room.

We walked over to that part. There were free-standing display cases that held various inside of them. One of these displays had a black and gold medieval knight-esque armor inside of it. The outfit spotted six tendril-like spikes, two jutting out of the armor's back and four jutting out of the shoulders, a headdress with a tall collar and a floor-length red cape. Another case had a dark dragon mask, with blue eye-pieces and a red stone in the center of the forehead. All of these items looked extremely expensive, but I also noticed several cracks and bumps on them.

Continuing on, there were also two pendants that were put inside the same case. The one at the right side was black with demonic attributes and a red crystal, while the left was white with angelic attributes and a green crystal. Put next to them was a black and red motorcycle that seemed to be missing something. After it were two more cases displaying outfits, but these were much different from the knight armor I talked about before.

These were the clothes that Evan and Avice were wearing on that picture I saw!

Like with their avatars and the pendants I saw before, their outfits were also following a certain theme. The taller set of clothes was black and red with a hood that spotted cat ears on the top while the smaller one was white and green with large rabbit ears coming out of its hood. Black cat, white rabbit… Just the thought of seeing them inside these outfits made me smile a little. I wonder how ridiculous they must have looked when they wore these.

"Did you get an interest in these?" Avice asked me, holding her hands behind her back. "When I wore those I was twelve, so they might not fit you. Don't worry, I know a shop that sells some sexy bunny outfits, if you are interested."

"I think, I will pass on the offer." I laughed off the awkward suggestion. There were so many things inside this room, all of them looked precious for the siblings in one way or another. I'm taking back what I said previously, this room really is filled with treasures, albeit not under the standard definition. "But how did you get all these? Did you brought them, or?"

"We won them." Avice stated. "Of course, these things are nothing but trophies whose purpose is to remind people like you, about the greatness and god-like position of me and my brother. All of the things inside this room are here because of our experience, a reminder to the world about the tremendous power wield by a few chosen individuals could not, and will never be able to, compare itself to our divinity."

"I'm going to try and remember that." Wow, Avice is having a god complex!

I turned around to return and take a better look at the other things that I passed, when I noticed a strongbox that was put into the wall.

"What's inside that box?" I asked.

"Hmm? That's where our old decks are kept." Of course, I bet the entire hidden room was created just to keep the decks before the siblings repurposed it. "They were truly amazing, almost the perfect instruments, but they ended up lacking the multifunctionality and sheer unmatchable power that we engineered our new decks around."

"What exactly makes the ChronoGear and AstroGear decks better?" I mean, I had never seen their older decks, so I don't exactly anything to go with, but Avice's own words.

"You see, we have already perfected every single strategy, playstyle and combo that exist in the world of Duel Monster." Avice began. "None of the decks inside this room can perform well enough to match with our abilities, but our new oGear decks were created to surpass such limitation while preserving perfect consistency. But to assemble so much into just forty cards would be impossible, which is why we also customized our Duel Disks."

"Huh?" It was true that their decks didn't look like the standard models, but I thought that the difference from normal Duel Disks was only in appearance. Did the change the programming as well?

"We increased our Duel Disks' capability to be able to hold more than one hundred cards inside themselves." Whoa, one hundred cards inside a Duel Disk?! I thought that the limit was sixty or something! "Of course, we can't use a one hundred card decks, but we scripted different deck builds with different strategies. When we want to change inside the Virtual Reality, we just tell the Duel Disk which cards it needs to scan, allowing us to change between playstyle without having to change out the cards inside our physical decks."

"Amazing!" That was truly amazing! Just typing in a predetermined code that scans for the right cards and reads only their data during a duel would make using physical decks much easier in Link VRAINS. "How many decks have you encoded?"

"Oh, let's see." Avice stroke her chin for a moment in thought. "We have at least forty different Master Duel combinations for our decks, and twenty five Speed Duel combinations, so we got around sixty-five different oGear Decks at our disposal."

"Sixty-five decks?!" Vermilya yelled from the other end of the room. "Why do you need so much!?"

"Because what's the point of using our strongest cards and combos to get rid of a few insignificant insects?" Avice shrugged. "After all, so far both I and my brother had to use only our Level One builds, which, in case you haven't figured it out yet, are the weakest possible combination of cards that we were capable to create."

"Wait, what?" Was she for real? No, she must be joking with me! "You mean that the decks you two used to beat Hanoi, Picaro and everyone else were just watered down versions of what you are capable of?"

"Of course." Avice stepped back toward the exit. "Humans are not given the path toward heaven when they are born, are they? They need to prove their worth to God in order for the doors of heaven to open. In a similar way, a duelist has to prove themselves as more than the mud in order to earn the prestige of a blissful defeat by the full strength of a real duelist."

"If you say so." _I don't think that even Earth's size is as big as Avice's ego…_

"If you are finished burning the brilliance of this collection in your eyes, I should close the vault and finish my security checkup." Avice started and turned her back to me. "Brother is going to be back from work earlier today and I must prepare dinner for him."

"I didn't think that someone 'divine' would do lowly chores as cooking food instead of hiring someone else to do it instead." I joked.

"It all depends on your point of view. What might look like a lowly chore for you, gives me nothing but happiness when I know that I'm helping out someone I care greatly for."

Aw, despite how arrogant Avice could be at times, there is still some warmness inside of her. She won't admit it, but I believe that she truly cares about others. Same thing with Evan, he even went out of his way to find an antivirus program for the Hanoi virus that Picaro used on the Charisma Duelists. There are like Playmaker, there is kindness inside of them, but they don't want to show it because of how harsh the world around them is. But I want to change that! I don't know if it'd be possible for a single person to do it, but I'm going to change the world so that kindness should no longer be hidden under harsh language and selfishness!

"Hey, don't space out!" Avice hit me on the forehead.

"S-sorry." I muttered and headed back downstairs. I should probably do something useful in the meantime as well. As much as I enjoyed helping out my friends, I still had to find even the sightless of hints about how I ended up here. There was a huge hole in my memories between the car crash and my waking up inside the hospital.

* * *

Peace had finally returned to Link VRAINS in the last few days. With no Knights of Hanoi running around and Charisma Duelists trying to beat Playmaker, the regular user base of the servers were able to meet and have fun without worrying that SOL would lock them inside a huge cage or that lava will raise from the ground. But a good chunk of the players were still somewhat uneasy of login in before it was certain that the Knights of Hanoi couldn't cause any more chaos. Because of that, the outskirts of the city server were completely empty, and all the active user base was located only in the center of it.

This lack of activity meant that a certain black and purple cat was able to lying down on one of the rooftops and take a nap without worrying that kids might try to pull its tail or something like that. The small creatures had its tail wrapped around its body and its ears were sticking up, listening intently for the guest that the animal was waiting for. But the cat didn't have to lie there for much longer before its ears picked up on the sound of footsteps approaching.

"He should be here somewhere, but I can't pick up a signal."

The cat opened its mouth for a soundless yawn before turning around to face its guest. Playmaker stopped in his tracks, noticing the little animal in front of him, but didn't too pay much attention to it. That was his first mistake, as the cat's body began to glow brightly and purple sparks of electricity flew around while it began to grow up in size, its front paws turning into human hands, the cat ears separating to form a hood and the tail splitting into four made from black metal. After the transformation was complete, PhantomFire was standing in front of the Cyberse Duelist with a smug smirk on his face.

"Whoa." Ai looked in awe at the older Duelist. "You got a program that's able to hide your status as a user?"

"More like, I developed a program that could transform me into a cat." PhantomFire shrugged. "The ability to hide myself from scans was just an added bonus to make my cat-self separated from my humanoid self."

"You left me a message that there was something important we had to talk about. What is it?" Playmaker asked, going straight to the point.

"Hmm, how foolish." PhantomFire sighed and shook his head. "I got nothing to talk with you, the one I need to have a few words with was your Ignis, but since you have it on lockdown, I needed you to carry it over to me. If you aren't interesting in listening to the adults though, you can always leave Ai to me."

"Heh, he called me more mature than Playmaker." Ai chuckled.

"Unless you have any new leads on Hanoi, make it a short talk." Playmaker stated.

"I don't talk orders from mutts, Playmaker." PhantomFire's smirk dropped and he began to look annoyed with the Cyberse Duelist. "You could do yourself a favor for once and listen to actually important stuff instead of spending all of your energy running after a mediocre group that made you sad once as a child. You focus solely on their existence, which leaves you blind for their actions and plans. If you had a bit more interest in researching your enemy, things wouldn't have come to this."

Playmaker narrowed his eyes but said no more. He wasn't going to waste his energy replying to every insult throw at him, there were better things to do than that. Instead, Ai was the one to respond. "So, what did you need my help with?"

"In the last week or so, I have been picking up signals that resembled Cyberse randomly popping out inside the network." PhantomFire replied.

"So you picked up on that as well." Ai rubbed the back of its head.

"As well?" Playmaker interrupted, looking down at Ai. "Did you find out about that, but choose not to tell me about it?"

"Three things Playmaker." Ai turned around and held out three of its fingers in front of the duelist. "First, I already apologized for hiding the truth about who I'm to you. Second, it wasn't connected to the Knights of Hanoi, so you wouldn't have cared about it either way. Third, I did tell you about it. Remember that incident with duelists' deck getting destroyed? I mentioned it back then, but you were more interested going after Ghost Girl."

"Don't make my interaction with Ghost Girl sound awkward." Playmaker warned the Ignis. "So, since you were based out of me and I know that there were six victims of the Hanoi Project in total, could that be another Ignis?"

"No, it isn't possible." Ai shook its head. "An Ignis' algorithm is much more complex than whatever I felt back then. Actually, I could swear that the exact same presence was lurking through the Data Storm inside SOL's mother computer when you defeat that Hanoi controlled AI Duelist." Ai rubbed its chin for a moment. "The presence that I felt inside the network was a familiar one, which is what worries me all together."

"So you know what that thing was?" PhantomFire smirked again. "Of course, I didn't make a mistake to ask you about it."

"I could only guess, but if it's what I think, we all might be in trouble." Ai looked down for a moment. "Back home, after creating the Cyberse and the monsters, some of the other Ignis believed that our work wasn't as good as it could have been, so, me and the others choose to have a little bit of a friendly contest. Our goal was to create Cyberse monsters that were fully aware of themselves and had a complete personality with a free will, just like us."

"Are you saying that Cyberse monsters have a soul on their own?" Playmaker asked.

"Yes, the Cyberse card are like a separate species." Ai confirmed. "But most of them had limited free will and ability to express themselves, so we tried to update that, make them as lively as we were back then. But it wasn't as easy as we thought, we spent months trying to perfect the programming on our own and after half a year passed, it came time for all six of us to show what we were able to create."

"So?" PhantomFire raised an eyebrow.

"I…" Ai clenched its fist. "I…" the Ignis was struggling really hard to tell what happened. "I TOOK LAST PLACE BECAUSE NO ONE COULD UNDERSTAND WHAT LINKURIBOTH WAS SAYING!"

There was a long awkward silence after the confession. PhantomFire and Playmaker both stared at the Ignis, one wondering how such a stupid piece of coding could exist, while the other wondered how Ai could have been based after him. In the end, both duelist could only rub their tempers and try not to get aggravated with the Ignis apparent inability to separate important information, from not so important information.

"Did anything else happened?" PhantomFire asked. "Like, something serious?"

"Yes, yes, I was just getting to that!" Ai exclaimed, but the duelist could tell that it wasn't going to remember if they didn't remind it. "The monsters created by the Water Ignis took first place. Unlike all of us who tried our luck with one card, she actually created two dragons, twin sisters, that were able to showcase a perfect free will and had the knowledge to talk in both our language and yours. We called them the Twin Storms because their powers could freeze even Data Storms."

"For the most part, after this little completion of ours things returned to how they used to be." Ai continued with its story. "The other Ignis returned to their duties, the monsters were created moved into the domain of their respective Ignis and so on. BUT!" Ai paused dramatically. "Apparently one of the monsters created by the Water Ignis had a bit too much of a personality and free will, and it reached to the conclusion that since we, the Ignis, were created by humans, we were just as imperfect as the ones who created us. However, since she wasn't created by physical beings, but a more superior virtual being, she was perfect and should therefore be the one leading the Cyberse instead of us."

"That sounds like one hell of a brain gymnastic." PhantomFire crossed his arms.

"It sure was." Ai agreed. "At first we tried to solve the problem peacefully, but the dragon didn't give up on the idea what we were lesser and should bow to her. In the end, she chose to take things in her hands and attacked the Cyberse, freezing everything in her path. Since we were peaceful and never expected conflict, this caught us off guards and none of the Cyberse monster that existed at the time were strong enough to challenge that enemy. That's when the Ignis came together again! Using our abilities, together we created six warriors powerful enough to stop the dragon and protect the Cyberse. Those were the Code Talkers! Together with the dragon's twin, they defeat her and we sealed away the rebellious monster."

"So the Code Talkers I collected so far are…" Playmaker looked at his deck.

"They were Cyberse's only line of defense." Ai nodded. "But after that incident, no other attacks followed, so we freed the Code Talkers from their duty and the monsters flew into the Data Storm. Only if we knew that Hanoi were going to attack and kept them around, this were going to be much different from what they are now."

"Do you think it's possible for the monster to have ran away after Hanoi's attack?" PhantomFire asked.

"I don't know." Ai shook its head. "I was never the best with coding, only a small part of her being must remain intact because the Light Ignis made sure to bond her coding to the ground of the Cyberse world in order to avoid dealing with her ever again."

"I see…" PhantomFire clicked his tongue in annoyance. "The problem is that I once faced the same programming two years ago."

"Wait? Are you saying that you actually faced off against one of the Twin Storms?" Ai asked skeptically

"I couldn't be sure because I don't know what these Twins Storms looked like, but I had to duel against a Cyberse deck one and a lot of weird things happened that day."

"Why don't you tell us what happened in detail?" Ai asked.

"You two can tell yourselves stories another time." Playmaker replied and turned around. "We are leaving!"

"I'm sure that you will be interested in hearing this story as well, Playmaker." PhantomFire called after the Cyberse Duelist.

"And why would I be?" Playmaker asked back.

"Because you will understand what Picaro and his branch of Hanoi are trying to achieve." PhantomFire pointed out. "And because you will also understand better the dangers that exist in this virtual reality."

Playmaker closed his eyes for a moment to think about it. He did need more information about Hanoi and even though Picaro's branch were following a different, they were still a part of the group. Playmaker opened his eyes and nodded. "Ok, I listen."

"Good. So even a mutt could see reason if you give it a bone to bite onto." PhantomFire chuckled.

* * *

 _It all started two years. Back then, I was still a newbie in Link Vrains, with my account active for only three months and not more than five first places in tournaments. Despite that, SOL somehow figured out that I was worth enough to be given my own server._

PhantomFire looked at a small screen in front of him while programming his server's appearance. At the moment it was nothing more than black space with a white floor, but he had three companions to help him. Not only his sister, but also two of his own monsters, a fox girl named Foxy and a wolf girl with the name Wolfy.

"First cube is ready." Foxy stated, raising her hand to show a single white cube floating right above her palm. "If we produce more of these, we will be able to build anything with them. Even take over the world!"

"All I want from the cubes is the ability to turn into a chair." Evan clarified.

"Mmm, you are no fun!" Foxy pouted and turned back to build more of these cubes, while Wolfy looked at the blackness in deep thought.

"What are you looking at?" Silver Star stepped next to the Duel Monster.

"I wonder what kind of background would work on this server." Wolfy looked back at PhantomFire and an idea came to mind. "How about,"

"Use a background from the Doom franchise and I'm going to skin you like the demon you are." Evan threatened, causing Wolfy's tail to quickly stop swinging.

 _That was when I made first contact with something that I should have outright destroyed the moment I found it. We were building a system to oversee the other servers of Link VRAINS when we caught wind of a strange anomaly. Some sort of a Data Black Hole hidden deep within the network._

Silver Star was typing on a big computer screen while Evan and the monsters were busy finishing with the floating white cubes. The place was already starting to feel like a home, a base, and it would be also able to serve as a training center in case the siblings ever needed to use it for sparring.

"Something strange showed up." Silver Star turned and gestured for her brother to come and take a better look at the screen, which showed a red circle around the core of the Link VRAINS servers. It was right in between them, a place that for all they knew was an empty space where Data Storm are being generated. PhantomFire threw the cube he was holding and moved on to check on their discovery.

"I can't decrypt the data." PhantomFire looked at the symbols that showed before him, but couldn't recognize any of them. "Wait, there's something else." A second, smaller circle appeared right next to the large one. "Something is return the signal. The algorithm is closer to what a human would use, but I can't read this message either."

"Could this be connected to the mysterious Cyberse?" Silver Star asked. "I mean, there are Data Storms between the servers, but not inside of them. What's going on?"

"There's only one way to find out!" Foxy beamed, jumping between the siblings. "An adventure! We will travel to the center of Link VRAINS and find out the secret! Let's go!"

Silver Star raised an eyebrow and looked over to her brother, who raised his shoulders. That definitely wasn't the way he imagined spending his day, but it was better than clearing and building a server. PhantomFire stepped back and put a hand on his Duel Disk, a purple light scanning his palm after which several screens appeared in front of him. He pressed two fingers against a small circle and a holographic sphere appeared with the locations of all servers marked on it. The duelist moved his fingers over to the map and dropped the ring in the middle of all the servers, opening a small blue portal in front of himself.

"Before you go, wouldn't you want to change your deck first?" Foxy leaned her head against PhantomFire's shoulder and tapped the Duel Disk. "This could be a big adventure so shouldn't you use your real deck instead of Synchro Spam?"

"How many times do I need to tell you, stupid fox? It's the duelist that holds the power, a deck only represents it." PhantomFire boasted. "Even if a deck's possibilities are below my level, as long as I'm the one holding it, I won't lose a duel. Now why don't you do something that's out of character for you and be useful by finishing this server while we are gone."

Wolfy's ears raised again and she threw her right arm up to ask a question.

"You can't implement anything from the Doom games." PhantomFire ended the question before it was asked.

Sad by that decision, Wolfy's head dropped and she turned back to finish the last few cubes. So much about all of her dreams.

PhantomFire looked back at the monster for a moment and sighed. "Fine, you can make a collection of chibi Doomguy figures, but nothing else."

Wolfy raised her hand triumphantly and ran off, leaving everyone else to stare in disbelief. With his ability of rational thought already starting to fade by the large amount of stupidity he had to deal with the entire day, PhantomFire choose to not say anything else and jumped through the portal.

 _The thing we spotted existed both outside and inside Link VRAINS. At first, we thought that we might have found the Cyberse, but what appeared before us when we went there was something uncontrollable. You could say that it was a force of nature in digital form, but I have never seen such a destructive force in my live. And believe me, I have seen a lot of powerful things._

"W-what's this!?" Silver Star asked perplexed.

Data Storms. The whole area they were flying through was covered in dense and wild whirlwinds that couldn't be controlled. Just trying to touch those things could tear a person's arm right off, so it was dangerous, very dangerous. But PhantomFire tried to look further, beyond the face of demise and see what lied on the other end. He could hear the roars of the hundreds of monsters whose power lied dormant inside the Data Storms. But more than that, PhantomFire noticed a very strange occurrence.

The Data Storms were all coming from different directions, but they were are flying through the same path. There was something beyond the winds that was causing all of the data to change its course and move toward the exact spot that Silver Star located through their supervising system.

"These winds, they are all flying in circles." Silver Star muttered. "After the Cyberse cut ties with Link VRAINS, they were unable to reach back to the place they originate from and got trapped inside the network. It seems they have got unchecked for too long, I can read several malwares inside the winds."

"Tch, that means that the monsters insides are unusable." PhantomFire shook his head in disappointment. "And just when I thought that adding some Cyberse cards to our collection wouldn't be a bad idea."

Silver Star's Duel Disk beeped and she looked down at it. "Something is sending us data from the other side of the storm." Silver raised her left arm to show the screen to her brother. "There's something sapient on the other side!"

"Then let's face it." PhantomFire insisted. "There are several blind spots, if we are careful, we will be able to fly around the winds!"

"And if we fail, we are dead." Silver Star informed. "Great. No pressure."

PhantomFire flew backward and turned around, curling into a ball. Small energy shields appeared on the outsole of his boots, creating a barrier that stopped him from getting further. PhantomFire kicked himself off the barrier and launched himself at full speed toward the Data Storms, before changing his body weight toward the left to fly straight through a small opening that separated the whirlwinds. Using his body weight to change course and the gravity reversing outsole of his boots in order to control the speed at which he was flying, PhantomFire flew in between all of the data storms.

 _After I flew through a sea of deadly Data Storms waiting to tear me apart, I came right in front of a black vortex. I guess you could call it a digital Black Hole because of the way it the area around itself. The strange anomaly was able to bend the path of nearby Data Storms and pull them to move through a new path around the phenomenon, concealing it._

 _It was obvious that this 'Black Hole' didn't appear by itself, it wasn't a malware in the system but a program created by someone. Or something._

"Did you run a scan through this thing?" Silver Star asked her brother.

PhantomFire nodded. He'd used the scanning device in his Duel Disk to look through the anomaly's coding and figure out what it was. But no matter how much he tried, only weird unreadable symbols came out along with new 'messages' of some sort. All that he was able to find out was that the vortex was some sort of pathway leading to an unknown location within the network. But he was unable to trace the origin of the signal or decrypt the messages.

Silver Star's Duel Disk beeped again and she looked down at it. "What the? The second signal we caught has started to move! It's going right-"

Before Silver finished, something sped past her and slammed into PhantomFire. A loud cry of pain escaped the boy's mouth before something hit him in the stomach, launching him backward like a baseball launched from a catapult. Silver Star's eyes widened at that and she quickly flew over, grabbing her brother's arm before activating her own gravity reversing technology to pull him back before he fell into a Data Storm.

"The fuck!?" PhantomFire gasped, holding a hand over a hole in his stomach. The hit was so strong that it tore a part of his avatar's body right out!

Silver Star bit her lip in frustration and raised her head to look at the attacker. It wasn't a human, she could tell that much. Its whole body was made from black data with four long and slender arms. Its head wasn't separated from the main body by a neck and had two green orbs located at the far side of it, probably serving as eyes for the creature. It flew backward and spread out its arms, causing the vortex behind it to pulsate in response.

"Is that the stage boss we must defeat to process?" Silver Star asked jokingly.

"This is the one with the strange algorithm." PhantomFire pointed out. "It seems to be getting 'orders' from the vortex."

 _Unlike the vortex, this creature that we encountered had a more… human-made algorithm, but I wasn't completely aware of it back then because parts of the data were corrupted. It was long after I left that place that I realized those malwares I found were used to strip the strange being of its own will. During the entire time, I was standing face to face with a puppet controlled by invisible strings inside its own body._

The creature raised its head and looked at the siblings. The data that made its face began to move and a sharp noise echoed through the area. The siblings winched and covered their ears until the noise ended. Immediately, tree of the Data Storms around the three collapsed and formed into a combined one around the siblings, trapping them inside. More winds spread under their feet, creating a ground that Phantom and Silver could stand on top of. After the area was completed, the four armed creature flew through the whirlwind and landed across the siblings, reaching out with its left arm to create a green card.

"Do you need me to translate what it's trying to say?" Silver Star eyed her brother.

PhantomFire just activated his Duel Disk in response to the creature's move and replied. "No need for that - I'm fluent in that specific language."

The creature threw the green card into the space above them, creating a barrier made from several circuits of different sizes.

"Duel!" PhantomFire shouted.

 **『** **PhantomFire LP: 4000 Hand: 5 (VS) Unknown LP: 4000 Hand: 5** **』**

"Turn. First." The unknown creature spoke up in a voice that sounded like a child, a man and a woman all at the same time. "Activate. Unexpected Dai. Special Summon: _Beckoned by the World Chalice (Lv.4, ATK: 1800)_."

"It's not giving a detailed explanation of its plays." Silver Star pointed out. "Its communication abilities are even worse than yours."

"If all it can do is summon a Normal Monster, this duel won't be worth a damn." PhantomFire crossed his arms unimpressed.

"Link Summon." The square appeared above the creature and his monster flew into it, causing green lightings to fall from the barrier. "Summoning Condition: Normal Monster. Set: Beckoned by the World Chalice. Link Summon. _Imduk the World Chalice Dragon (ATK: 800, Link-1)_." A little green dragon in blue armor appeared in the left Extra Monster Zone.

"Imduk effect: Normal Summon twice." Unknown continued. "Summon: _Lee the World Chalice Fairy (Lv.2, ATK: 100)_." A little blue fairy appeared behind Imduk and winked. "Lee's effect: add _World Legacy - "World Chalice"_ to hand. Tribute Imduk the World Chalice Dragon. Summon: _World Legacy - "World Chalice" (Lv.5, ATK: 0)_." The Unknown's Link Monster disappeared and a large blue construct took its place.

"So, a Link heavy deck, huh?" PhantomFire observed. No other summoning method would benefit from having so many monsters with different levels and no tuners among them, expect for maybe Fusion. "How pointless."

"Imduk effect: Special Summon from hand. Summon: _World Chalice Guardragon (Lv.1, DEF: 400)_." A smaller version of Unknown's previous Link Monster appeared next to the other monsters. "Link Summon." A new square appeared just below the green barrier. "Summoning Condition: two World Chalice. Set: Lee the World Chalice Fairy, World Legacy - "World Chalice". Link Summon. _Auram the World Chalice Blademaster (ATK: 2000, Link-2)_."

"You got a Cyberse monster?!" Phantom narrowed his eyes and looked down onto his Duel Disk to double check. "Heh, that's interesting. Really interesting."

"World Chalice's effect: Special Summon two World Chalice monsters from deck. Summon: _Crowned by the World Chalice (Lv.2, DEF: 2100)_ and _Chosen by the World Chalice (Lv.3, DEF: 0)_!" Two new monsters, a boy with sword and shield, and a girl with a magical wand appeared on the field.

"Link Summon. Summoning Condition: two monsters with different types and attributes. Set: Crowned by the World Chalice, World Chalice Guardragon. Link Summon. Ib the World Chalice Priestess (ATK: 1800, Link-2)." The armored version of the magician landed on the middle monster zone and held out her wand in front of herself.

"The thing is gathering multiple Link Monsters." Silver Star warned.

"Don't worry." PhantomFire turned back. "No matter how many monsters it gathers, they don't stand a chance against absolute power!"

"Link Summon." Unknown raised its four arms toward the barrier. "Summoning Condition: Normal Monster. Set: Chosen by the World Chalice. Link Summon. _Imduk the World Chalice Dragon (ATK: 800, Link-1)_." A second copy of the green dragon appeared with a roar. "Guardragon's effect: Banish it. Special Summon: _Crowned by the World Chalice (Lv.2, DEF: 2100)_."

"Hmm…" PhantomFire took a look at the field. His opponent summoned the dragon next to Ib's Link Marker and the normal monster next to Auram's Link Marker. What was it planning next?

"Link Summon." A fifth square appeared in front of Unknown. "Summoning Condition: Two Link Monsters. Set: Auram the World Chalice Blademaster, Imduk the World Chalice Dragon. Link Summon. _Ningirsu the World Chalice Warrior (ATK: 2500, Link-3)_."

"Ningirsu's effect: Draw for each monster it points to. Draw two cards." Two new cards formed in front of the four handed creature and it tapped one of them. "Set card. Turn end."

"What a pathetic first turn. I almost fell asleep listening to that monotone voice of yours." PhantomFire shook his head and put a hand on top of his deck. "Doesn't matter, you were destined to lose this duel the moment you choose to make an enemy out of me. My turn, draw!"

 **『** **Turn 2 [PhantomFire] LP: 4000 Hand: 6** **』**

"I Normal Summon _Red Resonator (Lv.2, ATK: 600)_ and activate its effect to Special Summon _Armageddon Knight (Lv.4, ATK: 1400)_ from my hand!" A fiend monster wearing a robe made of fire and a warrior in old armor with a red scarf wrapped around its face. "Your deck is weak depending on its Link Monsters to do everything. Pathetic! This is how a true Duelist fights! I activate Armageddon Knight's effect to send Destiny HERO Malicious from my deck to the Graveyard! Next, I tune Armageddon Knight to Red Resonator!"

The Tuner monsters slammed its resonators into one another and turned into two green rings that flew around Armageddon Knight and a beam of light fell on the free Extra Monster Zone. Two eyes opened, and the shadow of a dragon appeared inside the light.

"Synchro Summon! _Red Rising Dragon (Lv.6, ATK: 2100)_!" A dragon completely covered in crimson flames flew out of the beam and threw its head backward, roaring. "When Red Rising is Summoned, I can Special Summon _Red Resonator (Lv.2, ATK: 600)_ from my Graveyard and its effect then heals me by Red Rising's attack power!"

A circle of flames surrounded PhantomFire and a blue aura went through his body, healing it despite the lack of injuries.

 **『** **PhantomFire LP: 4000 + 2100** → **6100** **』**

"Now, let's make place for the King! I tune Red Rising Dragon to Red Resonator!" PhantomFire shouted and threw his arms upward.

" _The heaven and earth shall tremble before the king's might. Let the power of the one and only supreme ruler be carved into your soul! Synchro Summon! The savage soul, Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend (LV.8, ATK: 8000)!_ " PhantomFire chanted and a ring of fire appeared above him with the black and red dragon flying through it.

"I activate Scarlight's effect!" PhantomFire continued, a flame forming around his monster's fist. "Once per turn, it can destroy all Special Summoned Effect Monsters whose attack is less than its own and you take five hundred points of damage for each destroyed by this effect! Let that be a lesson for you about what happens a jester tries to put such pathetic monsters in front of my sight. Absolute Powerflame!"

Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend roared and slammed its fist into the ground, creating a wave of flames that fell on top of Unknown's monsters, burning through their flesh. The Duelist itself took a step back after parts of its body began to glitch out from the damage.

 **『** **Unknown LP: 4000 - 500** → **3500** **』**

"Ib's effect: Not destroyed while linked." The Link 2's wand glowed, creating a small bubble that protected it from destruction. "Ningirsu's effect: Special Summon from hand when it's destroyed. Summon: _Lee the World Chalice Fairy (Lv.2, DEF: 2000)_." A second copy of the little fairy descended down to take the place of the destroyed Link 3. "Lee's effect: Add a World Chalice monster to hand. Add: World Chalice Guardragon."

"Tch, this monotone voice of yours annoys me." PhantomFire grimaced. "Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend, attack Ib the World Chalice Priestess! Scorching Crimson Hell Burning!" The dragon threw its head back, gathering flames inside its mouth, before unleashing all of them in a single blast that stuck Ib and she blew up.

 **『** **Unknown LP: 3500 - 1200** → **2300** **』**

The smoke from Red Dragon Archfiend's attack cleared from the field with Ib remaining on the field despite the attack. "Ib's effect: Not destroyed while linked."

"So you are going to keep crawling around like a worm?" PhantomFire shook his head in disappointment. "Then at least try to keep me entertained, mutt! I set two cards and then activate the spell _Ledger of Legerdemain_! This card banishes the top three cards of my deck facedown and during my third Standby Phase after this effect is activated, all three cards are going to be added to my hand. Therefore, I give you three turns to entertain me before the curtain falls."

"My turn." Unknown stated, drawing a card from its deck.

 **『** **Turn 3 [Unknown] LP: 2300 Hand: 4** **』**

Unknown looked at the card it drew and its eyes constricted for a moment before it put the card with all the other ones. "Lee's effect from Graveyard: Discard World Chalice Guardragon, add itself hand. Summon: _Lee the World Chalice Fairy (Lv.2, TK: 100)_. Lee's effect: Add a World Chalice monster to hand. Add: World Legacy - "World Chalice"."

' _More searching._ ' PhantomFire concluded, watching how the creature kept adding cards to its hand. He wasn't yet familiar with all of the new Link Decks and their playstyle, but obviously, they didn't have an easy out against monsters with huge attack points. ' _But even if this deck had such an out…_ ' PhantomFire looked down at his set cards.

"Link Summon." The Unknown raised its arms, summoning a lightning that collided with the barrier and created a square. "Summoning Condition: two World Chalice. Set: Two Lee the World Chalice Fairy. Link Summon. _Auram the World Chalice Blademaster (ATK: 2000, Link-2)_."

PhantomFire rolled his eyes after a second copy of the Cyberse monster appeared on his opponent's field. It was interesting to see it the first time, but knowing that there were several copies of it out there dropped the monster's value in PhantomFire's eyes.

"Trap Activate: _World Legacy Landmark_. Cost: Banish one World Legacy: Effect: Special Summon two monsters in Graveyard. Conclusion: Banish World Legacy - "World Chalice", Special Summon _Chosen by the World Chalice (Lv.3, DEF: 0)_ and _Ningirsu the World Chalice Warrior (ATK: 2500, Link-3)_." The two warriors appeared at each side of Ib, linking with her. "Ningirsu's effect: Send Chosen by the World Chalice and Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend to the Graveyard."

The Link 3 monster swung its spear and hit the ground with it, creating two magical circles that appeared under the aforementioned monster. Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend threw its head back and roared in protest while its spiritual energy began to be absorbed by Ningirsu.

PhantomFire didn't even glance toward his monster while its body faded away, but his eyebrows furrowed. "You must have a lot of guts to touch one of my treasures like this."

"Auram's effect: It gains three hundred attack points for every World Legacy with a different name." The warrior raised its sword and a red aura flew through its body while its attack power raised to 2300. "Battle Phase. Ningirsu the World Chalice Warrior attacks directly."

"Ha, that piece of hardware really thinks that it could hurt you!" Silver Star laughed from the side when the attack was declared.

The Link 3 monster raised its spear and charged at PhantomFire, swinging its weapon down on the duelist's body. PhantomFire keep looking forward, not paying any attention to the upcoming attack, but his right hand traveled over to his Duel Disk and pressed a button that caused a wall of flames to suddenly burst from beneath him and push Ningirsu the World Chalice Warrior backwards.

"What a foolish display." PhantomFire complained from inside the flames. "Your strategies are so obvious and easy to comprehend that this isn't even a duel for me! When you declared a direct attack, I activated the trap Reject Reborn to negate that attack and end the Battle Phase. Then, I revive _Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend (Lv.8, ATK: 3000)_ and _Red Resonator (Lv.2, ATK: 600)_ from my Graveyard with their effects negated!"

This caused the Unknown to take a step back and look into the cards in its hand once more. The creature clenched its fist and reached out to press one of the cards in its hand. "Spell Activate: Cynet Fusion."

"Fusion?!" PhantomFire's eyes momentarily widened in shock before his smirk turned into a grin. "So you can use other Summoning methods after all? Great! Great! Show me what other monsters you have inside this deck of yours!"

"Summoning conditions: One water monster, plus one Link Monster." Unknown put its arms in front of its chest, whileCrowned by the World Chalice andAuram the World Chalice Blademaster turned into blue and red dust that fused together. Sparks of electricity fell from vortex, striking everything around the place. Silver Star cried out and lied flat on the ground to avoid getting him by the lightnings while PhantomFire looked around.

The Data Storm they were inside of has begun to tremble as well!

"What's going on!?" Silver Star shouted, but her brother had no response to that question. Then he realized it.

"It's the monster that's doing this!" He shouted and jumped back just in time to avoid a lightning that stuck the ground where he stood just a moment ago. "It's somehow controlling the Data Storm!"

 _I was such an idiot back then. So awe stuck, that I didn't pay attention to the readings provided by my Duel Disk. I probably should have figured out that something was up when the Data Storm itself began to react to the monster, but that was my first time witnessing one in person. I had no idea that such a reaction was abnormal until much later._

Unknown raised its arms toward the vortex and several lightnings stuck it at the same time. The creature's body began to glitch and a binary code ran through its body, its green eyes turning off before coming back on, but with a blue color this time around.

" _Servants become the foundation of my existence! Your flesh will be my wings, your bones my flesh, your enslaved souls my reason to be! Fusion Summon! The dragon that can freeze the Cyberse World itself!_ _ **Tardix, Cryogenic Cyberse Dragon**_ _!_ "

A large blue crystal appeared on the field before skin and limbs began to grow around it, turning into a bipedal creature. The monster grew a long pink tail with purple crystalized scales on its backside and a black trident at the end. Its legs were each split into two below the knees with each one of its four feet were made of purple crystals with two front toe and one back toe. Its tights had strange black and purple growths that resembled a monster's feet with three main claws attached to the front and side of these 'feet'. Each nail was accomplished two smaller ones that were merged with the bigger one.

The dragon's body was slim with a blue crystal armor covering the front while purple scales covered its back and two black horns covering its shoulders. Its arms, just like the legs were split from the elbow down with the main pair of arms being large and having several blue crystal blades covering the back of its wrists while the secondary pair was made of pink skin and instead of palms they had a single sharp black blade on the end. Two large purple scales stuck out of the dragon's back with a large green circle merged to the ends and several giant blue crystals forming the 'feathers' of the dragon's wings.

Its head was almost all covered in purple scales with the exception of its mouth that was pink and the two black horns coming out of its face and curving upward. The monster's eyes were blue and eight in total, with all of them being located on the horns instead of the head itself.

* * *

 **Tardix, Cryogenic Cyberse Dragon**

 **Level: 8/Attribute: WATER/Type: Cyberse/Fusion/Effect**

 **ATK: 2800/DEF: 2300**

 **1 WATER Monster + 1 Link Monster**

 **Effect: Once per turn: You can discard any number of cards from your hand to put that many Ice Counters on face-up cards on the field. If this effect is activated during the turn this was Fusion Summoned, you can send cards from the top of your deck instead of discarding. Cards with Ice Counters have their effects negated and monsters with Ice Counters cannot attack or change their Battle Position (this effect is not applied on WATER monsters), also this card gains 300 ATK for each Ice Counter on the field.** **If this card is destroyed and sent to the GY: Destroy as many cards on the field with Ice Counters on them as possible, then, if at least 1 card was destroyed by this effect, you can Special Summon this card from the GY.**

* * *

"Oh no, that's her!" Ai screamed and grabbed its head. "That's the name of the Cyberse monster that tried to freeze Cyberse!"

"Of course it is. I won't tell you this story if I wasn't sure that it connects to yours." PhantomFire retorted.

"What does all of this have to do with the Knights of Hanoi?" Playmaker asked.

"Patience. We will get to that as well." PhantomFire reassured and turned to look toward the virtual city before continuing his story. "So where was I? Ah, yes. The most entertaining part of the entire duel."

* * *

"That's interesting." The Unknown spoke, more human-like than before and looked at its hands. "When I escaped from Cyberse I lost too much data to materialize outside of a duel, but this body should do until I get a replacement."

"Oh, you know about the Cyberse?" PhantomFire asked, interrupting the Unknown. The creature raised its head and stared at the duelist standing across from it for a moment.

"So that's what a human looks like?" Unknown tilted its head to the side. "When I escaped, I was captured and used as a simply trading card for months. Perhaps I should award you for freeing me, but beware. Don't choose anything that's above your worth."

"Ho, my worth?" PhantomFire ran a hand through his hair. That creature, whatever its name was, did a good job amusing him. "I don't think you have anything worth enough the clothes I'm wearing, more less, something worth as much as yours truly. But I want to know the name of the worm that dares to stand like a king in front of me."

"Pride, arrogance, an unmatchable ego – you are an interesting specimen." Unknown acknowledged. "My name is Tardix, I'm the sentience connected to the dragon you are seeing, and a small correction on your part; you should use the 'queen' instead of the male 'king' when addressing me. Now that I introduced myself, shouldn't you do the same, human? Or do you prefer to be called just 'human'?"

"My name is Evan Greyson!" PhantomFire declared. "But that's not a name you have the right to address me by, nor will you have the chance to do so."

"Hmm, let's see about that." Tardix narrowed her eyes and glanced toward the current state of the duel field. "We are currently in the middle of a duel? And you got the lead as well. I can't have that! I banish World Legacy - "World Chalice" to add a World Legacy card from my deck to the hand! I add World Legacy Clash and activate my other self's effect! I can discard a number of cards to distribute that many Ice Counters between cards on the field."

"So you searched cards in order to discard them? What a desperate move."

"Don't underestimate me." Tardix stated and gestured toward her field. "If I activate my effect on the turn I'm summoned, I can send cards from the top of my deck instead of discarding. I mill four cards to put ice counters on myself, Ib the World Chalice Priestess, Red Resonator and Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend! _**Cynet Zero**_!"

Tardix, Cryogenic Cyberse Dragon spread outs its wings and the green circles began to charge electricity and spread it throughout the crystal feathers, which began to glow and consumed the field in their light.

PhantomFire put a hand over his eyes and looked away, as to not get blinded by the intense light. He heard his monsters roaring and crying out, but he was unable to do or see anything. At least not until the light died down and then…

Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend and Red Resonator were both frozen inside huge chunks of ice, the spark of life inside their eyes was completely gone. The condition of his monsters took PhantomFire aback, but he figured that there was no need to worry since Tardix's Battle Phase already ended.

"How do you see me now, human?" Tardix asked. "Because of my effect, all monsters with Ice Counters that aren't adapted to the water attribute are completely frozen. Unable to attack, unable to change battle positions or use their effects, they are nothing more than statues now. But that's not the best part! For every Ice Counter on the field, I gain three hundred attack points!"

 **Tardix, Cryogenic Cyberse Dragon, ATK: 2800 + 300*4** → **4000**

"I'm going to set two cards on my field and end my turn." Tardix finished, setting two cards in front of herself. "Although you revived your dragon it's useless now and it can't even protect you."

This didn't faze PhantomFire at the slightest and instead he even smirked, seeing how Tardix fell to take one crucial detail in her observation. "You think so?"

"What could you even do with-" Tardix stopped herself. Her eyes widened as she came to the realization that Red Resonator was, in fact, a tuner monster. "Don't tell me that you are going to tune your dragon!"

"Despite the short time we know each other, there is something you must know about me." PhantomFire pointed at himself. "My dueling surpasses rational thought and my ability to evolve is infinitive! Allow me to demonstrate it to you. My turn, draw!"

 **『** **Turn 4 [PhantomFire] LP: 6100 Hand: 2** **』**

PhantomFire looked at the card that he drew and then at his opponent. "Because of the effect of Ledger of Legerdemain, destiny is going to claim you two turns from now."

"Only if you have strong cards…" Tardix muttered to herself.

"No card is weak! Now, I'm going to burn Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend's soul to its limits! I tune Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend to Red Resonator!" PhantomFire shouted and threw his arms upward. The ice coffins that kept his monsters as prisoners broke into pieces and Red Resonator turned into two rings that surrounded Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend.

" _Let the peaks roar! Split the mountains and come forth, along with the flames of the earth! Synchro Summon! Hot Red Dragon Archfiend Bane (Lv.10, ATK: 3500)_!" A larger version of Red Dragon Archfiend flew through the rings and landed in the Extra Monster Zone with a loud roar.

"No!" Tardix stepped back. She couldn't tell why, but she was suddenly experiencing the feeling 'fear' and it wasn't the dragon that scared her.

"Because two counters were removed, Tardix loses attack points!" Silver Star reminded from the sidelines.

 **Tardix, Cryogenic Cyberse Dragon, ATK: 4000 - 300*2** → **3400**

"Your monster is now stronger than me?!" Tardix cried out in panic.

"Now I activate Bane's effect!" PhantomFire pointed toward his monster and flames consumed it. "I release Bane in order to revive _Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend (Lv.8, ATK: 3000)_!" The flames burst and its lesser form raised from the fire.

Again, PhantomFire's move caught Tardix off guard. Did he summon Bane only to revive the weakerScarlight Red Dragon Archfiend without any Ice Counters on top of it? No matter how she looked at that move, it was a tactical mistake through and through!

"Fool, the monster you revived isn't strong enough to defeat me!" Tardix gloated.

"The fool here is you." PhantomFire stated. "If I cared about your dragon-self, I would have already taken care of it. Instead, I'm going to leave it there. Your dragon-self will stand as your last spark of hope until I choose to tear it down and let you burn inside the black flames of despair! I'm now going to activateScarlight Red Dragon Archfiend's effect! Once per turn, it can destroy all Special Summoned Effect Monsters whose attack is less than its own and you take five hundred points of damage for each destroyed by this effect! Absolute Powerflame!"

The monster roared and clenched its right fist, setting it on fire. Red Dragon roared and hit the ground with its fist, creating a huge wall of fire that fell on top of Tardix's monsters.

"I activate Ib the World Chalice Priestess' effect to release it and protect my monsters from getting destroyed!" The magician disappeared and a barrier formed in front of Tardix's other monsters, stopping the flames from reaching them. "Then, because Ib the World Chalice Priestess was send to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon _Beckoned by the World Chalice (Lv.4, DEF: 0)_ from my hand!"

"So you avoided damage." PhantomFire closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them again. "I expected that much from a Duel Monster. But this sacrifice that Link Monster, you only opened another door of despair for yourself! Because there are less counters, your monster's attack drops again!"

 **Tardix, Cryogenic Cyberse Dragon, ATK: 3400 - 300** → **3100**

"When a Synchro Monster is on my field, I can Special Summon Synkron Resonator (Lv.1, ATK: 100) from my hand!" PhantomFire swiped a card across his Duel Disk and the fiend appeared before him.

"Another tuner…" Tardix already knew what was going to happen next.

"I tune Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend to Sykron Resonator!" the Resonator this time turned into a single green ring and flew upward, so that Scarlight would chase after it. The dragon flew through and its body was replaced by a yellow outline with eight glowing orbs inside of it.

" _Demon King unleashed from the darkness of the abyss! Let your rage explode! Synchro Summon! Hot Red Dragon Archfiend Abyss (Lv.9, ATK: 3200)!_ "

"Unlike its Level Eight reincarnation that only destroys like a mindless brute and the Level Ten whose only use is as a sacrifice for the higher or lower level versions, the Level Nine Red Dragon Archfiend is the real deal!" Silver Star stated.

"Are you starting to see the reality of this situation?" PhantomFire asked. "I'm going to use Abyss to attack Ningirsu the World Chalice Warrior!"

"Fool! I activate the Quick-Play Spell, World Legacy Crash to banishBeckoned by the World Chalice and reduce your monster's attack by its own!" But instead, nothing happened. Tardix looked at her card and saw that it was greyed out for some reason. "Why didn't my card activate?"

"Bane's effect lets it negate a card's effect once per turn." PhantomFire explained and the spell card that Tardix tried to activate shattered. "You got nothing to stop my attack with, which means that that your monster's going to get destroyed." Abyss roared and slammed its fist into Ningirsu, who cried out in pain as he was thrown backward and blew up.

 **『** **Tardix LP: 2300 - 700** → **1600** **』**

"Next, because Abyss dealt damage to you, I can revive _Red Resonator (Lv.2, DEF: 200)_ from my Graveyard and its effect then let's me gain Life Points equal to Abyss' attack points." A circle of flames surrounded PhantomFire once again and his Life Points got a boost for a second time.

 **『** **PhantomFire LP: 6100 + 3200** → **9300** **』**

"You…" Tardix looked at her opponent's states. "You knew about the card that I was going to activate and that's why you attacked with Abyss instead of Scarlight!"

"Of course I knew. It was the card that you searched through World Chalice's effect." PhantomFire pointed out. "I still have one set card on my field so beware. I'm ending my turn there."

"My Turn! Draw!"

 **『** **Turn 5 [Tardix] LP: 1600 Hand: 1** **』**

"I activate _Pot of Avarice_ to shuffle my two Auram the World Chalice Blademaster, two Imduk the World Chalice Dragon and one Lee the World Chalice Fairy into my deck to draw two cards!" PhantomFire remained uncaring, letting his opponent resupply her hand despite the fact that negating Pot of Avarice by itself would win him the duel.

Tardix looked at the cards he drew and pressed one of them. "I activate Symbols of Duty to release Beckoned by the World Chalice and Special Summon _Hot Red Dragon Archfiend Bane (Lv.10, ATK: 3500)_ from your Graveyard!"

"Ho, so you realized how weak you are and choose to steal one of my trophies?" PhantomFire tilted his head to the side amused by that.

"Fool, your ego is going to be your downfall." Tardix hissed. "I activate _World Legacy's Heart_ to return Lee the World Chalice Fairy and Beckoned by the World Chalice from my Graveyard to the hand!" Tardix quickly tapped one of the cards added to her hand. "I Summon _Beckoned by the World Chalice (Lv.4, ATK: 1800)_. Judging by the cards I shuffled back with Pot of Avarice, you already know what's going to come next, don't you?"

"Go on, I'm going to hold onto Abyss' effect for now." PhantomFire crossed his hands.

"Open, circuit that freezes time itself!" Tardix's hands charged with electricity and she fired four lightnings that created the outlines of the square before completely materializing it. "Arrowhead confirmed! Summoning condition is one Normal Monster! I set Beckoned by the World Chalicein the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Imduk the World Chalice Dragon (ATK: 800, Link-1)_!" The green dragon jumped in the Extra Monster Zone and roared.

"I activate Imduk's effect to Normal Summon a second time this turn. Come, _Lee the World Chalice Fairy (Lv.2, ATK: 100)_!" the blue fairy few behind Imduk and landed between all three dragons. "Next, Lee's effect let's me add World Legacy - "World Chalice" to my hand and then I activate my effect to discard it and put an Ice Counter on _Hot Red Dragon Archfiend Abyss_!"

"I activate Abyss' effect to negate Tardix's abilities until the end of this turn!" PhantomFire cried out, his Synchro raised its right fist, creating a ring of fire around Tardix's body, an action that caused the possessed virtual body to winch in pain even through it was the dragon that got hurt. "And because your dragon lost its powers, it also loses the attack boost as well!"

 **Tardix, Cryogenic Cyberse Dragon, ATK: 3100 - 300** → **2800**

"Then I'm going to destroyHot Red Dragon Archfiend Abyss with Hot Red Dragon Archfiend Bane!" The two dragons roared and slammed their fists into each other's face before pulling back. The dragons launched a blast of flames from their mouths next and the two attacks hit each other.

Fire flew all over the field as the dragons gave their best to overpower reach other. Silver Star watched from the sideline with eyes wide open while PhantomFire remained unfazed even through the fire was falling on his side of the field.

Eventually, Bane's blast overpowered Abyss' and the Level 9 Synchro exploded after a final roar of defeat, leaving only Red Resonator to protect PhantomFire.

 **『** **PhantomFire LP: 9300 - 300** → **9000** **』**

"I praise you." PhantomFire said while dusting his outfit. "You were actually able to deal some damage to me. Of course that doesn't mean much, given what's going to happen next."

"I attack your Red Resonator with Auram the World Chalice Blademaster!" The Cyberse monster jumped over and slashed the tuner with its blade. "Then I attack you directly with Tardix, Cryogenic Cyberse Dragon!"`

"You are trying to bite more than you deserve, dog!" PhantomFire shouted and another wall of flames appeared in front of him. This time, Hot Red Dragon Archfiend Abyss flew through it and landed in front of Tardix, Cryogenic Cyberse Dragon, roaring at the fusion.

"But how?" Tardix questioned.

"The trap that I set two turns ago, _Miracle's Wake_." PhantomFire gestured toward the card that appeared from within the flames. "This trap revives a monster that was destroyed by battle during this turn. In this duel, you will only be able to damage when I give you permission and as much as I allow you to."

If Tardix's current body had teeth, they would definitely be broken from her gritting them too hard. The Ignis were barely able to stop her with combined strength, yet a single human…

"I end my turn." At the end of Tardix's turn, her dragon self roared again, having regained its complete power.

 **Tardix, Cryogenic Cyberse Dragon, ATK: 2800 + 300** → **3100**

"It's my move then! Draw!"

 **『** **Turn 6 [PhantomFire] LP: 9000 Hand: 2** **』**

"I activate Advance Draw to release Hot Red Dragon Archfiend Abyss and draw two new cards!" A grin appeared on PhantomFire's face as his monster burned to ashes and he got to draw 2 cards.

"If you attacked with it, you would have dealt a lot of damage to me." Tardix pointed out.

"I already told you that my dueling is beyond the capabilities of reason." PhantomFire boasted. "When there are no monsters on my field, I can Special Summon _Unknown Synchron (Lv.1, ATK: 0)_ from my hand." A small circular pile of metal with a red eye appeared on PhantomFire's field. "Next, I banish Destiny HERO Maliciousfrom my Graveyard to Special Summon one _Destiny HERO Malicious (Lv.6, DEF: 800)_ from my deck!"

"You plan to start rebuilding your entire field from scratch!?" Tardix tilted her head in confusion. What was that human doing?!

"I tune my Level Six Destiny HERO Malicious to my Level One Unknown Synchron!" the little pile of metal turned into a ring and the demonic hero jumped through it, transforming into six balls of light.

" _Lofty rose that buds in a garden of integrity! Bloom here, watered by blue moonlight! Synchro Summon!_ _Black Rose Moonlight Dragon (Lv.7, ATK: 2400)!_ " Yet another alternative version of a recognizable dragon raised on PhantomFire's field.

"I activate Moonlight Dragon's effect! When it's is Summoned, I can return one of your Special Summoned monsters back to the hand! I return Hot Red Dragon Archfiend Bane!" Black Rose Moonlight Dragon wrapped its thorns around the stronger Synchro and Hot Red Dragon Archfiend Bane roared in pain before it faded away, its card returning back to PhantomFire.

The Synchro Duelist looked down at his card and smirked. "That's enough fun for you, Bane. Seriously, getting used by such a pathetic duelist, but you are still worth something, so I won't throw you away."

"Is that how you treat your monsters?" Tardix hissed. "Like they are just items?"

"My monsters?" PhantomFire looked at the strange creature with confusion. "Those cards aren't mine. They are trophies that I won through dueling. In fact, they should be grateful that I'm using them in a duel instead of letting them collect dust behind a glass. But enough chatting! I activate another Spell: _Stardust Shimmer_! I banish Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend and Unknown Synchron from my Graveyard to revive _Hot_ _Red Dragon Archfiend Abyss (Lv.9, ATK: 3200)_!"

"That monster again!"

"Let's battle! I attack Auram the World Chalice Blademaster with Black Rose Moonlight Dragon!" the dragon threw its thorns toward the Cyberse, hitting the warrior across the chest.

 **『** **Tardix LP: 1600 - 100** → **1500** **』**

"I banish World Legacy's Heart from my Graveyard to negate the destruction!" Auram the World Chalice Blademaster put a hand over its wound and raised its head, ready to continue.

"Then I'm going to attack it with Hot Red Dragon Archfiend Abyss!" PhantomFire's second Synchro monster slammed Auram the World Chalice Blademaster into the ground and the monster cried out as it was destroyed.

 **『** **Tardix LP: 1500 - 900** → **600** **』**

"Then, Abyss' effect revives _Red Resonator (Lv.2, DEF: 200)_ and its effect increases my Life Points again!" PhantomFire threw his head back and raised his arms upward, accepting the healing effect of his monster.

 **『** **PhantomFire LP: 9000 + 3200** → **12200** **』**

"That's just mean!" Silver Star laughed. PhantomFire didn't need that much Life Points, but he was still boosting himself just to mess up with his opponent.

"I'm not done." PhantomFire shook his head and took another card from his hand. "I activate Sacred Sword of Seven Stars to banish Black Rose Moonlight Dragon from my field and draw two cards. You already served your use for me, so now disappear!" Black Rose Moonlight Dragon lowered its head and its body faded away while PhantomFire drew two new cards from his deck. "I'm setting all cards in my hand and end it there. The countdown is nearby, Cyberse Dragon. On my next turn, this will end, so try to entertain me a bit more until we get there."

Tardix clenched her fist. Scanning through the current state of the field, she calculated that the chances to defeat PhantomFire were below ten percent.

"My turn! Draw!"

 **『** **Turn 7 [Tardix] LP: 600 Hand: 1** **』**

"I activate _Monster Reborn_!" Tardix declared and a portal appeared before her. "With it, I revive _Ningirsu the World Chalice Warrior (ATK: 2500, Link-3)_!"

"Mm, using the same monster yet again? That's an old trick, learn something new." PhantomFire yawned and snapped his fingers, causing the Monster Reborn to turn grey and then fall into dust. "Hot Red Dragon Archfiend Abyss negates it!"

Zero percent… Tardix' body collapsed on its knees and her eyes looked down at the ground. Her chances to defeat that opponent were completely zero. Even if she banished World Legacy - "World Chalice" to search a card, none of these within her deck could change the duel.

"How? HOW!?" Tardix yelled. "A human, a creature so imperfect and prone to take illogical actions should not be standing above me! I'm perfection!"

"Apparently not." PhantomFire remarked, drawing.

 **『** **Turn 8 [PhantomFire] LP: 12200 Hand: 1** **』**

"On this turn, I'm going to teach you what's absolute power! Because of Ledger of Legerdemain, I add the three cards I banished three turns ago onto my hand." The cards popped out of PhantomFire's Duel Disk and he looked over them, before activating another card. "I activate one of my set cards, Pot of Acquisitiveness to shuffle Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend, Black Rose Moonlight Dragon and Destiny HERO Malicious that are banished back into my deck and draw a card!"

"Now, I will Normal Summon _Predaplant Ophrys Scorpio (Lv.3, ATK: 1200)_ and activate its effect to discard Plaguespreader Zombie and Special Summon _Predaplant Darlingtonia Cobra (Lv.3, ATK: 1000)_ from my deck." Two plants that looked like just like the dangerous poisonous animals mentioned in their names appeared on PhantomFire's field.

PhantomFire's grin widened as he continued. "Since DarlingtoniaCobra was summoned the way it was, I can add Fusion Substitute to my hand!" Both of Phantom's eyes began to glow with a red flame forming around his right eye and a purple one around his left one. "Appear circuit of past and future!"

The space above PhantomFire's head cracked, creating a black vortex instead of a square. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are two DARK monsters! I set Predaplant Ophrys Scorpio and Predaplant Darlingtonia Cobrain the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Wee Witch's Apprentice (ATK: 1400, Link-2)_!" A young girl in blue witch robes flew through the vortex and landed in the Extra Monster Zone.

"Because of Wee Witch's effect, all of my DARK monsters gain five hundred extra attack points!" Hot Red Dragon Archfiend Abyss and Wee Witch's Apprentice both had a red aura spread through their bodies, increasing their power level.

 **Hot Red Dragon Archfiend Abyss, ATK: 3200 + 500** → **3700**

 **Wee Witch's Apprentice, ATK: 1400 + 500** → **1900**

"Next, I return a card from my hand to the top of the deck to revive _Plaguespreader Zombie (Lv.2, ATK: 400_ → _900)_ from my Graveyard at the cost of banishing it when it leaves." PhantomFire explained while a deformed zombie crawled onto his field. "And I banish Destiny HERO Malicious to Special Summon another copy from my deck." The demonic hero jumped into the action, its attack points increasing to 1300. "Now, I activate _Fusion Substitute_ to fuse together myPlaguespreader Zombie and Destiny HERO Malicious!"

Both monsters turned into purple lightnings and collided with one another, creating a red, black and purple vortex behind PhantomFire. The duelist put his hands together and began to chant.

" _Two deformed emissaries of darkness forsaken by destiny! Now become one and let hell itself take into the form of a new terror!_ _Fusion Summon! Appear! Poisonous dragon with hungry fangs. Level 8! Starving Venom Fusion Dragon (Lv.8, ATK: 2800_ → _3300)_!"

The slim purple dragon crawled through the portal and stood up behind PhantomFire with the four mouths on its back open and its front mouthpiece split to show its fangs. The monster stretched forward and roared.

"When Starving Venom is Fusion Summoned, it gains the attack power of one Special Summoned monster until the end of the turn." PhantomFire raised his hand and snapped his fingers, giving the beast his order. Complying, Starving Venom's mouths began to absorbTardix, Cryogenic Cyberse Dragon's attack points.

 **Starving Venom Fusion Dragon, ATK: 3300 + 3100** → **6400**

"But I'm not done yet!" Phantom laughed. "I Special Summon another _Destiny HERO Malicious (Lv.6, ATK: 800_ → _1300)_ from my deck and tune it with my _Red Resonator_! Surge, my black flames of vengeance! Synchro Summon! Come, _Thought Ruler Archfiend (Lv.8, ATK: 2700_ → _3200)_!"

"Y-you…" Tardix looked onward. Two powerful Synchro monsters, one Link and even a Fusion. That human, he was…

"I activate Starving Venom's effect! Once per turn, I negate a Level five or higher monster's effects and give them over to Starving Venom. I choose your dragon!" Phantom's Fusion opened its back and reached out to bite Tardix, Cryogenic Cyberse Dragon. Both the monster and the duelist cried out in pain as that happened.

"Now, I'm going to use that little effect of yours to discard a card and put one more Ice Counter on you!" PhantomFire slid a card into the Graveyard slot of his Duel Disk and Starving Venom's orbs began to glow, consuming the field into a light similar to that of Tardix, Cryogenic Cyberse Dragon itself.

When the light faded away, the Cyberse monster was standing frozen inside the same coffin that it trapped Phantom's monsters earlier. "Since Tardix lost its effects, she doesn't gain an attack boost anymore and because Starving Venom has her effects now, my monster does get a boost!"

 **Tardix, Cryogenic Cyberse Dragon, ATK: 3100 – 300** → **2800**

 **Starving Venom Fusion Dragon, ATK: 6400 + 300*2** → **7000**

"This is the end." PhantomFire crossed his arms behind his back and turned to the side. "I'm sorry to say that, but this wasn't even a workout for me. But my friend here has always enjoyed being a little rough with guests so, Starving Venom, have fun. Also don't bother trying to activate your set card in response, my Abyss is still on the field."

The mouths on Starving Venom's back opened and a large web of purple energy appeared behind it, collecting energy for the final attack. The dragon's green eyes glowed and it roared, firing several powerful beams that fused together and stuck Tardix, evaporating the dragon. The four armed duelist screamed in agony as the attack consumed her as well and tore off half of her face.

 **『** **Tardix LP: 600 - 4200** → **0** **』**

 **『** **Winner: PhantomFire** **』**

"Good work." Silver Star clapped and stepped closer to her brother. "But I would have liked if you didn't waste so much time playing with this piece of junk."

"Well, I was trying to be as serious as possible." Phantom replied and reached to scratch Starving Venom's chin, earning a low pleased roar from the dragon.

Before Silver Star could retort, the Data Storm they were into suddenly shook and began to collapse inward with the winds moving in to engulf the siblings. Starving Venom and Hot Red Dragon Archfiend Abyss roared, feeling threatened by the incoming wall of data and charged their attacks.

"Don't shot at the wind!" PhantomFire shouted, causing the dragons to stop and lower their heads to look at him. "Your attacks are made from energy, they won't do much. We need something physical to create a hole!"

"H-human…" Tardix hissed, slowly standing back up. Her body was glitching, having holes in the head, left shoulder and waist. "I… will…"

"…We just found our way out of this." PhantomFire confirmed and activated the blade of his Duel Disk. "But first, I should take a sample of her data, so Starving."

The dragon roared and sent one of its mouths to bite onto Tardix' body, pulling the four armed doll toward them. Clenching his fist, Phantom pulled his left arm back waiting. Once the doll was within reach, he threw his hand forward and stabbed the creature in the chest with his disk' blade. Tardix threw her head back and screamed, her eyes turning from blue to purple, as data began to run through her body and into Phantom's Duel Disk.

A circuit of data formed on the screen of PhantomFire's device. The duelist smirked and pulled his hand out of Tardix' chest, letting the body to fall on the ground, its eyes turning black. "It seems our friend was carrying something else with herself before ending here. Abyss, do the honors."

The large black and red dragon grabbed Tardix' lifeless body from the ground and threw it toward the Data Storm, then flew after Venom Fusion Dragon and Thought Ruler Archfiend grabbed PhantomFire and Silver Star respectively and flew after.

Hot Red Dragon Archfiend Abyss roared and set its fist on fire. The dragon pumped its fist forward and slammed Tardix' lifeless body against the Data Storm, causing lightnings to fly out upon the collision. More and more pieces of the four armed creatures got torn off by the intensity of the Data Storm, but despite that, Abyss retraced its arm and then slammed its fist against the body one more time.

The extra pressure put onto the already unstable Data Storm, produced an explosion that destroyed tornado from inside and allowed the dragons to flying out.

"How did you know that this would do the trick?" Silver Star turned toward her brother with a curious expression on her face.

"I didn't. Just wanted to get rid of the body." PhantomFire said flatly

"Typically." Silver Star rolled her eyes.

Shrugging to his sister's comment, PhantomFire looked down at his Duel Disk and saw a new data from the strange vortex in front of them. But this time, it was a message written in binary.

 _ **01100100 01100101 01110011 01110100 01110010 01101111 01111001 00100000**_ _ **01110100 01101000 01100101 01101101**_

Destroy them. A simply, two word sentence, but one that actually sent chills down Phantom's spine. Not because of the message itself, but because of what that meant. There was something sapient on the other side of that vortex. And the reason why this message was written in binary instead of the strange symbols from before was because whoever it was that stood on the other side, it wanted them to know about it.

Suddenly, the other Data Storms inside the area began to move as well, changing their pathway to collapse together. And worse, the Greysons were exactly in the center where the storms were about to meet.

"What the?" Silver Star gasped before turning to her Duel Disk. "Foxy! Open the gate!"

A moment later, the portal that the siblings used to travel appeared above their heads. The dragons hissed at each other and threw the siblings through the portal before returning back into their cards.

 _We barely escaped from that death trap. If I didn't have the gateway for easy transportation there would have been no way to escape. The Data Storms were going to tear us apart and kill us!_

"You look worn out." Foxy observed the siblings. "Did you find anything interesting?"

"I think… we found more than we asked for. Possible an entire civilization and some more." PhantomFire replied and raised his Duel Disk. The screen glowed and a hologram of two Link Monsters appeared.

"Is that the data from Tardix?" Silver Star raised an eyebrow.

"It is." PhantomFire confirmed. "She was carrying these Cyberse monsters with herself. The superior rulers of time and space respectively. You understand what we must do with them, right?"

Silver Star didn't respond to the question. Instead, she turned around and began to prepare the coding for what they were going to do next. Whatever was hiding behind the vortex, it tried to kill them three times in a row and the possibilities were that it would try again if they didn't work fast. There was only one thing that they could do…

* * *

"So… Cyberse isn't the only virtual world?" Ai asked.

"So it seems." PhantomFire nodded. "But whatever that other one is, it already showed that it's aim was to destroy us. Possibly destroy the entire network as well. I couldn't let that happen. So, I created a gate around the vortex to make sure that no one else accidentally goes there and dies."

"But the gate wasn't the only thing you created, right?" Ai asked smugly. "I'm able to feel a faint influence of Cyberse inside your own deck as well."

"Indeed, that wasn't the only thing I created." PhantomFire raised his Duel Disk. "Using the data from these two Cyberse monsters along with the data that we found at the vortex, and our old decks as a reference material, we and my sister created six keys for the gate. These keys, are six oGear decks. Each one unique and based of a different attribute, they were designed not only as keys, but also as weapons to protect us in case the gate ever gets opened."

"What about the Knights of Hanoi?" Playmaker asked. "What part of this story do they play?"

"None. There were no Knights of Hanoi in the story." PhantomFire shrugged.

"So you lied to me?" Playmaker narrowed his eyes. It was unpleasant, but he expected that.

"That's what I get for trying to talk with a one track mind." PhantomFire sighed, shaking his head in disappointment. "I told you that you would understand better Picaro's motives and just how big will the effect of a possible Hanoi victory be for the entire virtual reality. If the gate gets opened, or destroyed, the virtual world we know will be gone along with tens of thousands of human lives!"

"There's still something that I don't understand." Ai raised its hand. "If you destroyed Tardix two years ago, why did I felt her presence?"

"Because apparently what I did wasn't enough to destroy her for good." PhantomFire admitted. "She's still somewhere out there and I'm starting to worry about what she could do if we don't find her soon."

"Huh? Why do you worry?" Ai asked. "You already beat her once and I got half of the Code Talkers already back together, so defeating her a third time won't be a problem."

"Do you really believe that?" PhantomFire glanced at the Ignis. "She was created to be a Duel Monster with a free will, so she probably is also able to adapt as well. So tell me, if it took an army to defeat her the first time she invaded Cyberse, what do you think will be her main goal now?"

"Umm…" Ai scratched the back of its head in thought. "Ai. Don't. Know?"

"She will try to build an army on her own." PhantomFire answered. "I heard about the incident with the destroyed decks and I don't think that she did it just to spite a few duelists."

"You think that she collected the data of their decks to use them for herself?" Playmaker raised an eyebrow.

"More than just that. The data of the Hanoi hacked Ai Duelist you faced in SOL's mother computer has apparently completely disappeared after you defeated it. It's clear that she has started to prepare an army, the question is only when she will choose to show herself."

"Ugh, a rogue Cyberse, a violent civilization of virtual beings and the Knights of Hanoi. That's so much trouble to deal with at once!" Ai grabbed its head.

"This leads us to the last thing I wanted to tell you two." PhantomFire stated and turned his back to them. "Ai, your role will be to find traces of Tardix and Playmaker, you must ensure that the Knights of Hanoi will fall, but don't go after Picaro or his group. I and my sister will be the ones to deal with them. If we stop the Knights from opening the gate, there will be no need to worry about anything else."

"There's something that I must ask you." Playmaker said. "Why do you want us to do this, when you are apparently skilled enough to deal with those problems yourself?"

"Because there are rules about how much I can interfere." PhantomFire pointed out. "Playmaker, what I'm telling you isn't my problem, it's yours. I'm just an observer who cares enough to warm you about what's about to come next. I'm able to slow down the Knights of Hanoi's plan, but ultimately it's up to humanity to solve its problems. Whenever you win or lose, humanity's survival or destruction, those are none of my problems. All I care is seeing you struggle, to observe human's will to keep fighting against despair, that sole spark of hope that makes humans take on fights that are impossible for them to win. As long as your little show entertains me, I don't care about anything else."

Playmaker narrowed his eyes. So all that PhantomFire wanted was entertainment? He was called out there not to learn anything advantageous for his fight against Hanoi, but to be someone's jester?

Playmaker's anger didn't have to last for long though. Everything around them began to suddenly become darker. The Cyberse Duelist looked up, witnessing how a black body moved to cover the sun. It was an eclipse, but those weren't supposed to happen in the virtual world. He could even hear the worried voices of other players questioning what was happening.

"Ancient people were scared, thinking that eclipses were signs of cataclysms." Ai explained. "But people today are still scared?"

"More than you think." Playmaker replied. "Even if technology advances, people haven't really changed."

"Really?"

Playmaker narrowed his eyes, looking at the eclipse. "The light is hidden by darkness."

"Please, don't start with the memories of the Lost Incident!" PhantomFire exclaimed. "An eclipse won't just happen out of the blue. Heh, this is a warning Playmaker." It was a warning from the Knights of Hanoi no less. "I should go write a report that my company wasn't involved in this eclipse, but before I leave, there is something I want to ask. What do you plan of doing after you defeat the Knights of Hanoi and they get punished for their crimes?"

Silence.

"If you plan to stop fighting after you defeat them, I should warn you now. The real fighting will start after the Knights of Hanoi are destroyed. Defeating them won't bring your ally's brother into the light, nor will it heal the wounds inside your own heart. If you want to truly win, look at the world around you, at the people, and if you are smart enough, you will be able to overcome the darkness."

Before Playmaker could respond or ask how PhantomFire knew about Kusanagi's brother, the older Duelist jumped off the building and his body disappeared as he logged out.

Now left alone, Playmaker and Ai turned back toward the sky. The eclipse was gone, light was shining down the world once again.

* * *

 **A/N: Ah, I have been wanting to do this chapter for so long! With this chapter it's finally revealed what was that Unknown thing that attacked Proxy, Blaze Rose and Go a few chapters earlier and there is a more clear expalantaion about why the oGear decks are so important.**

 **There will probably be questions about how Evan and Avice got that collection of decks and aces from older series, and all I'm going to say for now is that they actually took them away from the characters to whom these cards belonged in the anime and manga. So, the Starving Venom, Red Dragon Archfiend and Black Rose Moonlight Dragon seen in this chapter did use to belong to Yuri, Jack and Akiza respectively.**

 **The most difficult thing I had to do in this chapter was to choose what deck I want to give Tardix. At first I was thinking of random Cyberse monsters, but then I choose the** **World Chalice because: First, they do have Water and Cyberse monster. Second, their effect monsters have effects in the Graveyard so discarding is benefitial for the archetype. Three, don't worry I have plans for all the World Legacy connected archetypes including** **World Chalice, so you will see a pure version of the deck later.**

 **Oh, by the way. Doesn't** **Tardix, Cryogenic Cyberse Dragon's effect remind you of the playstyle of a certain archetype introduced in this story?**

 **That's all I got to say.**

 **Diabolic Tracer out.**


	26. Chapter 26

Resolve to Protect

"Stop daydreaming! Class is over!"

Vermilya opened her eyes and raised her head slightly from the desk to look around. Usually she was the one taking a nap during class, but this time she found that people weren't talking about her. Instead, it was that Naoki annoying Yusaku again.

"I thought you turned into an Athnoer." Naoki continued.

Vermilya raised an eyebrow.

"Athnoer?" And it seemed that Yusaku didn't have any knowledge about what Naoki was talking either.

"You don't know about Athnoers? You're hopeless."

"Ho?" Vermilya leaned back against her chair and listened carefully to the conversation. She had to give it to Naoki that while his information wasn't one hundred percent correct, either because of his bias toward Playmaker or another reason, it always contained some truth.

"Since people like you don't know what's up, you need people like me to provide the info. Oh well. I do it for the good of society."

Vermilya covered her mouth. Is she laughed, they were going to spot her. Don't laugh! Don't laugh!

"Hey! Wait up!"

Since class had ended, Yusaku collected his stuff and went out with Naoki following after. Vermilya shook her head and went after them, keeping enough distance for Yusaku not to spot her while she listened on their conversation.

"Hey there!" the red haired stalker flinched as a hand grabbed her school uniform from behind and pulled her inside an empty classroom.

"Hey, did you hear something?" Naoki turned around.

Yusaku turned as well. He could have sworn that he felt someone was following them, but there was nothing suspicious. The Cyberse duelist shrugged and continued on his way.

Inside the classroom, Vermilya was getting more and more irritated by the second. Not only was she yanked like a ragdoll, tripped and fell on her rear, but the one that attacked her was also holding a hand over her mouth.

"I think they are gone." Avice sighed and removed her hand from the older girl's mouth before stepping toward the door to make double sure that Yusaku and Naoki were gone. "Seriously, I was able to feel your presence from three classrooms away. Did you not notice the funny looks that people were giving you while you stalked these two? My classmates could start making fun of me for being in the company of a weirdo like you."

"You almost tore off a part of my uniform with that yank!" Vermilya yelled. "And now I got to wash it because you threw me on the dirty floor as well. I'm starting to run out of spares."

"Oh?" Avice turned back to the older girl with a mischievous smile on her face and then approached. The read head panicked and crawled backward as the smaller girl approached her with a small blush across her face. "I'm starting to wonder what you would look like without that uniform getting in the way!"

"We are in school!" Vermilya shouted, reminding Avice of their environment.

"I know." Avice pouted and leaned against the wall. "I was just messing with you. But on a serious note, why were you stalking mister pokerface over there?"

"Naoki was saying something about an Athnoer and I thought that it might be useful for you." Vermilya explained.

Avice shook her head. "I was the one that told him it's called 'Another' and he still got it wrong." The young duelist pushed herself from the wall and put her hands behind the back of the head as she turned around to leave. "It seems I forgot to tell you about it. Come, we will talk on the way to the Duel Club."

"The Duel Club?" Vermilya tilted her head. "You are unironically visiting it?"

"Of course I'm!" Avice exclaimed, annoyed by the girl's question. "They might all be idiots like Naoki in there, but they have enough passion about dueling to give it a part of their school life. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself, if they got hurt by the incident because I didn't warn them."

Vermilya smiled hearing Avice's reasoning. "So you actually care about other people? I never thought I would see the day."

"It's not like this, baka!" Avice pouted.

* * *

"So why did you call me here?" Akira asked.

His family had known the Greysons for a year. They had a very friendly relationship, even more so with Aoi who used to look after them when she was younger. Although the close relationship between these two families, Evan never invited Akira to have a lunch break together without having a hidden motive.

"Why are you asking? Must I have an agenda in order to want to spend some time with a good friend?" Evan asked back and took a sip from his coffee.

"Should I start with how you manipulated Emma, me, and even Aoi to bait out a Knight of Hanoi in SOL's mother computer?" Akira reminded him.

Although Aoi, or Blue Angel, proved that she was able to take care of herself and helped Playmaker to defeat the Knight of Hanoi, Akira couldn't forgive Evan for getting her involved in the first place. What if things didn't go according to plan and she got hurt badly? Scratch that, after the duel she was so exhausted that Akira had to order the maid robot to carry some dinner to Aoi's bedroom.

"Aoi wasn't in the plan." Evan pointed out. "There were too many variables and while I deduced that there was a chance for her to show-up, it could have been avoided if she wasn't suspicious of you."

Akira sighed. "You are right. Although Aoi tries not to show it, I can tell that she isn't trusting me as much as she used to." Zaizen looked down at the table in regret. "Tell me, as an older brother yourself, where do you think I do wrong?"

"I don't think you did anything wrong per say." Evan replied and looked off to somewhere else. "It's just teenage hormones, they make kids more rebellious and stubborn. Since you have always protected Aoi, she is now trying to repay you for that, but since you keep her locked inside the apartment, she is starting to think that you were trying to keep her locked into a cage from the start. Then entire reason she created her Blue Angel persona was to prove herself to you and now that you are trying to take that away from her, she is naturally trying to fight back."

"But how am I supposed to let her be after the incident in her duel against Playmaker?" Akira asked. "What if something similar happens again? Or even worse, what if,"

"Don't say that." Evan raised his hand to stop the Zaizen from continuing that sentence. "I'm not judging you. Although I have complete trust in Avice and her ability to protect herself, I don't think I would have reacted much differently from you in a similar situation. Really, to both protect your little sister and also not take away her freedom; that's something you will have to figure out how to do."

Akira took a deep breath and leaned back. "Sorry that I started to talk about my family issues to you."

"Come on now." Evan chuckled and his eyes turned back to look at Akira. "You are my best friend in this city, of course I'm going to be here to listen to your issues! I'm not sure how much it's going to help, but I could have Avice talk with Aoi. Since they are at about the same age and both of them are younger sisters, Aoi might have more of a chance to open up on the issue with her, than with either of us."

"No." Akira shook his head. "That's our issue so I shouldn't use your sister as the middleman. But she will be happy to see both of you, so the four of us should have a dinner together someday."

"It would be the five of us then." Evan jokingly said and looked away again. "Look at the waitress that's serving on table eight. What do you think?"

Akira turned back to look. The waitress that Evan was talking about was a young woman, not more than twenty years old with short black hair with a yellow layer at the sides. She also seemed to be into Goth because of the black lipstick and dark eye shadow she was wearing. In Akira's opinion, she was average.

Akira could already imagine why Evan asked about his opinion. "Evan, no."

"Don't worry, I'm not going to try and seduce her." Evan shook his head. "I'm not into Goth either, but doesn't she look familiar to you? A hint: Her name is Koizumi Etsuko as you Japanese say it."

"I know that name." Akira realized. "She is Gloomy Ruby. She used to be at seventh place in the Charisma Duelist leaderboard."

"Used to?" Evan raised an eyebrow. "I haven't heard of her losing an official match, so how exactly did she lost her place on the leaderboard?"

"Even if you don't lose an official duel, if there's someone with better dueling record than you, they are able to take your place." Akira explained. "Since that incident that left her comatose, Gloomy Ruby, Blaze Rose and Rocketeer haven't show up in LINK VRAINS for a long time and other began to fight for their places in the leaderboard. Right now, Blaze Rose has fallen from being Number Three to Number Eight and Rocketeer is right behind her."

"You haven't disclosed that he is a Knight of Hanoi?" Evan was surprised that Akira would let something like that slide.

"I told my bosses but they choose to keep it a secret." Akira admitted. "Right now, the Charisma Duelists are the only thing keeping other users in the servers. If it were for them to learn that one of the duelists they trusted so much was actually working with Hanoi all along, the servers would fall into complete chaos."

"It's never a good business model to scare your player base." Evan shook his head.

If Picaro choose to reveal his true identity in LINK VRAINS, he could have not only caused chaos, but also gotten himself an army from his followers that choose to remain loyal after that reveal. So why wouldn't he use that trump card to increase his advantage?

"But now I understand why you wanted us to eat here." Akira sighed, disappointed by his friend's actions. "There are three other restaurants that were much closer to both of our workplaces. You choose to come here because you wanted to meet with her in a more casual surrounding, didn't you?"

"You caught me red handed." Evan smiled. "LINK VRAINS needs a useful defense unit against the Knights of Hanoi. I don't think that Kitamura's army would do much in that regard and the new Charisma Duelist are just attention seekers that will abandon the servers once Hanoi shows up."

"You want to make Gloomy Ruby your soldier?" Akira questioned. "She suffered a come and almost lost her life because of LINK VRAINS. It would be cruel to just ask her to come back and fight against Hanoi, risking the chance of falling into a coma for the second time."

"That's why I'm going to ask her through a roundabout way." Evan smirked, before he noticed that Etsuko was coming toward them. "She's coming this way. Quickly, trip her."

"No!"

"Come on, do it for your friend."

"I'm not going to trip her for you."

"Fine, I will handle it."

"Evan, don-"

Because Akira could tell him not to do anything, the Greyson pushed his glass of coffee causing it to spill all over the table and even onto Etsuko's legs. The girl yelped and tripped on herself, falling backward. Closing her eyes, Etsuko prepared to fell a strong pain as her body fell toward the ground with the tray landing on top of her.

That never happened.

Instead of the hard ground, the girl felt a hand wrap around her waist and hold her, while another hand grabbed the tray with the food and balanced it. Surprised, Etsuko quickly opened her eyes and was meet by the charming smile of Evan himself! The girl's face turned completely red at the realization that she was being hold in the hands of a handsome young man, but she quickly pushed those thoughts aside and began to bow and apologize despite her face still being red as a tomato.

"I'm sorry for this! I'm going to clear your table right away! I'm sorry!" Etsuko apologized over and over as she moved to wipe out the spilled coffee, then realized that she had an order waiting, and then was unsure which one she was supposed to do first so she froze there, looking between the tray and the table.

"Don't worry, it's my fault." Evan said and handled her the tray. "My name is Evan Greyson by the way and… Don't you look familiar? I sure would never forget seeing such a beautiful face as yours. Hey Akira, do you remember where I might have seen this girl before? Her brilliant eyes are art that I have seen only once in my life."

Zaizen glared at the Greyson. The plot behind this scene was already obvious to the ex-security managed. Evan wanted him to 'reveal' that Etsuko was Gloomy Ruby, Evan was going to act surprised at first, then using his charming look and honey words was going to confuse the girl and before she knew it, she was going to be back in LINK VRAINS fighting an army of Knights of Hanoi for him. All of this proved to Akira times and times again that Evan was nothing short than a devil in human skin.

* * *

Inside LINK VRAINS, chaos has ensued. The Knights of Hanoi were running rampant through the virtual city, hunting down any Duelist that they came across. Logging out was impossible due to the programming they were using and if someone tried to run, they would just use their special red cards to blow up the avatar, leaving no survivors. As that happened, Revolver and several high-ranked Knights of Hanoi were watching over their pawns from the top of the buildings.

"Most of the people there don't even believe in our cause. It's disgusting that Revolver actually let them join." Specter grimaced, watching the lower ranked Knights of Hanoi.

"There are around a thousand of them." Picaro said. "You will need all of them as meat shield once the stronger duelist come out and counterattack."

"Huh?" Specter raised an eyebrow at that. "Are you talking about Playmaker? Please, he isn't that big of a threat."

"I'm not talking about him." Picaro raised his claw and looked at it. "PhantomFire won't directly try to stop us, but if he shows up, none of these Knight will be able to survive more than a turn against him."

"If he is such a dangerous foe, why haven't I heard anything about him?" Specter laughed.

"Because he doesn't want his name to be spoken out by lower beings such as you." Picaro crossed his hands.

Specter gritted his teeth and glared back at the other duelist.

"I don't think that the Charisma Duelists have enough guts to fight back." Nulline sighed in disappointment. "Of course. That Blue Angel probably caress too much about herself to risk her life challenging us."

"Control yourself." MetalX put a hand in front of her. "Your personal vendetta against Blue Angel isn't as important as our mission."

"I know that." Nulline pouted and looked to the side. "But I'm still frustrated about that."

"Blue Angel isn't going to stand aside and watch everything she created go down in flames." Picaro interrupted them. "Even if her brother is trying to keep her away, I'm sure that she's going to come out sooner or later. We just started our attack, so our enemies didn't have enough time to counterattack yet."

"That's right." Nulline admitted and stepped toward Picaro, wrapping her hands around his claw, as well as pressing her breasts against it. "But I'm still frustrated so why don't we,"

"If you don't step aside right now, I'm going to tear those things right off your chest." Picaro hissed.

Heliac remained silent, playing on his console, he ignored the Knights' arguing. Specter's Duel Disk beeped and he looked down at it.

"Specter." Kogami called.

"Dr. Kogami." Specter bowed. "Did something happen?"

"I found several encrypted messages that were randomly sent to users in server GC-Zero-Six-Two." Kogami said. "These messages were encrypted in the language of the Ignis, I don't want to call Revolver because he needs to prepare for his fight, so I want you to send a team to check it out."

"Right away." Specter nodded.

"Let us go. We are the best unit that you currently have." Picaro commented

"No, you must stand here as back-up by the orders of Revolver himself." Specter shook his head and pressed a button on his Duel Disk, causing the hologram of a Knight with a mask that covered its entire face to appear. "Captain, I got a mission for you."

* * *

Proxy opened her eyes. Evan's private server has always felt like a void for her, but today it was a little better than usually. Silver Star, Blaze Rose and PhantomFire were all already there, doing what they had to. The siblings were 'constructing' new things while Blaze Rose seemed to be upgrading her D-Board with the help of Masou.

Proxy walked over to several free cubes that floated in the air and pressed them with her fingers, causing them to combine and transform a chair for her to sit into.

"You sat the moment you came." Silver Star noticed. "Did something happen?"

"People are being turn into Anothers left and right, the forums are filled with panic, and there is no one to stop the Knights of Hanoi!" Proxy shouted. "How can you be so calm about it?"

"Unlike with the virus used on Blaze, the Another virus isn't going to kill its victims." PhantomFire pointed out. "The Knights probably have a removal program, so we should first learn who holds it and then strike. If we attacked now, even though I'm able to defeat ten Knights of Hanoi at once, I'm eventually going to get tired from dueling too much. Same goes for the rest of us."

"So we are waiting for the Knights to tire themselves first?" Proxy asked. That idea actually sounded brilliant!

"We aren't just waiting." Blaze Rose corrected and slapped her D-Board. "Picaro knows everything about us. He was one of us. The old tactics that Phantom and Silver taught me, they won't work against someone like him. We will need to evolve if we want to turn the tide of the battle!"

Proxy nodded then looked to one of the cubic screens that showed the Knights' rampage.

"What about Playmaker?" Proxy asked. "Won't he help him out when he joins the fight against the Knights? Isn't creating one united force the main reason you were trying to contact him?"

"We never tried to contact him until you joined." Silver Star pointed out. "Playmaker is fighting against the Knights of Hanoi for revenge. We are fighting against them because Picaro is using them to open the gate toward another world."

"Right." Proxy nodded.

"Something showed up in server GC-Zero-Six-Two." PhantomFire commented. "I'm unable to get visuals though, something is muting the signal."

"Let's go and explore it then!" Proxy jumped from her chair.

"Did you already forget what we said about waiting?" Silver turned around to look at the smaller girl. "It could be just another of Hanoi's traps to try luring Playmaker out."

"That doesn't make sense. Everyone knows that the only server Playmaker is active is the city, so what's the point in making a trap on a server that he never visits?" Proxy questioned the idea.

"She's right." Blaze Rose agreed. "They must be hoping to have extreme look by making a trap on a server that Playmaker doesn't show at."

Silver Star turned back and stepped aside as PhantomFire moved forward with his hands folded. He sighed and a part of the cubes that made the ground flew off, revealing a small portal in the ground.

"We will go and investigate it then." PhantomFire said. "All together. Understood?"

The other three nodded and they jumped one after the other, landing on server GC062, which were the ruins of LINK VRAINS. It was a wasteland with ruins left behind by an old civilization sticking out of the sand. People don't say it, but it was believed widely believed that this server was based on a field applied when Quartet of Quandry got activated.

"That's an interesting place." Proxy muttered, looking around the server. "Where is everyone?"

"People don't usually use the wasteland servers, so this one is supposed to be removed with the next patch." PhantomFire commented.

"That's awful." Proxy looked down.

"Look there!" Silver Star cried and pointed toward one of the ruins.

There was a huge hole carved in the side of the wall and the remains seemed to be glitching out, which meant that the hole wasn't supposed to be there. PhantomFire raised his hand and tried to scan it, but nothing showed up.

"There is no one inside." PhantomFire massaged his chin.

"But there's someone outside!" Blaze Rose cried out and pointed toward a group of Knights flying toward them.

"Hanoi must have caught onto something as well." Silver Star figured out. "Proxy, you go and investigate what's inside while we take care of the Knights!"

"Huh?" Proxy was taken aback, but she nodded.

The smallest of the four ran toward the crash site, leaving the other three to step forward and raised their Duel Disks.

"I think of going for a Speed Duel." Blaze Rose commented. "You two will probably go for a Master Duel, right?"

Silver Star and PhantomFire looked at each other before smirking. They jumped back and two circles appeared underneath them, one green and one red. In an instant, out of these circles appeared two huge D-Boards.

PhantomFire's was black and purple with two red demon wings at the sides and three blades sticking out of the front while a black and purple throne was sitting on the backside of the D-Board with two demon horns forming an arc over it.

Silver Star's design was similar, white and golden in color with eight white wings on the sides and a green energy ring rotating in front of the board. A completely golden throne was located on the back with a golden arc extending above it.

"You gotta be kidding me." Blaze Rose whispered to herself.

The siblings ignored the comment and sat down on the thrones, which activated the D-Boards and they flew off toward the Knights.

"Hey, wait for me!" Blaze Rose cried and jumped on her D-Board, following after them.

"Someone's coming!" One of the Knights pointed out.

"It seems that this wasteland wasn't completely wasted." Another one added.

"We shouldn't leave any survivors anyways, so let's take care of these clowns!" the third laughed.

The three Knights of Hanoi nodded and flew toward the incoming duelists. Once they were all in range, a collective yell was heard.

"Speed Duel!"

* * *

Meanwhile, Proxy was still running through the ruins. The girl jumped onto a collapsed column and from there she went to try and reach the hole, which was pretty high from the ground.

"Come on…" Proxy took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

Collecting all of her courage for this single moment, Proxy jumped. And she went through the hole! Well, almost. Her leg hooked onto the wall, resulting in a hilarious upside down faceplant against the wall, followed by a not-so-graceful fall on the back by a fourteen years old's scream of pain as the background music.

"Oh." Proxy groaned as she forced herself to sit up. "I'm almost sure that Avice sent me knowing that this would happen."

The girl stood up and looked around. The inside of the place was empty, with only sand filling it. She walked over to the edge of the platform she was onto and looked down. It appeared that there were several more floors that were hidden from the inside because of the sand, and she could also see something in the shape of a blue egg lying in the sand.

"Now I will have to climb down?" Proxy groaned.

She kneeled down and grabbed onto the ground before slowly pushing her legs off the ledge, then her waist as well and… since the ground she was trying to hold onto was smooth, she ended up falling again.

* * *

In the skies above the ruins, Blaze Rose was facing a Knight of Hanoi with a yellow mask.

"So I get to fight the formed Number Three of VRAINS?" The Knight laughed. "This is going to be a piece of cake!"

"Former?" Blaze Rose raised an eyebrow. "So these little bitches actually had the guts to replace me. I'm so pissed right now that I'm going to burn you for this!"

"Not a chance!" The Knight laughed. "Let's start! It's my turn first!"

 **『** **Turn 1 [KOH] LP: 4000 Hand: 4** **』**

"Since you control no monsters, I'm going to Special Summon two copies of _Hack Worm (Lv.1, ATK: 400)_ from my hand!" Two small grey machines in the shape of worms with green lines running through the sides of their bodies appeared before the Knight. "Next, I release both of them to Tribute Summon _Cracking Dragon (Lv.8, ATK: 3000)_!" The two worms disappeared and a giant darker version of them appeared on the Knight's side of the field.

"Cracking Dragon?" Blaze Rose raised an eyebrow. "So you must be one of Revolver's royal puppets, right?"

"You got no idea." The Knight smirked and tapped the last card in his hand. "I know that your skill lets you destroy all monsters on the field when a Synchro gets destroyed, so I'm going to look that with my Field Spell, _**Room of Enchanted Armor**_!"

* * *

 **Room of Enchanted Armor (Spell) Field**

 **The first time each monster on the field would be destroyed by battle or card effect; it's not destroyed. If a card or effect that would destroy 2 or more cards on the field is activated (Quick Effect): You can send this face-up card from the field to the GY in order to negate the activation, and if you do, banish that card face-down.**

* * *

"With this, you can no longer use your skill or Link Monsters to defeat my Cracking Dragon!" The Knight laughed. "I end my turn!"

"Is that all?" Blaze Rose gritted her teeth in anger. "You dare waste my time with something like that? I'm going to burn you to cinder for that! Draw!"

 **『** **Turn 2 [Blaze Rose] LP: 4000 Hand: 5** **』**

"First, I activate the Spell Card _One for One_ to discard Nitro Synchro from my hand and Special Summon _**NitroGear Zest Supporter**_ in Attack Position!" Blaze Rose said, pulling the card from her deck.

A small chibi made of rocks that covered its yellow magma insides flew through the Spell and landed in front of its controller. The small creature had a large head made of flames with two darker plates of rock that had a small hole inside each, made for the monster's face.

* * *

 **NitroGear Zest Supporter**

 **Level: 1/Attribute: FIRE/Type: Rock/Effect**

 **ATK: 100/DEF: 200**

 **Effect: While this card is in face-up Defense Position, you can treat it as a Level 2 monster. While this card is in face-up Attack Position, you can treat it as 2 materials for the Link Summon of a FIRE "oGear" monster.**

* * *

"Cracking Dragon's effect activates!" The Knight of Hanoi raised his hand. "Your monster loses two hundred attack points for each level it has and you take that amount of damage!"

Cracking Dragon turned around and roared at the chibi, which lowered its head and Blaze Rose winched as the damage was applied on her body as well.

 **NitroGear Zest Supporter, ATK: 100** → **0**

 **『** **Blaze Rose LP: 4000 - 100** → **3900** **』**

"Next, I Normal Summon _**NitroGear Extinguisher**_!" Blaze Rose continued, summoning another monster. This one looked like an insect with six legs made of flames, a black armor covering its back, while two nitro tanks were attached to its green skin with belts. The creature had black compound eyes on the side of its head and a shard mouthpart whose end was burning.

* * *

 **NitroGear Extinguisher**

 **Level: 3/Attribute: FIRE/Type: Insect/Effect**

 **ATK: 600/DEF: 1600**

 **Effect: When this card is Summoned: You can target 1 Level 2 or lower FIRE monster in your GY; Special Summon that target, and if you do, change this card to Defense Position. During your End Phase, if this face-up Defense Position monster is on your field: You can discard 1 monster to set 1 "oGear" Spell/Trap Card directly from your deck, but banish it when it leaves the field.**

* * *

"Cracking Dragon's effect activates!" The Knight of Hanoi laughed, as the dragon turned around and roared at Blaze Rose, knocking her D-Board back.

 **NitroGear Extinguisher, ATK: 600** → **0**

 **『** **Blaze Rose LP: 3900 - 600** → **3300** **』**

"Damn it!" Blaze Rose gritted her teeth, somehow managing to remain on her board. "When Extinguisher is summoned, I can Special Summon _Nitro Synchron (Lv.2, DEF: 100)_ from my Graveyard!"

"Don't forget about my Cracking Dragon!" The Knight shook his finger as another wave of electricity hit Blaze Rose.

 **Nitro Synchron, ATK: 300** → **0**

 **『** **Blaze Rose LP: 3300 - 300** → **3000** **』**

"Heh, too bad, because now I got everything that I need." Blaze Rose smirked and formed two balls of fire inside her hands. "Appear, blazing circuit of fate!"

Blaze Rose threw the flames forward and they combined, creating a square that then transformed into a new version of the circuit that was made from black rocks with red manga flowing through them and eight burning arrows attached to the sides and the corners.

"Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are at least two FIRE monsters! I set NitroGear Extinguisher and, counting itself as two materials, NitroGear Zest Supporter, in the Link Markers!" The little chibi split into two and the three monsters flew into the burning arrows. "Link Summon! The Blacksmith holding the flames of Gods! Reckless Metane the Link Destroyer"

A green flower with red petals appeared through the circuit and flew in front of Blaze Rose before transforming. Flames burst from the sides of the monster and black rocks flew to them, forming its arms. Then, its roots extended and tied together to form two legs whose feet were bind with large rocks that burned below. The monster's back opened with large red and yellow petals coming out, following by a stream of fire that set the petals on fire, creating the monster's wings. Finally, the petals on the top of the flower opened and a head made from black rocks with burning red eyes gasped for air before roaring.

* * *

 **Reckless Metane the Link Destroyer**

 **Attribute: FIRE/Type: Pyro/Link/Effect**

 **L-Markers: Top, Right, Bottom Left**

 **ATK: 2300/Link-3**

 **2+ FIRE monsters**

 **Effect: (This card is always treated as a "NitroGear" card.) If this card is Special Summoned: Destroy all Defense Position monsters on the field, then inflict 600 damage to your opponent for each monster destroyed by this effect. If a co-linked monster you control battles, after damage calculation: Inflict damage to your opponent equal to half monster's original ATK. Once per turn, you can negate the effects of cards your opponent controls up to the number of monsters this card points to, and if you do, this card gains 300 ATK for each.**

* * *

"You can Link Summon?!" the Knight gasped.

"That's not the only thing I can do!" Blaze Rose exclaimed. "I activate World Legacy Succession to revive _NitroGear Zest Supporter (Lv.1, DEF: 200)_! Of course, the effect of your Cracking Dragon is going to deal some damage to me…"

 **NitroGear Zest Supporter, ATK: 100** → **0**

 **『** **Blaze Rose LP: 3000 - 100** → **2900** **』**

"Because of Zest Supporter's effect, I can treat it as a Level Two monster while it's in Defense Position." Blaze Rose said and threw her arm upward. "Now, my Level Two Nitro Synchron is going to tune the Level Two Zest Supporter!"

A blue lightning fell onto Blaze Rose's field and created a shockwave as the two monsters turned into four rings of fire, two yellow rotating inside one another and two blue doing the same. The number 2 appeared burning next to each couple of rings and then they all overplayed creating a gate of flames. Inside the gate, four red rings appeared one after another and a light emerged from them.

" _Warrior hiding in the pitch black smoke. Turn the fire that surrounds you into steel and sharped it to be your blade! Synchro Summon! Come out, Level Four!_ _ **NitroGear Fuminja**_ _!_ "

A beating heart made from red magma appeared on the field and its body began to form around it. First came out its arms, silver and black rocks that were shaped to create sharp blades which were extended even further by the flames that they emitted. The rocks at its torso were white and extended into a long tail ending with a ball of black rocks that emitted spears of fire. A single triangular grey rock landed on the monster's body and its side cracked, revealing its eye made of crimson flames.

* * *

 **NitroGear Fuminja**

 **Level: 4/Attribute: FIRE/Type: Pyro/Synchro/Effect**

 **ATK: 1700/DEF: 1600**

 **1 Tuner monster + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters**

 **Effect: Once per turn (Quick Effect): You can target 1 monster on each player's side of the field and change their Battle Position. If you do, the first time a NitroGear monster you control attacks a Defense Position monster during this turn, inflict double piercing damage to your opponent. During the End Phase, if this Synchro Summon was sent to the GY this turn: You can add 1 "oGear" monster from your GY to the hand.**

* * *

"Ah, a Synchro Summon at last." The Knight chuckled. "But due to Cracking Dragon's effect, your monster is going to lose its attack points!"

Blaze Rose winched again as more of her Life Points were taken away.

 **NitroGear Fuminja, ATK: 1700** → **900**

 **『** **Blaze Rose LP: 2900 - 800** → **2100** **』**

"I activate Fuminja's effect!" Blaze Rose reached out. "Once per turn, I can target a monster on both players' field and change their battle position! _**Fuminja's Art of Deceiving**_!" The Synchro monster stretched out its tail and wrapped it around Cracking Dragon, forcing the machine and itself to turn into Defense Position. "Then, Metane's effect lets me negate the effects of one face-up card you control and increase its attack by three hundred! I negate your field spell!"

"Oh no!" The Knight gasped and something invisible cracked around them.

 **Reckless Metane the Link Destroyer, ATK: 2300 + 300** → **2600**

"Now battle!" Blaze Rose cried out and threw her first forward. "I attack Cracking Dragon with Reckless Metane the Link Destroyer! _**Destroyer of Fire**_!" the plant-rock monster stretched outs its arms and three rings of fire appeared in front of it, each larger than the previous. Then the monster fired a laser of red flames straight through the rings and pierced the dragon.

"Even if you do this, during my next turn I can still make a comeback!" the Knight shouted.

"Wrong!" Blaze Rose turned back. "During the turn in which Fuminja used its effect, you take double piercing damage!"

"I, what?" The flames that pierced cracking dragon continued onward and engulfed the Knight whole, erasing him.

 **『** **KOH LP: 4000 - 5200** → **0** **』**

 **『** **Winner: Blaze Rose** **』**

"Hmm, despite all of their cockiness, they are nothing more than folder." Blaze Rose sighed. "I should go look how Proxy is doing."

* * *

"It seems I got something unpleasant to deal with again." Silver Star sighed while sitting on her throne

"Begging for your life already?" A Knight of Hanoi with a purple mask asked.

"Oh, no." Silver shook her head and then turned to look at the knight that followed her. "That's your line, darling."

"We will see that. My turn!"

 **『** **Turn 1 [KOH] LP: 4000 Hand: 4** **』**

"Since you control no monsters, I'm going to Special Summon _Hack Worm (Lv.1, ATK: 400)_ from my hand!" The same monster used by the first Knight appeared on the field. "Then, I will use _Machine Duplication_ to Special Summon two more from my deck and I shall tribute all three to Special Summon _**Cracking Dragon Mark Two**_!"

A larger version of the cracking dragon with wings and two heads instead of one appeared behind the Knight of Hanoi and roared.

* * *

 **Cracking Dragon Mark-II**

 **Level: 10/Attribute: DARK/Type: Machine/Effect**

 **ATK: 3500/DEF: 0**

 **Effect: You cannot Normal Summon/Set this card. You must first Special Summon this card from your hand by Tributing 3 DARK Machine monsters. Cannot be destroyed by battle with a monster whose original ATK is 3500 or less. This card cannot be targeted and is unaffected by your opponent's monster effects. When your opponent Normal or Special Summons a monster(s) while this monster is on the field: You can make that monster(s) lose ATK equal to its Level x 300 (until the end of this turn), and if you do, inflict damage to your opponent equal to the total ATK lost by this effect.**

* * *

"So they actually updated your boss, huh?" Silver Star commented, unimpressed.

"I set a card and end my turn!" the Knight concluded. "It's your move now!"

"Gladly." Silver Star muttered and drew a card.

 **『** **Turn 2 [Silver Star] LP: 4000 Hand: 5** **』**

"First, I'm going to activate AstroGear Fusion to fuse together AstroGear Auslöser Tiger and _**AstroGear Direkter Speer**_ in my hand!" Silver Star raised the two cards in her hand and they turned into golden dust that flew off and created a portal through which a single beam of light fell down.

* * *

 **AstroGear Direkter Speer**

 **Level: 2/Attribute: LIGHT/Type: Machine/Effect**

 **ATK: 1200/DEF: 0**

 **Effect: If your opponent activates a Spell/Trap Card while this card is banished (Quick Effect): You can turn this card face-down; negate the action, and if you do, banish that card face-down. If this card is used as material for the Fusion, Synchro, Xyz or Link Summon of an "oGear" monster it gains the following effect:**

 **Once per turn (Quick Effect): If your opponent activates a Spell/Trap Card (including a Counter Trap), you can banish 1 "oGear" monster from your hand or GY; negate the activation, and if you do, return it to the bottom of the deck.**

* * *

 **AstroGear Fusion (Spell) Quick-Play**

 **Fusion Summon 1 LIGHT Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck, by banishing materials from your hand, field and/or GY. That monster can't be destroyed by card effects during the turn it's Summoned. (Quick Effect): Target 1 "AstroGear" monster you control: Banish this card from your GY; that monster gains the following effect:**

 **Fusion Summon 1 "AstroGear" Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck, by shuffling monsters you control and/or are banished into the deck, including this card.**

* * *

" _The legend came be only one! A knight in golden armor, slash those who oppose your queen and give way to the triumphal light of destruction! Fusion Summon! Level Five!_ _ **AstroGear Strahlritter**_ _!_ "

A golden armor with silver elements and two starts on its chest appeared on the field and light flew inside of it, giving it life. The body had the form of a knight in heavy armor with silver gloves. Two mechanical pieces stuck out of its back with yellow electricity connecting them to the multiple silver plates that floated behind the monster forming wings. Its head was covered by a golden helmet with a single green horn on its forehead and a green glow came from within it, bringing the entire body to life. Finally a large white broadsword with a green fuller and wings-shaped handle appeared in the monster's hands.

* * *

 **AstroGear Strahlritter**

 **Level: 5/Attribute: LIGHT/Type: Warrior/Fusion/Effect**

 **ATK: 1800/DEF: 2000**

 **1 "AstroGear" monster + 1 monster with 1500 or more ATK.**

 **Effect: This card can be either Fusion Summoned, or Special Summoned by Tributing the above cards you control (in which case you do not use "Polymerization"). All "oGear" monsters you control gain 300 ATK for each "AstroGear" monster on the field. If this Fusion Summoned card leaves the field: You can destroy all non-LIGHT monsters face-up on the field.**

* * *

"Cracking Dragon Mark Two's effect activates!" The Knight laughed as his monster opened its mouths and fired two green beams, one at Silver's monster and one toward her.

The AstroGear duelist simply ignored the incoming attack as her D-Board flew to the side to avoid it.

 **AstroGear Strahlritter, ATK: 1800 + 300 - 1500** → **600**

 **『** **Silver Star LP: 4000 - 1500** → **2500** **』**

"AstroGear Auslöser Tiger's effect activates!" Silver Star continued. "When it's banished, your Special Summoned monsters lose their effects and attack points."

"W-what?!" The Knight gasped and look up. The lights on his dragon faded, leaving an empty shell behind.

 **Cracking Dragon Mark-II, ATK: 3500** → **0**

"Then, I banish AstroGear Fusion from my Graveyard to giveAstroGear Strahlritter a new effect!" Silver's knight raised its sword again and roared, ready to protect its 'queen'. "I shuffle AstroGear Strahlritter, AstroGear Direkter Speer and AstroGear Auslöser Tiger back into my Deck to Contact Fusion!"

The spirits of the banished AstroGears appeared next to the knight and they all turned into golden dust that flew together and a huge whirlwind shot upward in the sky.

"History records legends, but only a burning soul can transcend to the kingdom of divinity! Come forth, the unnamed legend that took the Grail from the arms of the Gods! Contact Fusion Summon! _**AstroGear Gral Höchst-Drache**_!"

A loud roar echoed through the sky and a fortress lower itself from the clouds. Then, the building's body began to change. Two large arms with four sharp claws grew on its sides, the center opened and then extended, forming a long waist with the bottom splitting into two white tails covered by the armor of the fortress. The monster's back split open and two golden rings flew out of it, connecting to its shoulders. The tower that was located on the top of the fortress broke into pieces and the head of a white dragon-like creatures with two mouths and three green eyes roared. Finally, the underbelly of the monster opened and several rhombus shaped weapons flew out of it, then began to rotate around the monster's back, acting like wings that weren't really part of the monster they served.

* * *

 **AstroGear Gral Höchst-Drache**

 **Level: 10/Attribute: LIGHT/Type: Wyrm/Fusion/Effect**

 **ATK: 3800/DEF: 3200**

 **1 "oGear" Fusion Monster + 2 LIGHT monsters.**

 **Effect: All effect damage that you would take is inflicted to your opponent instead. Once per turn (Quick Effect): You can declare 1 card-type (Monster/Spell/Trap), and if you do, the first time this turn that your opponent activates a card or effect of that type, its effect isn't applied. If this card you control is destroyed, you can target up to 3 "oGear" monsters in your GY or that are banished: Special Summon these targets in Defense Position.**

* * *

"Let's end this!" Silver Star shouted and her D-Board flew upward toward the sun. "I attack your updated Cracking Dragon!"

"I activate my Counter Trap!" the Knight shouted and raised his hand. "Negate Attack ends your Battle Phase."

"Insect!" Silver Star shouted. "A monster summoned by using AstroGear Direkter Speer as material gains the ability to negate any spell or trap you activate by banishing a monster in my hand! I banish _**AstroGear Zweite Klinge**_ to negate your trap!"

* * *

 **AstroGear Zweite Klinge**

 **Level: 2/Attribute: LIGHT/Type:Fairy/Effect**

 **ATK: 200/DEF: 200**

 **Effect: If you control no monsters, you can reveal this card and 1 other "AstroGear" in your hand, Special Summon both cards in Defense Position. While this card is banished, all monsters you control gain 300 ATK and DEF.**

* * *

"No way, even Counter Traps!" The Knight gasped as his Negate Attack card t cracked and then burst into ember, leaving its user defenseless.

"Moreover, due to Zweite's effect, all of my monster now gain three hundred attack and defense points!" Silver Star commented. "It's over! _**Absolute GOD Justice**_!"

 **AstroGear Gral Höchst-Drache, ATK: 3800 + 300** → **4100**

Silver Star's D-Board made a flip and fell with her Fusion Monster following after. The beast roared and its wing ornaments opened, each holding eight spheres of energy inside of them. The spheres then shot forward and pierced through the Cracking Dragon's body, leaving multiple holes into its body before all of them blew up, turning everything within ten miles radius white before it faded into non-existence.

 **『** **KOH LP: 4000 - 4100** → **0** **』**

 **『** **Winner: Silver Star** **』**

"This wasn't even a duel." Silver Star sighed and leaned back into her throne.

"So you are able to keep up, huh?" PhantomFire commented, his shoulder resting on the armrest of his throne with his cheek pressed against the fist of his hand while he sat in boredom.

"You got a fancy board, but that means nothing!" A knight with a blue mask shouted, just barely being able to keep up.

"I agree with that sentence. What matters is if you will be able to entertain me enough to get your life spared." PhantomFire commented. "So go on. Give me your best."

"You will regret these words!" the knight smirked. "My turn!"

 **『** **Turn 1 [KOH] LP: 4000 Hand: 4** **』**

"First, I activate Foolish Burial to send Cracking Dragon from my deck to the Graveyard." The knight started, showing his card to PhantomFire, before discarding it. "Then, since you control no monsters, I'm going to Special Summon _Hack Worm (Lv.1, ATK: 400)_ from my hand and Normal Summon _Jack Wyvern (Lv.4, ATK: 1800)_!"

PhantomFire didn't even glance back at the monsters that were summoned behind his throne.

"Tch," the knight clicked his tongue in annoyance by the lack of attention. "I activate Jack Wyvern's effect to banish both itself and Hack Worm from my field!" A black portal appeared behind the knight and his monster faded inside of it. "By doing this, I can Special Summon _Cracking Dragon (Lv.8, ATK: 3000)_ from my Graveyard!"

"That monster again?" Evan sighed hearing the name of the card.

"I set a card and end my turn!" The Knight finished.

"Then it's my turn." PhantomFire commented. "Draw."

 **『** **Turn 2 [PhantomFire] LP: 4000 Hand: 5** **』**

"I Normal Summon _ChronoGear Blue Plague (Lv.2, ATK: 400)_ and activate its effect to Special Summon _ **ChronoGear Berfomet**_ from my hand!"

The little blue ghost threw a clock gear in the air and a large four handed humanoid jumped out of it. The monster looked like what one would expect when they hear the name Berfomet, expect that it was more cyborg-like in nature with metal chin and left eye, a straight blade in place of its right horn and jets in place of its wings. The monster's chest was opened and clock gears spiraled inside of it, giving life to that strange combination of living flesh and metal.

* * *

 **ChronoGear Berfomet**

 **Level: 4/Attribute: DARK/Type: Zombie/Effect**

 **ATK: 1400/DEF: 1800**

 **Effect: Once per turn: You can discard 1 card: Destroy 1 Spell/Trap Card on your field. If this card is Special Summoned by the effect of a "ChronoGear" card: You can add 1 "ChronoDevil" card from your Deck to the hand, except "ChronoDevil Pulse Berfomet".**

* * *

"The effect of Cracking Dragon activates!" The Knight laughed maniacally as his dragon fired several beams toward PhantomFire, only for the duelist to avoid them all.

 **ChronoGear Blue Plague, ATK: 400 - 400** → **0**

 **ChronoGear Berfomet, ATK: 1400 - 800** → **600**

 **『** **PhantomFire LP: 4000 - 1200** → **2800** **』**

"So that's how we will play?" PhantomFire raised an eyebrow. "I activate the effect of Berfomet! Since it was Special Summon by the effect of a ChronoGear card, I can add a ChronoGear card to my hand. I add _**ChronoGear Assembling**_ and activate it!"

* * *

 **ChronoGear Assembling (Spell) Continuous**

 **If you have two or more "ChronoGear" monsters on your side of the field: Special Summon 1 "ChronoGear" monster from your deck whose level is less our equal to the combined level of all "ChronoGear" monsters on the field. Once per turn: If a "ChronoGear" card(s) is shuffled into your Deck, add 1 "ChronoGear" card from your Deck to the hand.**

* * *

"Now the effect of Assembling lets me Special Summon _ChronoGear Hellchain (Lv.3, ATK: 1400)_ directly from my deck!" The demon in torn black cloak appeared on the field between the other monsters.

"The more monsters you summon, the more damage will you take from Cracking Dragon!" the knight added as his monster fired another easy to dodge beam.

 **ChronoGear Hellchain, ATK: 1400 - 800** → **600**

 **『** **PhantomFire LP: 2800 - 800** → **2000** **』**

"Appear circuit of past and future!" PhantomFire threw his right arm forward and shot a purple lightning that tore the fabric of space and time in front of him, creating a black vortex with the edges between it and reality being eight black orbs that floated next to the edges and the sides of the portal.

"Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two DARK monsters! I set ChronoGear Hellchain andChronoGear Blue Plague in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _ChronoGear Time Timer Kitty (ATK: 1700, Link-2)_!"

"Hey-o!" The Link Monster shouted as it landed on the D-Board and waved.

"A talking Duel Monster?!" The Knight yelled in disbelief.

"Kitty's effect lets me revive _ChronoGear Blue Plague (Lv.2, ATK: 400)_ and its second effect activates! When Blue Plague is summoned by another ChronoGear card, I can gain Life Points equal to the attack power of one monster on the field. I choose your Cracking Dragon."

"My what?" The Knight looked up at his dragon. The little tuner flew over to it and fired a blue flame that flew around the machine and then back to PhantomFire

 **ChronoGear Blue Plague, ATK: 400 - 400** → **0**

 **『** **PhantomFire LP: 2000 – 400 + 3000** → **4600** **』**

"Feel honored." PhantomFire said. "Scum like you usually doesn't get to see the legendary monsters that I'm going to summon! I activate _**Harmonic Link Fusion**_!"

* * *

 **Harmonic Link Fusion (Spell) Normal**

 **Special Summon 2 DARK monsters from your Extra Deck, (1 Link Monster and then 1 Fusion Monster at a zone that the Link Monster summoned by this effect points to, including on your opponent's side of the field), by using monsters you control as both Fusion and Link Materials. (These Special Summons are treated as a Fusion Summon for the Fusion Monster and a Link Summon for the Link Monster.)**

* * *

"With this spell, I'm going to both Link and Fusion Summon at the same time!" PhantomFire declared. "Appear circuit of past and future!" The space cracked again. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two DARK monsters! I set ChronoGear Time Timer Kitty and ChronoGear Blue Plague in the Link Markers!"

The two monsters nodded and transformed into purple lightnings that flew into the vortex, leaving a shining trait of dust behind them.

"Link Summon! The unholy Demon looking over this world! _Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer (ATK: 2300, Link-3)_!" The demonic warrior landed in front of PhantomFire and summon its scythe, which it then rested against its shoulder.

"Now, I fuse ChronoGear Time Timer Kitty and ChronoGear Blue Plague!" The trait of dust left behind from the Link Summon flew together and created a vortex which then erupted and a beam of red light lightened up the sky.

" _The cat shooting through time, become one with the slow steps of death and give the roots of a new terror! Fusion Summon! The dragon with poisonous fangs!_ _**Starving Venemy Overdose Dragon**_!"

Several purple thorn-covered vines stretched out of the blinding light and after then purple dragon flew out. The monster's legs were made from the same thorn-covered vines and roots with a long whip-like tail at the end of the body. Its main body was slim with a green chest whose sides were covered by purple orb-like ornaments, its waist had two giant mouths attached to it. Its 'arms' were made of dark vines wrapped around to form a structure that resembled an arm and had smaller orbs of the same purple color trapped in between the vines. Its shoulders had huge purple plates on them that could actually open up and reveal another pair of hidden mouths. The monster's lower chin was split into two pieces with sharp fangs covering the inside of its mouth and small doses of its purple poison dropping down like it was drooling.

* * *

 **Starving Venemy Overdose Dragon**

 **Level: 7/Attribute: DARK/Type: Dragon/Fusion/Effect**

 **ATK: 2500/DEF: 2000**

 **2 DARK Effect Monsters**

 **Effect: Once per turn (Quick Effect): you can target 1 face-up monster on the field; negate its effects until the end of this turn, and if you do, this card gains that monster's effects. If this card battles during the turn this effect is activated it gains 700 ATK during the Damage Step only. If this Fusion Summoned card leaves the field because of a card effect: You can destroy as many Special Summoned monsters your opponent controls as possible, and if you do, inflict damage to your opponent equal to the total ATK the destroyed monsters had on the field.**

* * *

"Y-you…" The Knight gulped, looking at the dragon that was just summoned on his side of the field.

"I accept this card as a fight." PhantomFire commented. "Now I enter my Battle Phase and activate Phantomus' effect! I shuffle a monster it points to into the deck and Special Summon a ChronoGear monster from my deck! Since Phantomus points at Starving Venemy I return it back into my Extra Deck to Special Summon _ChronoGear Revolving Dragon (Lv.8, ATK: 2800)_!"

The new Fusion roared and flew back into Evan's deck, after which a robotic dragon flew out of it and joined the other ChronoGear monsters that were on the fields.

"Cracking Dragon's effect activates." the Knight pointed forward, but it was pointless.

 **ChronoGear Revolving Dragon, ATK: 2800 - 1600** → **1200**

 **『** **PhantomFire LP: 4600 – 1600** → **3000** **』**

"Now, the effect of Starving Venemy activates! When it leaves the field because of a card effect, all of your monsters are destroyed and you take their attack points as damage!" PhantomFire threw his arm upward and fired poison at Cracking Dragon. The machine roared and then its body melted by the poison before it blew up, knocking the Knight of Hanoi off the D-Board.

 **『** **Knight of Hanoi LP: 4000 – 3000** → **1000** **』**

"Then,ChronoGear Revolving Dragon's effect banishes a card from your field and Graveyard upon summoning!" The monster opened its mouth and fired two bullets that pierced both the Knight's set card and the Cracking Dragon in his graveyard. "Now Phantomus, finish this! _Demonic Disc Slash_!"

The fiend raised its scythe and threw it at the Knight, cutting the Duelist's body in half, ending the duel in an instant.

 **『** **Knight of Hanoi LP: 1000 – 2300** → **0** **』**

 **『** **Winner: PhantomFire** **』**

"Another bastard with no skills." PhantomFire tapped his fingers against his throne in boredom.

* * *

"Oh." Proxy moaned in pain.

The BrioGear duelist slowly forced herself to get back-up and pressed her hands against her back, pressing it forward until she could hear her spine pop at several places. Sighing in relief, the girl looked around the place. The strange blue egg-shaped device was lying just a few feet away from her. Spotting it, Proxy moved her left hand toward her mouth and spoke into the Duel Disk.

"I'm next to a blue egg." Proxy informed.

"Stand there and don't break it!" Silver Star's voice ordered her from the other side of the line.

"Yes sir!" Proxy saluted and turned off the Duel Disk before looking back at the egg with a mischievous smile on her face. "She didn't say that I can't touch it though."

Glancing around, Proxy moved closer to the egg. She noticed that it had some lines that covered its surface, but she couldn't figure out their meaning.

"Are you an item or something?" Proxy asked herself.

She pressed her hand against the egg and something happened! The lines glowed and then the parts of the egg began to slowly move back, opening up. A brilliant blue light came out of the inside, forcing Proxy to covered her eyes with both hands and step back while the egg's parts continued to open up, revealing more and more of its inside. After it finished and the egg was no longer, the light faded. Proxy removed her hand and looked down at the egg… only that it wasn't there anymore.

"Where am I?"

Proxy shivered and turned to her left before…

"Ah!" She jumped back frightened by the little creature floating next to her. It was light blue with dark blue lines across its body and hourglass shaped hips. The creature had twin pigtails that levitate from its head and two pinks eyes with eyelash marks.

"Ah!" the creature exclaimed as well, noticing the human. "My apologies it seems I scared you." The creature bowed. "But could you give me directions? I think I got lost while trying to get away."

"Uh-huh." Proxy nodded and looked around once again. "This is Link VRAINS. A virtual world for Duelists to come together."

"Ah, I see. Thank you." The creature replied and flew forward.

"What were you running from, um…" Proxy paused, unsure what to call the creature that she just found. Obviously, she couldn't just name it like some sort of dog.

"My friends called me the Water Ignis." The little creature replied.

"Wait, an Ignis?" Proxy's eyes widened. "That must be why you looked familiar at first!"

"You know about Ignis?" the Water Ignis turned back and looked at the girl. "If it's not insolent, could I ask you how you know about us?"

"A friend of mine, um not friend, someone I know has an Ignis as well! Its name is Ai and its black with purple markings." Proxy explained cheerfully.

"The Dark Ignis." The Water Ignis concluded. "If it's possible, could you help me find him? There is an urgent message that I must get to him."

"Of course!" Proxy nodded and raised her Duel Disk. "Just hop in my Duel Disk and I will get you there once I log-out!"

The Ignis narrowed its eyes and observed Proxy carefully before finally giving an approving nod. "Very well, I will,"

"Look out!" Before the Ignis could understand what was going on, Proxy grabbed it and pulled to the side just in time to avoid a black spike that stabbed the wall behind her.

"W-what was that!?" The Water Ignis shouted.

"Him!" Proxy narrowed her eyes.

"So you found me out?" Stepping out of the shadows came a Knight of Hanoi, but he was different from the others. His outfit was more open without sleeves or the long cloak. His mask was covering his entire face instead of just the upper half. He wore black fingerless gloves that reached his armpits and a Duel Disk with spikes on his right hand.

"That's a Knight of Hanoi!" the Water Ignis exclaimed. "Did they find me that fast?"

"It's not you." Proxy shook her head. "They have invaded the whole LINK VRAINS. You just found a bad time to show up."

"My special Ignis-killing projectiles don't work on avatars, so I will have to get it out of the Duel Disk the old way." The Knight muttered to himself. "I challenge you to a duel!"

"You shouldn't accept!" The Water Ignis looked back at Proxy.

"There's no other way to get out." Proxy replied. "They made it so I can't log out. If you want, you can run while I keep him busy. Ok?"

"I…" The Water Ignis looked around, there was no way to escape without getting shot by the Knight's projectiles. "I will watch, if that's ok."

Proxy smiled and nodded. "Of course. I will protect you."

"Hmm, another troublesome human that wants to side with the Ignis." The Knight clicked his tongue. "I will teach you a lesson that you won't forget about betraying humanity!"

"DUEL!" the two shouted as a dueling field materialized between them.

 **『** **Proxy LP: 4000 Hand: 5 (VS) KOH Captain LP: 4000 Hand: 5** **』**

* * *

 **A/N: So, another mostly built-up chapter, yay!** **The Knights of Hanoi are finally invading, an Ignis appeared and, of course, PhantomFire and Silver Star are being extra by using D-Boards with thrones on them. I also got no idea how much more Starving Venom cards Evan is going to have, but they seem to work up far better with his personality than even his Phantomus cards.**

 **On the Hanoi end, we got a new type of enemy: The Knight of Hanoi Captain! In the column of leadership of Hanoi that I made for this story, these Captains' ranking is exactly below that of Picaro and his team, who are right under the rank of the three Lieutenants (aka Faust, Baira and Dr. Genome). Because of that, the Captains carry much stronger decks than those of the regular knights.**

 **As those who had watched the latest episode of VRAINS might notice, I tried to use the new style of Synchro Summoning when I explained Blaze Rose's Synchro Summon. And I just hope that it won't turn out that Aqua was killed offscreen in the canon because as you saw, she is going to play a role in Season 1 of Destiny Gears.**

 **On an unrelated note, I also noticed a fun thing about my oGear duelist and the Ignis. In some ways, their personalities are very similiar. Blaze Rose and Flame are both hot blooded. Rocketeer and Windy, well Rocketeer infected Blaze Rose with a virus that was going to kill her and tried to do the same to his "friend" Proxy without regret, so I think that's enough said there. Aqua and Proxy are both extremely carrying individuals. Silver Star and Lightning are both smart and deceptive. PhantomFire and Ai are both cocky and their personality make them disliked by their kind.**

 **Thanks to** TachyonDragonKing **for the follow and favorite. So on the reviews.**

ScalchopWarrior **: As I said, I don't feel it against people for now review. Even less against you. Scal was the most loyal to my stories since they began, so thanks for being beside me buddy.**

TachyonDragonKing **: Whenever Proxy's desire to 'save' others would disappear is a relative question as well. When someome matures their views on the world don't always turn darker, nor do they always turn lighter, so what will happen with Proxy's views on the world has yet to be seen.**

 **Also, before I end this, I want to thank to thank** OPFan37 **for his shout-out. If you read this, I do read your story as well, so couldn't exactly keep it a secret from me. You made me feel embarrassed, but thank you and if anyone here doesn't know about** OPFan37 **'s VRAINS story,** Yu-Gi-Oh Cross-VRAINS **, you should feel ashamed.**

 **That's all for today. Thanks to everyone for reading.**

 **Diabolic Tracer out!**


	27. Chapter 27

Dragon of Water - Firera

 **Proxy's POV**

I gulped. My stomach must have shrunk into a ball out of fear. How wouldn't it? I was standing in front of a Knight of Hanoi, a captain on top of that. I was never able to win a solo duel against a Knight of Hanoi, but I couldn't show how scared I was because of the Ignis that I was holding. It shouldn't worry about me, it was a friend of Ai and that meant it was my duty to protect it from the Knights of Hanoi. Well, at least until I got give it to Playmaker or someone who would have an easier time protecting it than me.

" _I detect that your heartbeat has increased._ " The Ignis floated up to my level. " _I'm not an expert about human anatomy, but you appear to be under stress and that's not good for the health. If I might, I would like to suggest several ways to relax._ "

That got me to chuckle. Of course I wouldn't be able to hide how scared I was from the Ignis. Unlike humans, it could actually look into how my body is functioning and make up its conclusions. There was no way to silence the fear in my chest, I would just have to face my opponent and try to ignore it.

"I'm going to start the duel." The Captain raised his palm and five cards appeared inside of it. "That's a good starting hand. I activate the Field Spell, _The Gates of Dark World_. While this card is face-up on the field, all Fiend-type monster I control gain three hundred extra attack and defense points."

Three hundred? That wasn't a very significant boost, but I could see that the card had more effects to it. The Knight must have choose deliberately to remain silent about them so he could catch me in a trap, but I already learned to read the text of the cards that are being played, so, ha! I'm not going to fall for such a cheap dirty tactic again.

"Next, I activate the Spell Card: _Card Destruction_! This spell forces us to discard all cards in your hand and drew the same number from our deck!" The remaining three cards appeared in his hand and he shattered them before drawing three new ones. So he was using a deck that focus on discarding as well?

"At this moment the effects of _Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World_ and _Ceruli, Guru of Dark World_ activate in my Graveyard." It really was a discarding focused deck! "When Beiige is discarded, I can Special Summon it on my side of the field and when Ceruli is discarded, I can Special Summon it on your side of the field."

A black vortex appeared in the middle of the field and two gross monsters jumped out of it. The first one was a spear man with purple skin and white armor made from bones while the second one was a small creature in dark armor with a blue cloak. They landed on the Captain and my fields respectively with 1900 attack and 300 defense, respectively.

"I hope the cards you had in your hand weren't good because this would have sucked for you then." The Captain laughed, but unknown to him, he was far too wrong about it.

"Heh, this is great!" I smiled and pressed the buttons on my Duel Disk to apply all cards' effects. "I was worried what deck you might be using, but my BrioGear are a discard focused archetype as well, so now the effects of my cards are going to activate as well! BrioGear Geratorned's effect lets me add a Level Four or lower WATER monster from my Graveyard to the hand, BrioGear Octobat lets me Special Summon one _BrioGear Bat Token (Lv.1, DEF: 100)_ and my Field Spell _**BrioGear Ark of Silence**_ can be activated if it gets discarded."

* * *

 **BrioGear Ark of Silence (Spell) Field**

 **If this card is discarded from your hand or sent from your Deck to the GY: Activate this card in your Field Spell Zone. Each time a card(s) is discarded from your hand, place 1 Life Counter on this card. All WATER monsters you control gain 200 ATK and DEF for each Life Counter on this card. This card gains the following effects depending on the number of Life Counters on this card. ● 2+: This card cannot be destroyed by card effects. ● 4+: Once per turn: You can discard 1 card from your hand to target 1 card on the field; destroy that target. ● 7+: Draw 1 more card during your Draw Phase. ● 10+: You can target 1 monster in your GY; send this card to the GY, and if you do, Special Summon that target.**

* * *

A token card materialized in my hand and I put it on the Duel Disk before taking the cards that popped from my Duel Disk. I put the Field Spell in the Field slot and added the other to my hand.

"And just so you know, the monster I added to my hand by the effect of BrioGear Geratorned is the Level Three, BrioGear Freakiver." I showed the card to the Knight of Hanoi.

" _It seems that you are in your element here._ " The Ignis commented and looked back at me. " _Your heartbeat is normal, it appears that you calmed down. That's good, you shouldn't push yourself._ "

"Aw, thanks." I smiled at the little creature, it was actually caring about me and my well-being. It was so sweat! "Don't worry! Now that I know what I'm up against, there is no way to lose!"

"So we are both using the same playstyle, huh?" The Captain clicked his tongue. "But that doesn't mean our decks are equal in strength! The second effect of Ceruli, Guru of Dark World activates on your field! Since it was Special Summon by the effect of a Dark World card, in this case itself, you must discard a card from my hand."

"Discard a card from your hand?" Why would he have a monster with an effect to not only summon itself on my side of the field, but also let me discard a card from his hand? That didn't make much sense to me.

" _Hmm, I see._ " The Ignis rubbed its chin and turned toward me. " _Since his deck focuses on discarding, he must find different ways to discard his hand. The effect of this monster is to ensure that you would help him even if you don't have a cards that would force him to discard._ "

"I see!" Yes, the Ignis was right. Or I was too stupid not to notice that obvious connection between his monster's effect and the rest of his deck.

"Choice already!" The Captain shouted at me. Jeez, fine! No need to show at me for this!

But, if I choose the wrong card I would be giving him even more advantage. "I choose the one at the left. Maybe?"

"The card you choose to discard is Snoww, Unlight of Dark World so now its effect activates!" Damn it, I made a bad choice! "When Snoww is discarded by an opponent's effect, I can Special Summon a monster in your Graveyard to my side of the field in Defense Position. The one I choose is _BrioGear Leviathan Dragon (Lv.7, DEF: 2100)_!"

Ah dang it! Leviathan Dragon had a powerful effect in the Graveyard that at the cost of banishing two other WATER monsters from my Graveyard I could have been able to revive it. But now that it's no longer in my graveyard, I can't reclaim it.

"Then I activate the effect of Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World from my Graveyard." The Captain , Vanguard of Dark World jumped back and disappeared in a cloud of black mist after which a black dragon appeared to take its place. "By returning Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World to my hand, I'm able to Special Summon _Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World (Lv.8, ATK: 2700)_ from my Graveyard!"

" _It seems that your opponent got the lead._ " I was about to say 'No shit' but I didn't want the Ignis to pick up on any bad words so I keep myself from swearing.

"Furthermore, the effect of The Gates of Dark World increases Grapha's attack and defense power by three hundred." The Captain pointed out.

 **Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World, ATK: 2800 + 300** → **3100, DEF: 1800 + 300** → **2100**

"I shall end my turn here!" the Captain said and put a hand on his hips. "It's your move now."

"Right!" I nodded and looked down at my Duel Disk. It's my turn, I must show the Ignis that I'm skilled enough to protect her. "My turn. Draw!"

 **『** **Turn 2 [Proxy] LP: 4000 Hand: 7** **』**

"I will go ahead and start with a Link Summoning! Come forth, circuit of life!" A wave of water formed inside my hand and I threw toward the sky. However, instead of the regular square, a white circular mirror frame. Its inside was filed with a blue circuit pattern while eight open flowers were put in place of the arrowheads.

"Cool, I got a new summon sequence!" I couldn't help but grin at this fact before continuing. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements is a WATER monster with a level! I set BrioGear Bat Token in the Link Marker!" the token turned into a vortex and shot into the air, slamming into the bottom flower, which closed the moment it made contact with the monster. "Link Summon! Link One, _BrioGear Lotaxol (ATK: 600, Link-1)_!"

A large wave of data fell onto the right Extra Monster Zone and my Link Monster jumped out if it, landing before me. "Lotaxol's effect activates!" I continued and gestured toward my monster. "When its Link Summoned, I can revive a level two or lower WATER monster from my grave. I choose _BrioGear Octobat (Lv.1, DEF: 200)_!"

"So you keep calling out weaklings?" I bit my lip, that captain had no right to call any of my monsters weak. Even if they lacked in attack numbers, they made up for that with their effects! "They're not going to do anything to my monsters!"

"You are wrong! When Octobat is summoned, all your monsters lose two hundred attack for each WATER monster on the field! Currently, there are my Octobat, Lotaxol and the Leviathan Dragon that you stole from me, so that's six hundred points cut straight from your monsters!" All three of my monsters joined forces despite being on different teams and summoned a huge wave that fell on top ofGrapha and my Leviathan Dragon, reducing their attack points.

 **Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World, ATK: 3100 - 600** → **2500**

 **Leviathan Dragon, ATK: 2600 – 600** → **2000**

"Could I ask something" The Ignis raised a hand to speak with me and I nodded. "Sorry for interfering, but wouldn't you have caused more damage if you summoned a few monster more WATER monsters before using this effect?"

Right… I haven't Normal Summoned this turn yet. Ah, I messed up again despite how well I was doing! Ah, I just couldn't focus!

"Sorry, I messed up." I muttered so that only the Ignis could hear me. "But I'm not done yet. I'm going to Normal Summon _BrioGear Freakiver (Lv.3, ATK: 1100)_ and activate its effect!" The zombie appeared before me with a pained moan and summon a dice in its hands. "I throw a dice and according to its result, I can look at that many cards from the top of my deck!"

The zombie threw its dice onto the field and I crossed my fingers for at least a three! The dice landed on the ground, bounced several times and then the final result was… only two!?

I winched and turned the top two cards of my deck. They were BrioGear Effect Slime and White Howling, a very bad pair to get with this effect. "According to Freakiver's effect, I must send Effect Slime to my Graveyard and shuffle the other cards into my deck."

"Ha, in the end you did nothing!" the captain laughed at me. He wasn't wrong though, not only did I fail to get any advantage, I even lost some by getting my Effect Slime throw in the Graveyard instead of adding it to my hand.

"It's not over yet. Come forth, circuit of life!" I threw my hands forward and opened the circuit again. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two BrioGear monsters! I set BrioGear Lotaxol and BrioGear Freakiver in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Link Two, _BrioGear Enhance Mermail (ATK: 1700, Link-2_ )!"

My little mermaid monster dived into the flowery circuit and fell onto my Extra Monster Zone. One was here, one more to go!

"And for the third time, open, circuit of life!" The beautiful white mirror with flowers appeared in the sky above me. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two Level Three or lower Effect monsters! I set Octobat andCeruli, Guru of Dark World in the Link Markers!" The two monsters turned into vortexes, one blue and one black which then flew into the top and bottom flowers on the mirror. "Link Summon! The dancing spirit of storms! _Grand Ranger Serene (ATK: 2100, LINK-2)_!"

There it was! My ace flew through the circuit and landed behind Enhance Mermail, several lightnings falling around her as she raised her left hand and activated the bow.

"I now activate the spell card, _**Treasure of the Six Gears**_!" I played a card that showed six gears of different colors, purple, yellow, orange, red, blue and green flying off into a light while two cards came out of the same light. "With this spell, I discard _BrioGear Madoor_ from my hand to draw two new cards!"

* * *

 **Treasure of the Six Gears (Spell) Normal**

 **Discard 1 "oGear" monster: Draw 2 cards. During your Draw Phase: If this card is in your GY, you can banish this card; draw more 1 card.**

* * *

"Now that I discarded a card, the effect of BrioGear Ark of Silence activates and it gains one Life Counter." I said. "And for every Life Counter on that card, my WATER monsters gain two hundred attack points!" My two links raised their arms and clenched their fists with newfound power.

 **BrioGear Enhance Mermail, ATK: 1700 + 200** → **1900**

 **Grand Ranger Serene, ATK: 2100 + 200** → **2300**

"Now let's battle!" This was it, I was going to destroy all of his monsters this turn! "I attack Leviathan Dragon with Grand Ranger Serene! _Last Serenity_!"

My monster jumped in the air and stretched out her left arm, creating an energy string that connected the two ends. A single blue arrow formed in her other hand and she put it on the bow, aiming for the dragon. Leviathan Dragon looked at me and then lowered its head, both of us knew that there was nothing else that could be done. Serene let go of the string and the arrow pierced my other monster's chest, destroying it.

"Next, I attack Grapha with Enhance Mermail and activate her effect! I halve Serene's attack points and give the lost half to Enhance Mermail until the end of this turn!" Serene pulled her bow again and fired an arrow which Enhance Mermail further enhanced by surrounding it with water, creating a sharp spear that flew straight for Grapha!

 **Grand Ranger Serene, ATK: 2300/2** → **1150**

 **BrioGear Enhance Mermail, ATK: 1900 + 1150** → **3150**

The attack connected andGrapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World threw its head back before it exploded and the Captain yelled as the attack launched him backward into the sand behind.

 **『** **KOH Captain LP: 4000 - 650** → **3350** **』**

"I set a card and end my turn!" I finished, placing a trap to protect me next turn. "During the End Phase, the effect of Enhance Mermail ends and my monsters attack powers return back to normal!"

 **Grand Ranger Serene, ATK: 1150** → **2300**

 **BrioGear Enhance Mermail, ATK: 3150** → **1900**

" _Good one!_ " the Ignis cheered for me. " _You were able to deal some serious damage on your first turn! You are great!_ "

"I'm not sure if you are saying this because you really believe it, or you just want to make me feel more confident, but I know that what I just did isn't anything special." I laughed awkwardly. This Ignis was very kind and polite, almost the opposite of Ai, but I still liked that one as well!

"Heh, that was nothing." The captain chuckled and reached out for his Duel Disk. "Let me show you the noble power of Hanoi. It's my turn, I draw!"

 **『** **Turn 3 [KOH Captain] LP: 3350 Hand: 4** **』**

"First, I activate the effect ofThe Gates of Dark World to banish Ceruli, Guru of Dark World and discard Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World to draw a card." The captain showed me the card and it faded before it was replaced by a new one. "Then, the effect of Beiige activates and it Special Summon itself from the Graveyard after which I return it to the hand and revive Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World!" The purple monster appeared on the field for a moment and after that Grapha raised in its place again, roaring toward my monster.

" _He was able to bring back his dragon!_ " The Ignis exclaimed. " _And it's stronger than both of your monsters_!" I wanted to tell it not to worry because of my set card, but I couldn't do that without revealing my plan to the Knight.

"Due to my Field Spell, Grapha's attack will be thirty one hundred." The Captain pointed out. "Also, I will also Normal Summon _Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World (Lv.4, ATK: 1600 + 300_ → _1900)_." His weaker monster appeared again, this time standing beside the dragon. Still, it wasn't anything I couldn't take care of.

"It seems like you are sure that my attack won't go through." The Captain shook his head. How did he knew?! "But that's why I got this card! I activate _Dark World Lightning_ to destroy your set card and then discard a card from my hand."

A lighting fell from the ceiling and hit my set card, shattering it. I winched as that happened and took a step back. Just saying the card that got destroyed was Titans of Disaster which could have halved the attack points of the Dark World monsters when they attacked. But now that it was destroyed I no longer had any protection. It was all up to my monsters.

"The effect of _Kahkki, Guerilla of Dark World_ activates! When it's discarded, I get to destroy one of your monsters." A frightening purple and black monster whose giant head was merged with its body appeared behindGrand Ranger Serene and stabbed her.

"Serene!" I reached out to grab her, but my ace shattered before I could reach her.

"Now that your mermaid no longer has a way to power itself, I'm going to destroy it with Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World!" The dragon opened its mouth and charged a dark sphere of energy before it fired the attack, blowing up my mermaid.

 **『** **Proxy LP: 4000 - 1200** → **2800** **』**

"Argh!" I gritted my teeth, the attack was actually able to push me back a few steps as well as create a cut on my right shoulder.

"Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World attack her directly!" I raised my head just in time to see the second monster jumped toward me with its spear.

"I activate the effect of BrioGear Bubble Sea from my hand!" A large bubble formed before me and blocked the incoming spear. "I discard Bubble Sea along with BrioGear Wave Crusade to reduce the damage I would take by their combined defense."

1200 plus 100 was 1300, which meant that I would only take 600 points of damage. Despite the best efforts of the bubble, Beiige's spear was able to pierce through it and cut me across the waist. I bit my lips and stepped back, again.

 **『** **Proxy LP: 2800 - 600** → **2200** **』**

"BrioGear Ark of Silence gains one more Life Counter since I just discarded a card." Unfortunately, the effect counter every time that I discarded a card instead of every card that I discarded, so I had only two counters and not three.

"Tch, so you still had something up your sleeves, huh?" The Captain sounded annoyed. "I'm going to set a card and end my turn!"

" _Good work, you were able to keep the damage to a minimum._ " The Ignis applauded me and then flew onto my head. " _Sorry, but you won't mind if I stay where, will you? It's too dangerous to me anywhere else with all of the monsters' attacking and stuff._ "

"I don't mind!" I smiled at her. The Ignis was helping me focus and keep my cold with just being beside me. I felt that if it wasn't there I would have already lost it and the duel was probably going to be much worse for me that it was currently.

"Proxy!" I heard a familiar voice call out for me and raised my head. PhantomFire, Silver Star and Blaze Rose were all on the floor above us, standing behind the Knight of Hanoi.

"More showed up?" The Captain fumed and turned back to look at them. "How were you able to get past my squad?"

"We beat them, obviously." Silver Star shrugged.

"You what!?" The Captain yelled, clearly amazed. I had already seen them in action, so hearing that they beat a bunch of Hanoi Duelists wasn't much of a surprise for me.

"More importantly, look at what's beside Proxy!" Blaze Rose pointed toward me, or probably toward the Ignis on my head.

"The Water Ignis?" PhantomFire knew about it?

" _You know about me as well?_ " The Ignis asked. " _Are you three by a chance related to this human?_ "

"They are my friend!" I answered instead of them. "PhantomFire, Silver Star and Blaze Rose are all amazing people that helped me out and are fighting against the Knights of Hanoi! They are definitely going to help you out as well if you ask them!"

" _Really? Humans would do that?_ " I raised an eyebrow at that question. What, she thought that humans wouldn't be willing to help someone in need?

"Of course! We humans are kind and would help someone in need!" Perhaps she was seeing humans as enemies because of the Knights of Hanoi, if so, I had to show her the kind side of us. "That's why I'm dueling right now. To help you out!"

The Ignis didn't say anything back to me. I wasn't going to press it, there were more important stuff to deal with at the moment, chatting could wait for later. I took a deep breath and raised my Duel Disk once again to continue the duel.

"During the End Phase of the turn in which I activated Bubble Sea's effect, I can revive one of the monsters that I discarded, so come back, _BrioGear Wave Crusade (Lv.4, DEF: 100 + 400_ → _500)_." My most trusted knight raised on the field before me and put its sword in front of itself. "Then, I get to Special Summon a monster from my deck with the same level, so I choose _Metabo-Shark (Lv.4, DEF: 500 + 400_ → _900)_."

I didn't have many Level Four monsters in the deck so using Metabo-Shark was a good way to save my better ones for more, important roles, and not what I was going to use this one for.

"She got two Level Fours." I heard Silver Star comment out loud for everyone to hear. "Do you think she is going to do, you know what?"

Xyz Summoning. That was the last step in the evolution of my deck. I obtained the cards that allowed me to do that from Evan and Avice, so they represented more than just my new strength. They represented my bond with the people that helped me get here in the first place!

"Now it's my turn. Draw!"

 **『** **Turn 4 [Proxy] LP: 2200 Hand: 4** **』**

"This is my advancement. Open circuit of life!" I shouted and stretched out my hands, summoning the white mirror. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two WATER monsters! I set BrioGear Wave Crusadeand Metabo-Sharkin the Link Markers! Link Summon! Link Two, _BrioGear Shark Wise (ATK: 800 + 400_ → _1200, Link-2)_!" The humanoid shark landed in front of me and held its trident in readiness. "When Shark Wise is Link Summoned, I can Special Summon one Level Three or Four monster from my Graveyard, so raise again, _Metabo-Shark (Lv.4, ATK: 1800 + 400_ → _2200)_!"

"You need one more." The Ignis pointed out.

"I know!" I smiled and pointed toward the ground, creating a black vortex right in front of me. "I activate BrioGear Leviathan Dragon's effect in my grave! I banish BrioGear Lotaxol and BrioGear Octobat to revive _BrioGear Leviathan Dragon (Lv.7, ATK: 2600 + 400_ → _3000)_!"

A stream of fire burst out of the vortex and my water dragon flew through it, landing behind me. It raised its head and roared.

"So you revived it after all." The captain commented. "And while I must admit that its attack power is enough to deal some serious damage, my Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World is just going to destroy it on my next turn!"

"You are wrong!" There wasn't going to be another turn. "I activate Leviathan Dragon's effect to revive _BrioGear Wave Crusade (Lv.4, ATK: 1700 + 400_ → _2100)_." The Knight jumped onto my field beside Metabo-Shark. "And now I overlay the Level Four Wave Crusader and Metabo-Shark!"

A black glowing blank card appeared in the sky above me as the two monsters turned into blue energy and flew up, spiraling around it. The card began to spiral around itself as well, its gravitational power pulling the data that surrounded the field around itself, building up its body.

"Howl, unknown roar! Rise from the darkness of the abyss! Xyz Summon, _Bahamut Shark (Rank.4, ATK: 2600 + 400_ → _3000)_!"

The huge body of data exploded with light, creating a spiraling aurora in the air around us and in place of the blank card came my bipedal shark monster with two blue orbs orbiting around its body.

"I now activate Bahamut Shark's ability to use one of its Xyz Materials and Special Summon a Rank Three or lower Xyz Monster from my Extra Deck at the cost of Bahamut Shark's inability to attack this turn! Show up, _BrioGear Razor Shark (Rank: 3, ATK: 2000 + 400_ → _2400)_."

My shard grabbed one of the units that rotated around it and threw it forward. The orb blew up and my second Xyz Monster flew through it, landing under Shark Wise's second arrow.

"You summoned a second Xyz monster?!" The Knight gasped.

"Next, Razor Shark's effect lets me put one monster in my hand or on my side of the field to it as overlay unit and I choose to give BrioGear Pale Crawfish from my hand." The white humanoid monster flew out of my hand and transformed into a blue sphere that rotated around my shark. "Next, I detach a Xyz Material to allow Razor Shark to attack you directly this turn!"

"Direct attack!?" The Captain clenched his fist.

" _If you destroy Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World with Leviathan Dragon and then attack directly with Razor Shark that would be a total of three thousand and five hundred points of damage._ " The Ignis leaned to look down at me. " _You are going to win!_ "

"Let's do this!" I exclaimed and threw my fist forward forward. "Leviathan Dragon attack Beiige!"

The monster roared and opened its mouth, firing a blast of fire toward the demonic spearman on Hanoi's field.

"Fool!" The Captain laughed. "I activate Quaking Mirror Force to change the battle position of all your monsters to face-down!"

"W-what?!" I feel for a trap!

The sand all around us moved in front of Hanoi and created a huge wall that blocked my Leviathan Dragon's attack before smashing into my monsters like a tsunami, burying all but my weakest monster, Shark Wise.

" _That's bad. Link Monsters don't have any defense so they can't be set._ " The Ignis rubbed its chin. Usually that would be good news for me, but this time it meant that I was leaving a 1200 attack monster for my opponent to destroy next turn and deal 1900 damage at least!

I took another look at the cards in my hand. I had Emergency Provisions, _**BrioGear Slumber**_ and BrioGear Platosteus, none of which was of any use for me in this situation.

* * *

 **BrioGear Slumber (Trap) Continuous**

 **You can discard 1 "oGear" monster; draw 1 card and if it's an "oGear" monster you can Special Summon it. If you control a WATER Link Monster, you can target that monster: Send this face-up card from the field to the GY, then Special Summon a number of "oGear" monsters with different names from your GY up the targeted monster's Link Rating in face-up Defense Position.**

* * *

"I set two cards and end my turn." If anything, I could try my luck and hope to draw a good card with Slumber and heal after that with Emergency Provisions. Otherwise, I will be toast.

"She is at a tight spot right now." Blaze Rose commented.

"If she learned something since her last duel, she is going to be fine." PhantomFire replied. Funny, I'm not sure what I was supposed to learn.

"Pathetic." The captain laughed at me. "I'm going to crush you this turn! Draw!"

 **『** **Turn 5 [KOH Captain] LP: 3350 Hand: 2** **』**

"I activate Raigeki to destroy all of your monsters!" No way! Several lightnings fell from the sky and connected with the sand burying my monsters, blowing them up.

" _You are wide open for an attack!_ " the Ignis shouted at me.

"Let's end this!" The Captain laughed again. "Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World attack her directly and end this duel!"

"I activate my trap, _BrioGear Slumber_ to discard BrioGear Platosteus from my hand and draw a new card!" I countered, discarding a card while my set card turned face-up. "Then I'm going to chain _Emergency Provisions_ to destroy BrioGear Slumber and regain a thousand Life Points!"

 **『** **Proxy LP: 2200 + 1000** → **3200** **』**

"You messed it up!" Blaze Rose shouted at me.

"Huh?" I looked up, all three of them were shaking their heads in disappointment.

"If a continuous spell or trap leaves the field before its effect resolves, that effect will be negated." Silver Star explained. "If you used Emergency Provisions as chain link one, you would have been able to draw a card, but since you used it as chain link two,BrioGear Slumber was destroyed before its effect got the chance to resolve."

"Oh." I really did mess up again!

"Even if you were able to regain life points that means nothing to my Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World!" the Captain threatened and his monster fired another sphere of energy toward me.

With nothing else, I just grabbed the Ignis in my left hand and turned my back toward the attack before closing my eyes. Although this was going to hurt like hell, I would at least protect it from harm. The attack connected with my back and I screamed at the top of my lungs, the sheer force of that attack raising me in the air. Before I knew it, my entire body was throw and I flew through a wall, dropping inside another section of the ruins.

 **『** **Proxy LP: 3200 - 3000** → **200** **』**

"Proxy!" Ngh, I could hear everyone screaming my name. The Ignis was standing next to my body and was watching me in the eyes, despite its robotic appearance, I could sense its curiosity.

" _Why did you protect me with your body?_ " The Ignis asked.

"Because I made a promise to protect you, right?" I replied and reached out with my left hand to pet it.

" _You would go through such heights just for that?_ " The Ignis tilted its head to the side. "I can't understand it."

"You don't need to." I whispered. The Ignis didn't to try and understand me, neither did anyone else. I had made a choice to protect those I care about, so even if it hurts me, I'm going to follow the path that I choose until the end.

"Pain the only thing that traitors who side with the Ignis deserve." The captain stepped toward me with his monsters following from behind. "Finish her off Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World!"

The demonic spearman swung its weapon and then jumped toward me. No! Since I had zero cards in my hand I was able to-!

"Argh!" I screamed the moment I tried to move my right hand toward the Duel Disk. I looked at it and for my horror, Grapha's attack has torn it to bits with just several strings of data holding it connected to my body.

" _I won't let you!_ " The Ignis flew in front of me and stretched out its hand. " _I activate BrioGear Madoor's effect in the Graveyard to Special Summon it and End the Battle Phase!_ "

"You what!?" The Captain wasn't the only one surprised by that.

A wall of ice raised in front of the Ignis and Beiige's spear bounced off it after which the ice transformed into the humanoid form that was depicted in Madoor's artwork.

"You…" The Captain clenched his fists. His entire body was shaking from the anger that he was radiating! "You Ignis actually dare to step into the duel!"

"W-why?" I asked.

"To protect you." The Ignis turned back and its eyes turned to show it smiling. "I'm returning the favor. Although Hanoi came and attacked our world without any provocation from our side, you showed me that not every human holds a hatred for our species. Thank you."

"You…" I had no idea what I was supposed to call the Ignis, but tears began to run down my cheeks. "Thank you!"

"So you are still going to be on their side?" the Captain yelled at me. "Very well, I activate the effect of The Gates of Dark World to banish Snoww, Unlight of Dark World from my Graveyard and discard my second Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World in order to draw a card. Then, Grapha's effect activates! When it's discarded, I can destroy a card that you control! Since the field spell is protected by its own effect, I will get rid of your monster."

Madoor's body cracked and it exploded into pieces, completely disappearing from my field.

"Next, Grapha's second effect lets me return Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World to my hand in order to Special Summon it from my Graveyard!" the spearman disappeared again and a second copy of the black dragon appeared at the left side of the first. "I will then set a card and end my turn!"

"This means that it's my turn next." I muttered and tried to stand up, but my legs collapsed the moment I tried to move them.

"Ha, your body is too damaged to move!" the Knight of Hanoi mocked me. "There's nothing you can do."

I hated to admit it, but the Knight of Hanoi was right. My avatar was far too damaged to move any more, let alone duel.

" _Then maybe there is something I could do._ " The Ignis landed on my Duel Disk.

"What are you going to do?" the Knight's voice turned back to being serious.

"Give my partner a hand!" The Ignis stated and the screen on my Duel Disk began to glow. I flinched, the light was shining right into my eyes, but despite that I was able to see the Ignis' body disappearing inside my Duel Disk and a warm surrounded me.

"No way!" Hanoi was yelling, which meant that the Ignis was doing something good. The data that made my right hand regenerated, connecting it back to my body and I gained back strength in my body. It was enough to stand up and continue the duel.

"Thanks!" I looked down on my Duel Disk. The Ignis was now a single eye that took the space of the entire screen.

" _I will lead you my strength in this battle._ " The Ignis told me. " _So, let's win together._ "

"Yes." Together. As long as I wasn't fighting alone, there would be hope guiding me forward. I put my hand on top of my Deck, but it suddenly began to glow a radiant blue. "What the?"

"You unlocked your complete capabilities as a duelist!" I heard Silver Star.

"Once a duelist's will becomes one with their cards and a mutual trust is built between them, your will alone will be able to create a miracle!" PhantomFire folded his hands and looked down at me. "This draw is going to determinate your and the Ignis' future. This is your Destiny Draw!"

"My Destiny Draw?" I wasn't completely sure what that meant, but it sounded important. "Very well. This is the draw that's going to lead us toward the future! My turn!"

 **『** **Turn 6 [Proxy] LP: 200 Hand: 1** **』**

"This card…" World Legacy Succession was a powerful spell that could revive any monster from my Graveyard as long as I had a Link Monster that points at a free zone. I had no Link Monsters on my field though, so it was useless.

" _Our circuit of victory has been completed!_ " The Ignis told me.

"Huh?" But I had a useless card in my hand.

"Just look at your Extra Deck." I followed the Ignis' instructions and opened a screen that showed my Extra Deck.

I gasped at what I saw. "Did you put it there?"

" _Of course._ " The Ignis nodded. " _She was protecting me and always moved alongside me. Since now you are the one who protected me, I'm giving you control over her for this match._ "

"Then let's win!" I exclaimed and reached out with forward with an open wrist. "I activate the effect of Leviathan Dragon; I banish Bahamut Shark and BrioGear Razor Shark to revive _BrioGear Leviathan Dragon (Lv.7, ATK: 2600)_!"

"This monster again?!" the Captain exclaimed.

"Now I activate Leviathan Dragon's effect to revive _BrioGear Enhance Mermail (ATK: 1700, Link-2_ )." The little mermaid monster appeared under the Left Extra Monster Zone. "Then I activate World Legacy Succession to Special Summon _Grand Ranger Serene (ATK: 2100, LINK-2)_ next to Enhance Mermail's link marker." The Graveyard portal appeared again and my ace flew through it, landing right between my other two monsters.

"And since we discarded a card when we tried to activate BrioGear Slumber,BrioGear Ark of Silence gained a third Life Counter." I sweat dropped hearing the Ignis refer to my moves as collective effort. "All our WATER monsters gain two hundred points of attack and defense for every Life Counter on the field!"

 **BrioGear Enhance Mermail, ATK: 1700 + 600** → **2300**

 **Grand Ranger Serene, ATK: 2100 + 600** → **2700**

 **BrioGear Leviathan Dragon, ATK: 2600 + 600** → **3200, DEF: 2100 + 600** → **2700**

"Boost them as much as you want, these monsters are no danger for me" The Captain mocked me again.

"Maybe, but the pulse of Cyberse will lead me to a victory!" I stated and raised my hands in the air. "Appear, circuit of life!"

"Pulse of Cyberse? You don't mean,"

"I do!" I cut the Knight of Hanoi. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two or more Effect Monsters! I setThe Link Two, Grand Ranger Serene and the Link Two, BrioGear Enhance Mermail in the Link Markers!" Both of my monsters split into two copies and the four monster flew toward the mirror, colliding with the flower on the top, bottom, right and bottom right. "Link Summon! _**Firera, Firmware Cyberse Dragon**_!"

A blue core formed inside the circuit and the outline of a monster formed around it after which it materialized. First was its chest which was made of white metal and had five large blue crystal triangles sticking out of it, pointing toward the shoulders, the sides, and the tail. Next formed its lowered body with five long black tails and four spherical plates of armor that surrounded its waist from all four sides. Them there came its arms, which were sharp moon blades attached to the main body wing black joins and had slam wrists with seven fingers located at the inside of the blade's edge.

Instead of wings the monster had four horns attached to its upper back. The first two were bend upward and had a bulky shape that was a big bigger than the dragon's main body while the second pair were slim and long, bending downward. Last was its head, which had four green eyes and was covered by sharp crystal blades that stuck out of all the sides of its head similarly to a mane. Instead of mouth, the monster had a metal mouthpiece that also acted as a chin spike.

The dragon landed in front of me, the huge spikes on its shoulders smashing parts of the ceiling, which then collapsed. I winched and moved back to avoid getting hit, but there was no need for that since the dragon's tails swung around and crushed all of the debris, turning it into harmless bits of data that faded away.

* * *

 **Firera, Firmware Cyberse Dragon**

 **Attribute: WATER/Type: Cyberse/Link/Effect**

 **L-Markers: Top, Bottom, Bottom Right, Right**

 **ATK: 2800/Link-4**

 **2+ Effect monsters**

 **Effect: When this card is Link Summoned: Draw a number of cards equal to the number of monsters this card points to, then discard cards from your hand equal to the amount you drew -1. Once per turn, when this card declares an attack against an opponent monster: You can discard 1 monster from your hand; negate that monsters effects and its ATK becomes 0, also, your opponent cannot activate cards or effects in response to this effect until the end of the Damage Step. Once while this card is face-up on the field (Quick Effect): You can discard a number of cards from your hand up to the number of monster this monster is co-linked to; banish cards from your opponents field and/or GY equal to the total number of cards discarded by this effect.**

* * *

"A Cyberse monster!?" the Captain cried out in disbelief. Couldn't blame him, I was left without words as well.

" _You summoned me?_ " I looked down and heard another voice from my Duel Disk. The Ignis pulled its upper body out of the screen and made place for a miniature version of the dragon that I just summoned.

" _Yes, Firera, this girl here protected me from the Knights of Hanoi._ " The Ignis gestured toward me.

" _I see._ " The miniature dragon raised its head. " _Then we must repay her for this debt. Please, use my true form and all of my strength to win this duel!_ "

I nodded and stepped forward. "I activate Firera's effect! When it's Link Summoned I draw a card for each monster that it points to." My Leviathan Dragon was right under the bottom arrow, so that was one monster in total. "Then, I must discard one less card than I drew. Since I drew only one card, I must discard zero."

" _Due to the effect of the field spell, Firera gains an attack bonus._ " The Ignis commented.

 **Firera, Firmware Cyberse Dragon, ATK: 2800 + 600** → **3400**

"Let's battle!" I said. "Firera, Firmware Cyberse Dragon attacks Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World! At this time I also activate Firera's effect to discard BrioGear Sea Snake and reduce Grapha's attack power to zero! _**Frost Obey**_!"

" _At this moment, since a card was discarded from our hand,_ _BrioGear Ark of Silence gains its fourth Life Counter._ " The Ignis stated.

Both my and the Knight of Hanoi's dragon roared at the same time but for different reasons. Mine raised its head triumphantly while Grapha lowered its own due to the sudden loss of power.

 **Firera, Firmware Cyberse Dragon, ATK: 3400 + 200** → **3600**

 **Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World, ATK: 3000** → **0**

"Then I will just activate Dimension Prison to banish your dragon!" the Hanoi laughed, but his card didn't flip. "Huh? What happened?"

" _Useless._ " Firera's AI commented. "When Frost Obey is activated no other effect can be chained to it."

"Let's end this!" I threw my hand upward and then brought my fist down to point toward the Knight of Hanoi. " _ **Subzero Flare**_!"

Firera roared and slammed her blade-like arms together while her tails began to charge with electricity and flew over to the lower pair of wings, which absorbed it. Small holes opened in the dragon's upper wings and they began to emit a white gas that froze everything around the monster, including its arms. The electricity surged through the dragon's body and connected to the arms. Firera roared and threw her blades to the side, creating a 'X' of electricity and the strange freezing gas that flew through Grapha and cut the monster in four pieces.

"Impossible! There is no way you could defeat the power given to me by Hanoi-" Before the Knight could continue, his dragon blew up and the flames engulfed him.

 **『** **KOH Captain LP: 3350 - 3600** → **0** **』**

 **『** **Winner: Proxy** **』**

I feel on my knees and took a deep breath. I actually won against a Knight of Hanoi! And not just any knight, I won against a captain and that probably meant a lot! The field began to fade and I looked up at Firera. The dragon turned its head to look back at me and nodded before it faded as well, leaving only me, the Ignis and my friends.

Speaking of which…

"How did I do?" I asked, seeing them approaching.

Silver smiled down at me and put a hand on my head. "You did great. Now, you should log out and rest, ok?"

That was an order that I would be more than happy to follow. But there was one thing that I had to do before I got to rest. "Could one of you please assist me and my new friend on a task?"

The siblings seemed surprised by my request but they nodded. Great!

* * *

" _Ai so happy to see you!_ " Ai exclaimed.

" _Stop acting so carefree, Dark Ignis!_ " The blue Ignis put her arms on her hips angrily. " _What kind of trouble did you get yourself into this time?_ "

"So, how did you found this Ignis?" Kusanagi asked me.

I'm going to explain it so it makes more sense for all of you guys, right after I finished my duel with the Knight of Hanoi, I asked Evan to come with me to talk with Playmaker. I was actually surprised to find that Kusanagi and Yusaku haven't closed the hotdog stand with the invasion of Hanoi that was going on, but it was convenient enough for me. So, there we're, both Ignis were inside our Duel Disks on the table talking with one another while me and Yusaku were watching over them from the side, all while Kusanagi and Evan stood behind us.

"It just appeared into Link VRAINS out of nowhere." Evan answered in my place. "I haven't asked it yet how it came to the server."

" _Did you came all the way to here just to find me?_ " Ai asked. " _Awww, that's so sweet, you care about me!_ "

" _Actually, I fell to Link VRAINS by accident._ " The Blue Ignis turned to the rest of us. " _I was trying to run away from the Cyberse when I suddenly came near some strange vortex. At first I thought that it might be a new domain built by one of the other Ignis, it clearly wasn't made from a human, but then it attacked me. Although Firera was able to defend me for the most part, but she took a lot of damage so I used a special escape program that would turn off most of my systems and made it impossible to detect my Ignis algorithm. Unfortunately it appears that the vortex was able to damage the program while I was unconscious and I floated around the network until I fell into LINK VRAINS._ "

"A vortex attacked you?" Yusaku raised an eyebrow and I noticed him glance toward Evan.

" _More important than that,_ " Ai interfered. " _Why did you run away from Cyberse? I hide it away so no one should be able to find it._ "

"But someone or something did." The Blue Ignis lowered her head. "They found us and launched a devastating attack that left Cyberse in ruins."

" _What!?_ " Ai's eyes widened.

"Someone destroyed the Cyberse…" I repeated that line unconsciously, unsure what to make out of that information.

" _Yes, unfortunately the rest of us choose to separate when that happened, and I haven't heard a word from the remaining Ignis since then._ " The Blue Ignis put a hand on her chest.

" _Oh no!_ " Ai exclaimed again. " _What happened to Linkuriboh?_ "

"That's bad." Kusanagi muttered. "The Knights of Hanoi are after the Ignis, so if they heard that they have spread out throughout the network, the knights would do the same and if they attack other virtual realities as well…"

"We won't be able to fighting all of them." Evan sighed. "But the positive side is that now they probably know about the second Ignis and will focus even more on attacking us."

" _How exactly is that a positive side!?_ " Ai and the Blue Ignis shouted at the same time.

"The Knights have been trying to use the Another virus in order to infect me." Yusaku stated. "If they are to double their efforts, only more civilians are going to get hurt."

"That's not true." Everyone, including me, looked at Evan in confusion. "Unlike with you, they know where to find me and Proxy, so it's only a matter of time before they come knocking on the front door."

"If that's so, it would be best of the Ignis to run away while we draw their attention toward us." I said and looked back to the little creature.

" _I don't think that's a viable strategy._ " The Blue Ignis shook her head. " _The Knights' only goal is to destroy us. If they don't find me with you, they are just going to keep searching the network until they find me. Its selfish, but I would rather face them alongside you than run a race against time._ "

"So you are going to join the crew?" Ai asked.

" _Temporally until we neutralize the threat of the Knights of Hanoi._ " The Blue Ignis replied. " _After that, I will go search for the other Ignis._ "

"Fair enough." Kusanagi gave his nod of approval while Yusaku just shrugged.

" _Then after this all is over I will go back to the Cyberse and see if there is anything I could salvage of it._ " Ai stated. He never seemed to be as serious about a task as he was now, but I shouldn't expect anything less from him. We were talking about his home after all.

"I suggest that from now on Yusaku and Roxy move closer together when they are in Link VRAINS to ensure their safety." Evan suggested.

"No need to worry, I could take care of myself." Yusaku reassured, but I sweat dropped. Evan was suggesting that for my sake, wasn't he?

"I don't think he said it because of you, Yusaku." Even Kusanagi knew what Evan meant to suggest.

"With Blaze Rose and the Charisma Duelists backing us, it would be only a matter of time until you defeat all of the Knights." Evan leaned against a nearby wall. "There won't be much that I can do to help you out from here on."

"Eh?" I turned back to Evan. "What do you mean? Won't you fight with us?"

"No." Evan, much for my dismay, shook his head. "Saving VRAINS from destruction isn't my current objective, and I can't interfere anymore unless I find it absolutely necessary."

" _So there will be less of us? Just great._ " Ai dropped its head. Don't worry buddy, I share your pain!

" _If I may._ " The Blue Ignis raised her hand. " _Since the Dark Ignis was named Ai, shouldn't you name me as well?_ "

"What?" The Ignis wanted me to name it? "No, I can't do that!"

" _Huh?_ " The Ignis tilted its head. " _Why not?_ "

"Because you aren't a pet to me!" I exclaimed. "I think of you as a friend, so I don't have any rights over you. If anything, you should choose a name that you like and I will call you that."

" _Hey, hey!_ " Ai raised its hand. " _I got an awesome name for you! How about,_ "

" _Then I will call myself Aqua for the time being._ " The Blue Ignis/Aqua stated before Ai had a chance to give its suggestion. " _Since I'm water based and you use a water deck, I think it's a fitting name for a partner._ "

"If you say so." I sighed and smiled down at my new friend, Aqua.

* * *

 **3rd Pov**

Inside the base of Hanoi, Specter and the remaining two lieutenants were standing at the side with their heads bowed while Revolver watched a message on a screen. With how tightly he was clenching his fist and that aura of hatred that was radiating from his avatar, the knights knew that their leader was beyond enraged.

"A second Ignis showed up?" Revolver turned around to face his underlings. "Where were you to destroy it?"

"My apologies, Revolver-sama. This is all my fault." Specter stepped forward. "Dr. Kogami told me that it was something strange and I sent a group to investigate it without even suspecting that it could have been an Ignis. It was my short-sightedness why it managed to escape."

"Enough!" Revolver dismissed his second-in-command and stepped back. "If you are sorry for this, use everything you have to find the one who obtained it and take the Ignis from them."

"We were already able to identify the current holder of the Ignis as the girl that saved Playmaker from his duel with Picaro." Faust said.

"I have seen her dueling." Baira commented. "It wouldn't be hard to take the Ignis from someone like her."

"So the hard part will be to locate her?" Specter turned back to the lieutenants and they nodded to his question. "Then this will be a piece of cake."

"I have to disagree with you there."

Everyone turned around, Leaning against a wall next to the exit of the room was Picaro. The dark knight stepped forward with his hand and claw folded.

"I know that there is a secret server in Link VRAINS where she meets with her comrades, but they changed the entrance code after I left them, so you will have to figure that out by yourselves." Picaro said.

"And what would be heard in doing that?" Specter asked.

"The hard part comes after you enter." Picaro answered. "Entering that server would be like entering the lair of a dragon. Only difference would be that you got a better chance to survive a meeting with a dragon than the monster lurking in there."

"There he goes with his fairytales again." Specter rolled his eyes.

"If you don't believe then how about we make a bet?" Picaro looked at Revolver.

"Hmm? I don't have time for such pointless games." Revolver dismissed the idea.

"It's going to be a single bet." Picaro chuckled. "I want you to send your best Knights of Hanoi there. If they are able to survive one turn against the demon lurking in that server, I will admit that I'm wrong. They don't even need to win, just be able to survive until the Draw Phase of their first turn."

"What?" Specter laughed. "We are going to sweep the floor with that demon!"

"Then you two can play with that bet." Revolver commented. "I will prepare my best Knights of Hanoi to accompany you."

* * *

 **A/N: And Finish! Now Aqua is officially Proxy's partner! Bet you guys didn't see that one coming, unless you heard the last chapter. Funny think about Firera is that the name was first meant to be given to Tardix, you know, the Cyberse monster that got owned by Evan two chapters ago, but I gave up because Firera sounded a lot like "Firewall". In the end, I gave up trying to come up with a different name so now we have Yusaku with Firewall and Proxy with Firera.**

 **On a much, much more serious note: University starts next Monday for me, so there might be a few months gap between updates after this one. I'm not sure what's going to happen. So I was thinking that in case it really takes a long time to write chapters from here on, I could publishig a special "Update" sort of instead of a chapter where I could get you guys more familiar with the "behind the scene stuff" because there are several things I have trouble with at the moment. A small list of these would be a new archetype for Revolver to use in the final duel of season 1, coming up with cards for Proxy and etc.**

 **Of course it would be annoying for you guys to see an update on this story and to then find out that it's not actually a chapter, so I most likely won't do it, but if you guys got any ideas that you would like to see in this, my ears are all open for you suggestions!**

 **This A/N is already as long as it is so let's got to the reviews at long last.**

ScalchopWarrior **: Actually, I'm happy that you think the throne idea was dumb, 'cause I wanted to show how pointless, even stupid, things these two would do just to make themselves look like the big baddies. Also, I hope I gave Proxy justice in this chapter. She finally got herself another win!**

 **Diabolic Tracer out!**


	28. Chapter 28

New League

 **Proxy's POV**

I stared in awe as data began to gather within the small cube that the Greyson have put on the table in the living room. The little pixels connected and slowly began to form the card of a Link Monster. It always amazed me how there could exist technology with the ability to turn data into physical matter. Just imagine if someone enhanced this technology to be able to do the same thing with things other than trading cards!

" _So, that's what the real world looks like?"_ Firera's miniature form poked from my Duel Disk and looked around the room. _"Even though my card is now physical, I'm still connected to it. It feels really weird to be a real being and not just data. Right, Aqua?"_

" _It's not hard to get used to."_ Aqua raised from my Duel Disk as well and looked over to the Greysons. _"Thank you for having us stay with you. Protecting us from the Knights of Hanoi and all. I'm happy to know that not all humans thing of us as enemies."_

"Just don't pull us in any trouble and we're even." Evan waved a hand nonchalantly and turned back to his card making machine.

"Couldn't you be a little more warn toward guests?" I pouted at his cold response. It wasn't going to hurt anyone if he tried to be a little nicer toward others. Even if they weren't fully human. Or half human… Or have any human traits at all…

"It's amazing to see a Duel Monster with a free will." And while Evan was being a meanie, Avice was looking down at my Duel Disk, poking Firera's forehead with her index finger.

Firera didn't show to mind the attention, but from the way that Aqua looked at the Greysons I could tell that she was a little bothered by it and I won't lie, it confuses me how neither of them seems to care about the Ignis, but the moment they saw a Duel Monster with the ability to talk, they completely forgot about everything and put all of their attention onto Firera. They behavior is so hard to read and understand at times that, I swear, it would be easier to have meaningful conversation with aliens that them.

"Don't mind me asking, and I hope that this won't sound insulting to Firera, but why are Duel Monsters with a free will such a big deal for you?" I finally asked them. "I mean, I know that monsters can't have free will normally, but shouldn't it be easy to put an AI into one of them?"

"You are very wrong~" Avice shook her head and sat down next to me on the sofa. "Before LINK VRAINS appeared, almost all monsters used to have a free will. Yes, most of them were unable to talk or show their consciousness for the most part, but it was there. But since humans couldn't understand the existence of a soul within the card, when they started to create a virtual monster, none of them tried to implement a 'soul', creating cool-looking, but hallow replicas of the real thing."

Duel Monsters have souls? That was a… crazy idea if I have to be honest, but maybe that was why I felt such a close connection to my cards. Grand Ranger Serene was always there when I needed her and protected me from harm even outside of duels.

" _Can I say; I'm offended that you think of Cyberse monsters as downgrades."_ Aqua replied before lowering her head. _"But I must admit, I have never heard that other monsters could have souls. If this is indeed true, it's a knowledge that humans haven't shared on virtual reality."_

"That's because most humans don't know about the existence of souls within their cards." Evan walked over to us and handled me the card of Firera, Firmware Cyberse Dragon.

" _Then how do you know that other monsters have souls?"_ Aqua asked.

"It's a hunch that I got." Evan put his hand on my head and ruffled my hair.

"Hey!" I protested and tried to push his hand away, but he just laughed. "Stop that!" I pouted at his childishness. "Do you know how long it takes to get my hair this way?"

"It's your fault for being so cute to tease." I looked away, feeling a blush creeping up my face. Jeez, it wasn't fair to first annoy me like this and then say things like this! Completely unfair!

At that moment there was a beeping at Avice's Duel Disk and she looked at it. "A PM from Vermilya." Avice told me and stood up. "It reads here that the Knights of Hanoi are sending even more troops into the servers. It seems that your time to jump back into the actions came quickly."

"Wait, it's my time to go?" I asked her. "What about the two of you? Won't you come to help out? She send the message to you after all?"

Avice tilted her head to the side and then raised her hand in front of me and poked my forehead. Ouch! "How many times do we need to tell you that this war isn't ours? As long as Hanoi doesn't do anything that could destroy the world, be it this one or the virtual, I have no reason to join."

" _Then why were you there when the Knights of Hanoi tried to take me?"_ Aqua question them. _"I've the ability to detect a lie and although I find nothing but honestly in your words, I'm unable to form a conclusion about your objectives or what're your intentions."_

"As long as you understand that we have no interest in destoying the Cyberse, minor stuff like this doesn't really concern you, does it?" I glared at Evan. That was such a rude way to say something!

" _Let me chance Aqua's question then."_ Firera joined into the conversation. _"What she, and me, want to understand is, why, despite you having no interest in fighting the Knights of Hanoi, there's such a strong presence of Cyberse radiating from your decks?"_

"You two have Cyberse monsters as well?" I asked them.

The Greysons looked at me and just shrugged before turning around to leave the room. _"Hey wait, you haven't answered our question? Aqua, say something?"_

" _There isn't anything I could say to make them answer us, could I?"_ Aqua shook her head. _"We didn't try to keep Cyberse away from humans before the Knights of Hanoi attacked us. We should be thankful that some of our comrades were safe despite Hanoi's attempts to hunt us down."_

"Still…" I looked at them as they left the room. Seriously, how many awesome things do these two have? All those trophies they keep hidden on the third floor, their oGear decks and now they also got a Cyberse Monsters.

" _We should go now!"_ Firera looked over at me. _"Come on! My circuit is boiling for a good fight! Let's take a hundred Knights of Hanoi today!"_

"Could we settle for just two for today?" I requested. "And nothing above the rank of recruit either, ok?"

"Come on!" Firera groaned and averted her eyes. "I have the right to have some fun as well, don't I?"

I would only prefer if that 'fun' that Firera wants wasn't to fight cyber-terrorists, but I couldn't abandon my friends that are fighting for the network either. There really wasn't an alternative choice for me, was there?

"Into the VRAINS!"

* * *

 **3** **rd** **POV**

Blaze Rose flew over the building of LINK VRAINS. The girl looked down at the empty streets. Playmaker and Go were somewhere down there, fighting to save LINK VRAINS. Even though she once thought of this place as nothing but a mean to an end, here she was, protecting the servers like everyone else was doing. Blaze Rose closed her eyes for a moment and then reopened them again to look at the Darkness Neosphere looming over her with 4000 ATK.

"Battle!" The Knight of Hanoi laughed and gestured forward. "I attack NitroGear Warrior with Darkness Neosphere!"

The demonic monster with the face of a woman suddenly turned its head on 180 degree and a single eye opened on the back of its head. Blaze Rose's expression changed from neutral to one of disgust and the fiend fired a single purple laser from its eyeball, cutting NitroGear Warrior in half. Blaze Rose put her hands in front of her body as her Synchro's remains exploded.

 **『** **Blaze Rose LP: 1600 - 1200** → **400** **』**

"Aaaarrrgggggghhhhhhh!" Despite her desperate attempt to protect herself, her arms did little to spot the shockwave that resulted from the explosion to send her flying off her D-Board. She reached out with her hand to try and grab it, but it was no use, she was too far away to catch anything and the only thing around her were the empty streets below her descending body.

"Got you!"

Blaze Rose gasped. A hand grabbed her own and began to pull her back toward the sky where her D-Board was. The female duelist blinked twice and then turned her head to look at the duelist that just saved her. What she saw was familiar long black hair with several curls falling over crimson eyes, dark purple lipstick, but most important of all, she was a small on the face of her savior, something that she hasn't seen in ages!

"Gloomy Ruby?" Blaze Rose muttered, rubbing her eyes with her free hand. "Is that you? What are you doing here?"

"Someone gave me a motivation to come back here." Gloomy Ruby replied. "Also, I think I'm going to go back to my original name, Shining Ruby."

"You…" Blaze Rose shook her head, a small smile appeared on her face as well. "You idiot! If you plan to disappear just to reappear like this, then at least warm me next time!"

"I can't promise anything." Shining Ruby replied. "Now, don't you have a duel to finish?"

Not saying anything else, Shining Ruby speeded forward, managing to catch up with Blaze Rose's D-Board that was still surfing through the winds. Once she was close enough, the girl pulled her arm back and then threw Blaze Rose forward, with the later landing on top of her D-Board.

"So you came back with a friend?" The Knight of Hanoi asked annoyed. "How annoying. You should have let her crash, but instead she is going to suffer even more now!"

"Don't count on it!" Blaze Rose shouted and the green edges of her outfit began to glow with green flames igniting in her right hand. "When a Nitro Synchro monster is destroyed I can activate my Skill - _Burning Spirit_! Through this ability, I revive _NitroGear Warrior (Lv.7, ATK: 2800)_ and then destroy all non-FIRE monsters in the Main Monster Zones as well as dealing five hundred damage to everyone whose monster was destroyed by this ability!"

"But the only monster on my field is the DARK attribute Darkness Neosphere!" The Knight of Hanoi gulped and looked at his monster which exploded, knocking him back.

 **『** **Knight of Hanoi LP: 3200 - 500** → **2700** **』**

"Because this happened during your Battle Phase, there is no Main Phase two and therefore we move to my turn!" Blaze Rose told her opponent and draw a card, adding it to her hand. "Now let's battle! NitroGear Warrior attack the opponent directly and end this duel! _Nitro One-Hit_!"

The huge warrior roared and charged at the Knight of Hanoi with its jets, slamming its fists into the unprotected duelist. The Knight of Hanoi screamed and fell of his D-Board, his body turning dark and then falling apart before it could hit the ground. Purging the weak so they couldn't give any information about what Hanoi was planning, a cruel yet effective way to keep the future plans of the Knights of Hanoi safe from the enemies of the group.

 **『** **Knight of Hanoi LP: 2700 - 2800** → **0** **』**

 **『** **Winner: Blaze Rose** **』**

"You haven't lost your edge." Shining Ruby noted.

"These foot soldiers are nothing are the Knights of Hanoi know it just as well as we do." Blaze Rose commented. "All they are doing right now is buying time and I don't like that they are actually succeeding."

"It won't be over until you cut off the head of the snake, right?" Shining Ruby wondered.

"Yes." Blaze Rose nodded. "As long as the Knights of Hanoi have a leader to follow. This fight isn't one that you need to fight."

"But it's one that I want to be a part of!" Shining Ruby protested. She moved a hand over her chest and then looked away. "After I was saved from Hanoi's virus I thought that everything in my life would change for the better if I just gave up on LINK VRAINS and move forward, but I was wrong. A man that entered my life just showed me that what I was running away wasn't misfortune, but my own fears."

"A man told you this?" Blaze Rose's eyes widened as she realized who that could have been. "Damn you, Greyson."

"The way that you are talking to me, you think of me as a friend, don't you?" Shining Ruby asked.

"Yes, I do." Blaze Rose nodded. "Even though we were never on friendly terms, I didn't have you and, actually, I looked up to your dueling skills a lot!"

"Then there's a reason for me to fight against Hanoi." Shining Ruby smiled again.

"If that's your desire, I can't force you to give up." Blaze Rose sighed and then nodded. "Just… make sure to keep safe, ok?"

"You bet on it!" Shining Ruby gave a thumb up.

"Blaze Rose!"

The two female duelists looked down and met with Go who was riding his own D-Board, coming toward them. The two former Charisma Duelists moved away from one another, giving place for the Number One to fly between the two of them.

"What's going on?" Blaze Rose asked.

"I saw you falling from the sky while I dueled." Go told her. "Are you ok?"

"Don't worry about me." Blaze Rose sighed and gestured toward her companion. "Shining Ruby saved me from the fall."

"So, you are back?" Go turned toward the Vampire user.

"Back and ready to help out with anything I can!" Shining Ruby nodded. "What about the other Charisma Duelists? Where are they right now?"

Go lowered his head almost ashamed to answer her question. "They all abandoned LINK VRAINS the moment the Knights of Hanoi invaded. We and Playmaker are the only ones that remain to keep the line against them. There's also no word from SOL Technology either, so we shouldn't hope on reinforcements either."

"So that's how bad it is?" Shining Ruby muttered. "But even if we are only four, we can still win, right?"

"Absolutely!" Go and Blaze Rose replied in unison.

"Great!" Shining Ruby clenched her fist triumphantly.

As they continued to move through the sky a portal suddenly opened in front of them and a grey blur flew past them. As Shining Ruby and Go could turned their heads to follow it, they noticed that Blaze Rose was gone. That observation was followed by the upper half of a skyscraper suddenly collapsing. Eyes widened, Shining Ruby and Go looked at each other.

"W-what was that?" Shining Ruby asked.

"I don't know." Go shook his head. "But whatever it was, it took Blaze Rose with itself. I'll follow it, while you make sure that no Knights of Hanoi come after me."

"Count on me to keep them off your back!" Shining Ruby nodded in agreement and flew off toward the city.

"Now to find what this thing was." Go muttered to himself and flew in the other direction, soon reaching the collapsed skyscraper whose top was covered by smoke.

The Charisma Duelist jumped off his D-Board and landed on the remains before looking around. The smoke was getting into Go's eyes, prompting him to move his hand in front of his face while further narrowing the range of his view.

"What could have done this?" Go wondered out loud, when he noticed something moving in the smoke.

Realizing what was going on, Go threw his arms to the side and let Blaze Rose's body to slam against his before wrapping his arms around her. Looking down at her avatar, he noticed several large cuts covering her body.

"What happened?" Go asked.

"Something… tried to steal… it's dangerous." Blaze Rose coughed and then put a hand on Go's shoulder. "I-I can stand, so you can let me down now."

"Don't push yourself too much." Go warned her, but followed her request and put her down. "Were you able to take a good look at who attacked you?"

" _What_." Blaze Rose corrected. "It definitely wasn't a human that got me. Its moves were too fast and well calculated, far beyond the capabilities of a human."

"You are correct there."

As the smoke began to fade away, a creature made of dark grey metal stepped toward the Charisma Duelists. Its body was slim and it stood hunched. Its body had three arms, two of which had only three fingers, while the third started from the elbow of the left hand and had four fingers. The strange creature also had four legs with the second, slimmer, pair starting from the knees of the prime set of legs. Lastly was its face, which appeared to be glitched out with two yellow eyes glowing on the right side of its face.

"What are you?" Go wondered.

"Something beyond the capabilities of human understanding." The creature replied and threw its arms in the air. "Your kind wouldn't be able to understand my name, so call me Li'Tch!"

"If your original is beyond human understanding, this one is beyond our ability to spell." Blaze Rose muttered. "Now, why did you attack me?"

"For your deck, obviously." Li'Tch replied. "I was send by my kin to collect this cursed set of cards!"

"I'm completely lost." Go admitted.

"Then that makes two of us." Blaze Rose sighed and raised her left hand. "But I have a bad feeling about what's going to happen if I let Li… whatever its names was, lay a hand on this deck."

"Taking away someone's deck is the lowest point a scum could reach." Go stated. "Therefore, I'll duel beside you if this is ok with you."

"Heh, I'm still tired from taking twelve Knights of Hanoi in a row." Blaze Rose smirked.

"I took out eighteen." Go responded with a smirk on his own.

"Show off."

"That's how it's going to be then. A two versus one duel." Li'Tch replied and a blue-green cube appeared in its secondary arm. "Then allow me to make sure no unwanted guests interfere with this duel!"

Li'Tch threw the cube in the air and it burst, however, instead of an explosion it released a code made from symbols that neither Blaze Rose nor Go understood. This code fell on the ground and transformed it into a light grey goo-like material that was moving, yet hard enough to keep the three on them on top of itself. Following that the same data raised from all sides and connected together above the duelists' heads, creating a cube.

"This thing created its own field." Blaze Rose examined the surroundings.

"Let's begin!" The back of the monster's primal left arm split open and a small white core appeared inside of it.

"DUEL!"

 **『** **Li'Tch Hand: 5 [LP: 4000] (VS) Blaze Rose Hand: 5 & Go Hand: 5 [LP: 4000]** **』**

"To make it more fair, I'll take my turn only in between the turns of opponent one." Li'Tch pointed toward Blaze Rose. "And opponent two." It then pointed at Go.

"That means that right after my turn it would be Blaze Rose's." Go realized. "Why would you put yourself at such a disadvantageous position?"

"Disadvantageous position?" Li'Tch looked at the Charisma Duelist. "I do this because it would be boring for me to defeat the two of you easily. By overcoming this challenge, I won't only finish my task, but also show humans why you have no chance against my kin. I'll make you face despair!"

"You keep talking about humans like you aren't one of us." Blaze Rose noted. "Are you an AI? An Ignis?"

"Take your turn." Li'Tch responded.

"Very well then!" Blaze Rose shouted. "I activate the Spell, One for One, to discard NitroGear Coarms Cicada and Special Summon the Level One monster, _NitroGear Laughing Doc (Lv.1, ATK: 200)_ from my deck!"

A tiny nitro tank with armored white body that had a large red cross at its front and two yellow eyes appeared in front of Blaze Rose.

"Next, I Normal Summon _NitroGear Acid Lancer (Lv.4, ATK: 1700)_." A green skinned warrior holding a burning spear appeared next. "Also I activate Acid Lancer's effect to change Laughing Doc's battle position and because I changed it to Defense Position, Acid Lancer's effect allows me to also draw a card!"

"Are you going for a Synchro Summon?" Go asked.

"I have a Link Two monster, but it wouldn't be as useful with my current cards." Blaze Rose replied. "But don't worry, I have a way to secure a zone for your Extra Deck monsters." Blaze Rose then threw her arm upward. "Now I tune my my Level One Laughing Doc to Level Four Acid Lancer!"

A blue lightning fell onto Blaze Rose's field and created a shockwave as the two monsters turned into give rings of fire, one blue rotating above the four yellow ones below it. The number '1' and '4' appeared burning next to each the blue and yellow rings respectively and then they all overplayed creating a gate of flames. Inside the gate, five red rings appeared one after another and a light emerged from them.

" _Burning in the flames of calamity. Raise a new legend forged with molten metal! Synchro Summon! Level Five! **NitroGear**_ _ **Vikignis**_ _!_ "

Out of the beam rose a monster made from red rock with black joins. Its legs were six with a spider's abdomen and a sting coming out of it. The monster's chest and shoulders were covered by dark grey metal and its arms ended with large needles in place of wrists. Its head was shaped like a samurai helmet made from rock with burning orange eyes.

* * *

 **NitroGear Vikignis**

 **Level: 5/Attribute: FIRE/Type: Warrior/Synchro/Effect**

 **ATK: 2200/DEF: 1400**

 **1 Tuner monster + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters**

 **Effect: Once per turn (Quick Effect): You can tribute 1 "oGear" monster you control; until the end of this turn, this card gains 600 ATK and if it attacks a Defense Position monster, inflict piercing battle damage to your opponent. If this card is Special Summoned from the GY, you can target 1 Tuner monster in either player's GY: Special Summon that target on your side of the field, but send it to the GY during the End Phase of this turn.**

* * *

"Now I activate the Continuous Spell: _**Blueprints of Gears**_!" As the Spell Card appeared on Blaze Rose's field, its artwork showed small robots of different colors working in a factory, rearranging the positioning of much bigger robots.

* * *

 **Blueprints of Gears (Spell) Continuous**

 **Once per turn: You can target 1 "oGear" monster in your Extra Monster Zone; move it to a Main Monster Zone on your side of the field, and if you do, you can declare 1 Attribute; Special Summon 1 "oGear Token" (Machine/?/Level 2/ATK 0/DEF 0) with the declared Attribute to your field in Defense Position.**

* * *

"With Blueprints of Gears' effect I can move NitroGear Vikignis from my Extra Monster Zone to the Main Monster Zone and then I Special Summon one _oGear Token (Lv.2, DEF: 0)_ with an attribute of my liking. I choose to summon a FIRE token!"

A pile of gears connected together to form a sphere appeared on Blaze Rose's field and Vikignis jumped back to land on the right side of the token.

"I end my turn with this." Blaze Rose finished. "Your turn."

"I draw." Li'Tch's secondary hand pressed against the core on his prime arm and a completely white card formed out of it before flying over in front of Li'Tch, joining five other cards that looked the same way.

 **『** **Turn 2 [Li'Tch] LP: 4000, Hand: 6** **』**

"I'll start by Normal Summoning _**Motolord Heir**_!" A small monster made from blue, green and red cables tied together into a ball appeared on the field. The creature had several plates of metal attached to the sides of its body and a single red yellow was glowing inside the pile of cables.

* * *

 **Motolord Heir**

 **Level: 1/Attribute: EARTH/Type: Machine/Effect**

 **ATK: 0/DEF: 0**

 **Effect: When this card is Summoned: Change it to Defense Position. During the End Phase of the turn this card was destroyed and send to the GY, you can look at the top three cards of your deck: Special Summon 1 "Motorlord" monster among them, also return the rest to the top of your deck in any order.**

* * *

"When Motolord Heir is summoned it changes to Defense Position." Li'Tch explained. "Next, I set one card and end my turn."

"What? That's all?" Go wondered. "Only a single monster with no defense value and a set card?"

"That's all I need to defeat the two of you." Li'Tch stated. "You humans enjoy implementing difficult combos in your dueling styles in order to confuse each other, but unlike you we don't need to rely on such roundabout tactics."

"So you rely on simple plays because of that?" Go guessed. "But I'll break through this formation. My turn!"

 **『** **Turn 3 [Go] LP: 4000, Hand: 6** **』**

"First, I Normal Summon _Gouki Suprex (Lv.4, ATK: 1800)_." A blue skinned wrestler appeared on Go's field. "When Suprex is Normal Summoned I can Special Summon a Gouki monster from my hand, I choose _Gouki Bearhug (Lv.6, ATK: 2400)_." A second, larger monster that wore bearskin on its head and back landed next to Suprex and roared. "Then, I'll discard Gouki Twistcobra from my hand to Special Summon _Gouki Headbatt (Lv.2, DEF: 0)_!"

"You already got three monsters out on the field." Blaze Rose noted. "Are we going to do it now?"

"Not yet." Go shook his head. "When Headbatt is Special Summoned by its own effect, I can increase the attack points of another monster by eight hundred. I choose Suprex." A red aura went through the blue wrestler, increasing its attack points.

 **Gouki Suprex, ATK: 1800 + 800** → **2600**

"Appear! My circuit!" The normal circuit square appeared above Go. "Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are two or more Gouki monsters! I set Suprex, Bearhug and Headbatt in the Link Markers!" the three monsters turned into whirlwinds that flew into the top, bottom left and bottom right arrows. "Link Summon! Appear, Link Three! _Gouki the Thunder Ogre (ATK: 2200, Link-3)!_ "

A large monster in red, yellow and black fell from the circuit with two electric batons attached to the back of its wrists.

"Now due to the effect of my three Gouki monsters that were send to the Graveyard, I can add three new Gouki cards from my deck to the hand." Go explained as his new cards formed before him. "I'll now activate the Spell – _Gouki Re-Match_ to revive _Gouki Twistcobra (Lv.3, DEF: 0)_ and _Gouki Bearhug (Lv.6, DEF: 0)_! Finally, I'm going to activate the Field Spell, _Gouki Deathmatch_ , placing three counters on it!"

"Counters?" Li'Tch wondered. "Ah, I see. When your Gouki destroys a monster through battle Deathmatch loses a counter and when there are no more counters you get to Special Summon Gouki with different names from your deck and hand, right?"

"Hmm, so you know about my deck?" Go inquired.

"I just read your cards' effects when they are played." Li'Tch explained. "I believe that you are going to attack me now, correct? In this match, you are allowed to use your ally's cards, so if the girl is fine with it, you could use her monster."

"Then you can go ahead, Number One." Blaze Rose turned to her fellow Charisma Duelist. "Go for it! I'll support you."

"With your strength added, I'll be sure to end it this turn!" Go promised. "I activate Vikignis' effect! By releasing oGear Token, I can increase Vikignis' attack by six hundred until the end of this turn and give it the ability to inflict piercing battle damage!"

 **NitroGear Vikignis, ATK: 2200 + 600** → **2800**

"Now battle! I attack Motolord Heir with Vikignis!" The Synchro gave out a battle cry and threw its burning axes toward the pile of cables, cutting them into pieces that then exploded and set the field on fire. "And because of Vikignis' effect you will take the difference as battle damage!"

"At this moment I activate my Trap Card: _**Motolord Reprinter**_!" A large metal square filled with cables and broken gears appeared in front of Li'Tch and absorbed the flames from his side of the field. "When I would take damage, I can Special Summon Motolord Reprinter as a monster and turn the damage into its attack power!"

* * *

 **Motolord Reprinter (Trap) Normal**

 **During the damage calculation of your opponent's turn, if you would take damage, you can activate this card. All damage you take from this battle becomes 0, then Special Summon this card on your field in Attack Position as an Effect Monster (Lv.8/DARK/Machine/ATK: ?/DEF: 0). This card's original ATK becomes equal to the battle damage negated by this card's effects. When this card is destroyed while it was in your Main Monster Zone: Destroy all monsters in your opponent's Main Monster Zone.**

* * *

' _A trap to negate piercing damage…'_ Blaze Rose thought and looked at her Duel Disk. _'This thing said that its target was my deck so could it be that this deck is…'_

 **Motolord Reprinter, Lv.8, ATK: 0** → **2800**

"You were able to avoid taking damage the first attack, but you won't stop the second!" Go exclaimed. "Gouki the Thunder Ogre attack Motolord Reprinter! Ultimo Thunder!"

"Now you are going to attack Twistcobra's effect to release a Gouki and increase Thunder Ogre's attack, right?" Li'Tch asked.

"That's right!" Go responded and pointed toward his other two Gouki monsters. "I activate Twistcobra's effect to release Bearhug and give its attack points over to Thunder Ogre!" the large monster burst into pixels and electricity shot out of Thunder Ogre's arms, increasing its power.

 **Gouki the Thunder Ogre, ATK: 2200 + 2400** → **4600**

The large Gouki monster roared and threw its fists forward, firing bolts of electricity that pierced through the cables of Reprinter, setting the machine on fire after which it exploded. Li'Tch hissed and covered its body with its left arms, which glitched out from the damage it took.

 **『** **Li'Tch LP: 4000 - 1800** → **2200** **』**

"You say that your plays were superior, but in the end, together, we were able to break through your field." Go pointed out. "And because it was a Gouki that attacked you the effect of Deathmatch removes one counter from my Field Spell."

"Reprinter's second effect activates." Li'Tch raised his hand and the destroyed monster raised from the ground, landing between Go and Blaze Rose's monsters. "When Reprinter is destroyed while being a monster, I can destroy all monsters in your Main Monster Zones!"

"WHAT!?"

Blaze Rose and Go looked up in shock and the machine exploded, creating a chain reaction of explosions that covered the two Charisma Duelists' entire field. Gouki Twistcobra and NitroGear Vikignis screamed in pain before they faded away as well, leaving only Gouki the Thunder Ogre on their field.

"Due to Thunder Ogre's effect when a monster it points to is destroyed, Thunder Ogre gains four hundred attack points!" the Link Monster raised its arms and electricity flew through them, increasing its strength.

 **Gouki the Thunder Ogre, ATK: 4600 + 400** → **5000**

"However, during the End Phase the effect of Twistcobra will end and your monster will lose most of its boost, right?" Li'Tch asked sarcastically.

"You already know my cards' effects." Go responded. "I end my turn. At this moment the effect of Gouki Twistcobra ends and Thunder Ogre's attack returns to normal."

 **Gouki the Thunder Ogre, ATK: 5000 - 2400** → **2600**

"At this moment the effect of my Heir activates as well!" Li'Tch countered. "During the End Phase of the turn its destroyed I can look at the top three cards of my deck and Special Summon a single Motolord monster among the cards that I looked at, then the rest are returned into whichever order I see fit."

Three cards appeared in front of Li'Tch and it looked through them before turning back toward the two Charisma Duelists.

"It seems I drew the new power given to our kin. BEHOLD! Due to Motolord Heir's effect I'll Special Summon _**Motolord Fiend**_ from my deck!" Li'Tch took the middle card and threw it onto its field.

A large column of white wind shot into the sky. Darkness covered the virtual sun and lightnings began to fall onto nearby buildings, destroying them. Data fell around the three duelists, disintegrating into the air until nothing remained.

Several cables stick out of the ground and began to tie themselves together, creating the monster's limps. First, they created four bent backward legs, then a long body that had two long arms sticking out of its sides and a single red optic sticking from the top of the headless body.

The ground underneath the duelists then began to crack and pieces of metal flew toward the cable monster, attaching themselves to it. The data of the new times began to change, transforming them into rusty metal plates that covered the beast's chest and back with two buzz saws sticking from its back. The cables that made the monsters arms and legs all knitted around several metal poles, giving the body a supporting structure to keep it standing.

Instead of an actual head, the new monster had a jaw made from all sort of sharp metal structures with the inner layer being covered in saws and rotating blades. The single red optic glowed on the left side of the monster's mouth. The beast smashed its arms into the ground and pulled out two metal poles that it connected to the back of its left wrist.

* * *

 **Motolord Fiend**

 **Attribute: DARK/Type: Machine/Pseudo-Link/Effect**

 **ATK: 2600/Link-3**

 **Effect: (This card is always treated as a Level 7 monster.) When this card is Special Summoned by the effect of a "Moto" card: Choose three of this card's locked Link Arrows and activate them. Once per turn, you can destroy all cards that this card points to. If this card is destroyed by a card effect: Special Summon this card on your field during your next Standby Phase.**

* * *

"W-what is this?" Go questioned.

"A Main Deck monster with Link Rating?" Blaze Rose gulped nervously.

"Behold! The superior Link Monsters that don't need an Extra Deck in order to exist!" Li'Tch laughed. "Pseudo Links are the new evolution of monsters that can manipulate their own Link Markers at will! For instance, when Motolord Field gets summoned out on the field by the effect of a Moto card I can choose which three of its arrows I want to activate. The ones I will go with are the top, the left and the right ones!"

 **Motolord Fiend, Link Arrow: ?** → **Link Arrow: Left, Top, Right**

'Its monster is co-linked with mine now.' Go thought. 'That must be bad news.'

"Unfortunately, you won't have the chance to use Motolord Fiend's effects!" Blaze Rose declared. "Due to your own request, your turn will only come between mine and Go's so now it's my turn again. Draw!"

 **『** **Turn 4 [Blaze Rose] LP: 4000, Hand: 4** **』**

"First, I'll Normal Summon _NitroGear Zest Supporter (Lv.1, ATK: 100)_." The small chibi made of rocks jumped lively on Blaze Rose's field. "Then I activate the Spell Card – _Circle of the Fire Kings_ to destroy NitroGear Zest Supporter and revive _NitroGear Vikignis (Lv.5, ATK: 2200)_!"

Suddenly NitroGear Zest Supporter's body burst into flames and Vikignis came out of them.

"When Vikignis is Special Summoned from the Graveyard its effect lets me bring out a Tuner from my Graveyard, so, raise again, _NitroGear Laughing Doc (Lv.1, ATK: 200)_!" Vikignis reached out and cased a circle of flames through which a tiny nitro tank flew onto the field. "And now, I tune my two monsters together!"

A blue lightning fell onto Blaze Rose's field and created a shockwave as the two monsters turned into four rings of fire, five yellow rotating inside one another and one blue doing the same above the others. The number '5' and '1' appeared burning next to the yellow and blue rings respectively and then they all overplayed creating a gate of flames. Inside the gate, six red rings appeared one after another and a light emerged from within them.

" _The flaming beast living if a forest of ash and fire. Arm yourself, a final war is coming our way! Synchro Summon! Level Six! NitroGear Twin Blaster (Lv.6, ATK: 2400)!_ "

Out of the beam of light came a green skinned monster with black armor on his shoulder, arms and legs along with several orange spikes. The creature had bee-like wings on its back and two large black cannons on its shoulders.

"Next, I activate the Continuous Spell - _NitroGear Active Force_! This card can once per turn change the battle position of one on the field!"

"Oh? But Motolord Fiend and Gouki the Thunder Ogre don't have defense therefore they can't have their attack positions changed." Li'Tch pointed out. "In other words, you can only activate the effect to change Twin Blaster's battle position."

"Heh, but I'm not going to use that effect." Blaze Rose snapped her fingers and her Synchro monster's body ignited. "Twin Blaster's own effect will increase its attack points by a thousand during battle if I have activated a Spell during this turn!"

 **NitroGear Twin Blaster, ATK: 2400 + 1000** → **3400**

"Now I'm going to destroy that Pseudo-Link Monster of yours and end this duel in two swings!" Blaze Rose exclaimed. "Go, Twin Blaster! Attack Motolord Fiend! Twin Nitro Explosion!"

The Synchro monster roared and aimed its cannons down firing two orbs of molten rock toward Motolord Fiend. The Pseudo-Link roared and swung its claws cutting through the first orb, but the second one hit it in the chest exploding. The fiend screamed out and its body faded into the resulting cloud of smoke.

 **『** **Li'Tch LP: 2200 - 800** → **1400** **』**

"Now that your fiend was destroyed we can attack you directly with Gouki the Thunder Ogre and end this match." Blaze Rose scoffed at the strange creature she was facing. "That's what you get for challenging us thinking that you are superior."

"Is that so?" a glowing card formed in Li'Tch's hand and the monster threw it into the cloud of smoke. A beam of light shot into the sky and all of the smoke flew away revealing Motolord Field standing in the center of a huge crater.

"Y-your monster is still alive?" Go gasped.

"That's because I activate the effect of my Trap Card – _**Motolord Scarecrow**_!" A white card appeared next to Li'Tch, however neither Go nor Blaze Rose could read what was written on it. The entire card text was made from symbols that weren't human-made and the artwork itself appeared to be glitched out making it impossible to understand anything about the card.

* * *

 **Motolord Scarecrow (Trap) Normal**

 **When a "Moto" card(s) you control would be destroyed by battle or card effect while you have no Spell or Trap Cards in your Spell/Trap Zone, you can destroy this card in your hand instead of one of those cards. If this effect is activated during the Battle Phase, end the Battle Phase.**

* * *

"But you had only one set card on your field." Go pointed out. "Unless you…"

"Bingo! I activated Motolord Scarecrow from my hand! I'm able to do that only when there are no Spell or Trap Cards on my field, but in return for this condition, Scarecrow lets me destroy it in place of one of my Moto cards. Also because this effect happened during the Battle Phase, I'm also able to end the Battle Phase."

"During the end of the battle my monster's attack also returns to normal." Blaze Rose muttered as Twin Blaster's flames died down and the monster returned to normal.

 **NitroGear Twin Blaster, ATK: 3400 - 1000** → **2400**

"I'll end my turn there." Blaze Rose finished.

"You had two turns to beat me and you could even drop my Life Points below a thousand, such a disappointment." Li'Tch sighed. "It's time to get serious, so try to keep up with me. My turn. Draw!"

 **『** **Turn 5 [Li'Tch] LP: 1400, Hand: 4** **』**

"First I'm going to Normal Summon _**Motolord Spawn**_." A pile of metal with several cables sticking out of its body and a single blue optic sticking from the top of the pile appeared next to Fiend's left arrow.

* * *

 **Motolord Spawn**

 **Level: 1/Attribute: EARTH/Type: Machine/Effect**

 **ATK: 0/DEF: 0**

 **Effect: If this card is destroyed by battle or card effect and send to the GY, you can Special Summon 2 "Moto Tokens" (Machine/EARTH/Level 1/ATK: 0/DEF: 0) in Defense Position. During your Standby Phase: You can banish this card from your GY: Add 1 "Moto" card from your deck to the hand.**

* * *

"And now, I'm going to activate Motolord Fiend's effect! Once per turn I can destroy all cards that this monster points to! _**Motor Arrow**_!" Li'Tch raised his arm and three crimson arrows appeared around his monsters, one in front of it and two at its sides. The beast roared and its arrows all shot to the sides, striking down Motolord Spawn and Gouki the Thunder Ogre.

"Destroying his own monsters… How vicious." Go commented.

"When Spawn is destroyed I can Special Summon two Moto Tokens on my field!" Two portals appeared at each side of Li'Tch and two pairs of cables tied together in the form of worms fell from the portals. "And now we will go to the fun part! Appear, circuit of collapse!"

A large square appeared behind Li'Tch, however it wasn't the same as others. Part of it were torn off and the arrows had large cracks inside of them, the inside of the square was dark and hollow.

"Arrowheads confirmed!" Li'Tch laughed and threw his left arms forward. "Summoning conditions are two Moto monsters! I set my two Moto Tokens in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _**Motolord Engineeroid**_!"

A mechanical bird-like creature appeared out of the square. The beast's chest was opened with pieces of hardware and large piles of cables sticking out of it. The monster appeared to have had legs which were torn from the knees down leaving only a metal pipe and several cables that were hanging from the holes in its knees. Engineeroid had long arms, which acted as wings with the fingers splitting into a hundred small blades that formed some sort of metal feathers. Finally, the monster's head had five red optics in the center and a mouth whose lower jaw was missing entirely. The strange bird-like monster flew over Li'Tch and made a loud screeching sound.

* * *

 **Motolord Engineeroid**

 **Attribute: LIGHT/Type: Cyberse/Link/Effect**

 **Link Arrows: Bottom-Left, Bottom-Right**

 **ATK: 600/Link-2**

 **2 "Moto" monsters**

 **Effect: Once per turn (Quick Effect): You can destroy 1 monster this card points to. While this card is co-linked opponent cannot target this card for battle or with card effects, also you take no battle damage from battles involving monsters this card points to. If this Link Summoned card is destroyed by battle or card effect and send to the GY: Special Summon 1 "Moto" monster from your GY, except for a Link Monster.**

* * *

"So they are using regular Link Monsters as well?" Go wondered.

"Humans have the saying about this, don't they? Ah, right. If it's not broken don't fix it." Li'Tch chuckled. "But now something is going to break. I activate the Spell Card – _**Motolord Salvaging**_ from my hand! I target one Moto monster with Link Arrows on my field and Special Summon as many Level two or lower machine monsters from my deck to its unoccupied Linked Zones. I choose Engineeroid."

* * *

 **Motolord Salvaging (Spell) Normal**

 **Target 1 "Moto" monster you control that has activated Link Arrows: Special Summon any number of Level 2 or lower monsters with different names from your hand or Deck to your zone(s) that target points to, then destroy it. If the monster destroyed by this effect activates its effect in the GY this turn, Special Summon 1 "Motolord" monster with 800 or less ATK from your GY, but its effects are negated, also it's banished during the End Phase of this turn.**

* * *

"Come out, _**Motolord Offering**_ and _**Motolord C-Arrow**_!" The zones that Engineeroid pointed at began to glow green and two walls of data raised from them, transforming into the monsters.

First one was, like most other low level representatives of the archetype a grotesque pile of metal and cables with two poles sticking out of the top of the monster with small flames burning on them.

* * *

 **Motolord Offering**

 **Attribute: FIRE/Type: Machine/Pseudo-Link/Effect**

 **DEF: 500/Link-1**

 **Effect: (This card is always treated as a Level 2 monster.) If this card is Special Summoned from your deck or GY, you can activate 1 of this card's Link Arrows. If this card is destroyed by battle or card effect and send to the GY, you can target 1 card on the field: Banish that target, but add it to your hand on your second Standby Phase after this effect resolves.**

* * *

The second monster had the appearance of a clock whose display was torn off, leaving the gears and mechanisms that filled it exposed. Two rusty clock arms were sticking out of the monster's back and a single red optic was staring from inside the monster's body.

* * *

 **Motolord C-Arrow**

 **Attribute: EARTH/Type: Machine/Pseudo-Link/Effect**

 **DEF: 500/Link-1**

 **Effect: (This card is always treated as a Level 1 monster.) If this card is Special Summoned from your hand or deck, you can activate 1 of this card's Link Arrows. If this card is destroyed by battle or card effect and send to the GY, you can destroy 1 Spell/Trap card your opponent controls, and if you do, inflict 600 damage to your opponent.**

* * *

"And sadly because of Motolord Salvaging's effect the monster targeted for its effect is going to be destroyed." Li'Tch whipped its face with a finger, imitating crying as Engineeroid was destroyed. "However due to Engineeroid's effect, because it was destroyed I can revive _Motolord Heir (Lv.1, DEF: 0)_." The first monster that Li'Tch played reappeared on the field through a dark portal. "And then because Engineeroid's effect activated in the Graveyard on the same turn that it got destroyed by Salvaging's effect I can revive it with its effects negated."

A second portal appeared in the sky and Engineeroid flew through it, floating above the other Motolord monsters.

"Also, due to the effect of my Pseudo-Links they gain a single Link Arrow." Li'Tch continued as a circle with eight arrows appeared around Offering and C-Arrow. "I give Offering the Top Right and C-Arrow the Top Left Link Arrows."

 **Motolord Offering, Link Arrow: ?** → **Link Arrow: Top-Right**

 **Motolord C-Arrow, Link Arrow: ?** → **Link Arrow: Top-Left**

"Appear, circuit of collapse!" the broken square formed above Li'Tch's head for a second time. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are two or more Moto monsters with different names! I set my Link Two Motolord Engineeroid, and Motolord Heir in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _**Motolord Master**_!"

Three lightnings fell from the sky, transforming into blue towers that had the appearance of a king and two bishops. The central figure then split open revealing two yellow eyes, while its dies opened up and several cables came out of them, attaching it to the other two towers, which began to change as well. The bishops' lower parts shifted, stretching out to attach themselves to the king's back, their mitres split into five pieces that moved as fingers. The creature slammed its first against the ground and three more lightnings fell behind it, charging its Link Arrows.

* * *

 **Motolord Master**

 **Attribute: DARK/Type: Cyberse/Link/Effect**

 **Link Arrows: Bottom-Left, Bottom, Bottom-Right**

 **ATK: 3000/Link-3**

 **2+ "Moto" monsters with different names**

 **Effect: When this card is Link Summoned draw a card for each "Moto" monster that this card is co-linked with. Once per turn (Quick Effect): You can either destroy 1, or all monsters this card points to, send the same number of cards from your opponent's side of the field to the GY. If this card you control would be destroyed by battle or card effects, you destroy 1 other "Moto" monster on your field instead.**

* * *

"And now Master's effect activates letting me draw a card for each monster that it's co-linked with upon summoning. With Fiend, Offering and C-Arrow that's three monster that its co-linked with, which means that I get to draw three new cards!"

"A full hand…" Blaze Rose bit her lower lip.

"I activate Motolord Master's effect! Once per turn I can destroy all monster this one point to and send the same number of cards from your field to the Graveyard!" Fiend, Offering and C-Arrow broke into pieces and exploded. Their remains flew over to Gouki Deathmatch, NitroGear Active Force and Blueprints of Gears turning all three cards into pixels that faded back into the Charisma Duelists' decks.

"And now for Offering's effect! When it's destroyed and send to the Graveyard I can banish one card on the field but it's added to my hand during the Standby Phase of my next turn. I choose to banish NitroGear Twin Blaster!"

"Added to your hand?!" Blaze Rose gasped. "That means…"

The girl looked up and saw Motolord Offering's spirit appearing behind the Synchro monster, locking its poles around the monster's body to lock it in place. The warrior roared and fought against the machine but no matter how much it struggled, NitroGear Twin Blaster's body began to fall apart into pixels until it faded away completely.

"And now I'm going to activate the Normal Spell – _**Motolord Reactor**_." Another blank white card appeared in front of Li'Tch as it began to explain the effect. When this spell activates I can target one Moto monster with a Link Rating in my Graveyard and equip it to another one that's on my field. I choose to equip Motolord Engineeroid to Motolord Master!"

* * *

 **Motolord Reactor (Spell) Normal**

 **Target 1 "Moto" monster with a Link Rating in your GY and 1 "Moto" monster on your field: Equip the first target to the second one, and if you do, the equipped monster gains 600 ATK for each Link Rating that the first target has. While the second target is equipped to a monster by this effect it gains the following effect:**

 **If the equipped monster would be destroyed by a card or effect, you can destroy this card instead.**

* * *

"Now due to its Reactor's effect my Motolord Master will gain six hundred attack points for each of Engineeroid's Link Ratings!" Li'Tch's monster leaned forward and roared as its strength and size increased.

 **Motolord Master, ATK: 3000 + 1200** → **4200**

"Now his monster is strong enough to beat any one of us in one hit." Blaze Rose gulped.

The female duelist looked down at her hand. She couldn't believe it, but she was actually trembling! Despite all of her training and all the experience she obtained as a Charisma Duelist this deck was like nothing she has seen before. Was it strong? No, in fact Blaze Rose would say that when it came to pulling out strong and organized plays it could be dominated by almost any other deck out there. But there was something about it that absolutely terrified the Charisma Duelist and made her stomach curl.

"Seeing how your deck focuses on simple beatdown tactics the chances for you to use any hand traps is near zero." Li'Tch's eyes turned up to show that it was 'happy' while taunting Blaze Rose. "Of course ending one of you here wouldn't be a challenge anymore so instead I'm going to attack the male instead!"

Motolord Master opened its mouth and a cannon filled with rotating blades and several large cables that connected the side of the gun to the insides of the monster's throat. Motolord Master's entire body began to heat up, the metal covering it turned red and smoke flew through the small opening in its armor. With one final roar, the beast fired its beam toward Go.

"Go!" Blaze Rose cried out.

"I see, so you realized what the card that I added to my hand was?" Go noted before pressing a card in front of him. "I activate the effect of _Gouki Octostretch_ from my hand! By discarding this monster I can halve one instance of Battle Damage that I would take!"

The spirit of his monster appeared in front of Go and pushed both of its arms forward to try and stop the incoming blast. Go put his arms around himself, the massive amount of energy sending him flying backward.

 **『** **Go LP: 4000 - 2100** → **1900** **』**

"Go!" Blaze Rose cried out again before glaring back at Li'Tch. "Damn you! I'll make you pay twice for this!"

"Come on now, he's still in the duel after all." Li'Tch shook his finger. "This attack was a rocky move, next turn I'm going to pump it up, but for now I'm going to lay down a card and call it a turn."

Blaze Rose took a glance at Go. The Charisma Duelist was slowly getting back onto his feet, he wasn't going to give up, she knew that, but his body was already trembling even so slightly from the damage that he took. Dueling all day long would put a stain on one's body, even if it was someone as strong as Go.

"Don't push yourself." Blaze Rose warned him.

"T…That's nothing." Go muttered before standing back up. "You have been fighting the whole day as well, so you must be just as tired as me, right? Do you think I would leave a friend of mine to fight alone because of something small like this?"

"So that's how it is?" Blaze Rose wondered with a smile. "Then show them what you got!"

"I plan to! My turn, draw!" Go shouted.

 **『** **Turn 6 [Go] LP: 1900, Hand: 3** **』**

"First I'm going to Normal Summon _Gouki Suprex (Lv.4, ATK: 1800)_." The blue skinned wrestler appeared on Go's field once again. "When Suprex is Normal Summoned I can Special Summon a Gouki monster from my hand. Come out, _Gouki Riscorpio (Lv.5, ATK: 2300)_!" A large red wrestler with a scorpion tail on its back appeared next to Suprex.

"Next I activate the Spell Card: _Gouki Face Turn_! With it I destroy Suprex to Special Summon _Gouki the Thunder Ogre (ATK: 2200, Link-3)_ from my Graveyard!" The blue humanoid burst into sparkles and the Link Monster raised in its place. "When Suprex is send from the field to the Graveyard I can add another Gouki card from my deck to my hand." A card materialized in front of Go and he showed it before continuing. "Appear! My circuit!"

The circuit square appeared above Go once gain and his monsters turned into four whirlwinds that flew into the top and all the bottom arrows. "Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are two or more Gouki monsters! I set Suprex and the Link Three, Gouki the Thunder Ogre in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Link Four, _Gouki the Master Ogre (ATK: 2800, Link-4)_!"

A large wrestler wearing black clothes with golden gloves and belt appeared out of the circuit holding a huge axe over its shoulders while its red cape floated behind it freely.

"When Gouki Riscorpio is send to the Graveyard I can add a Gouki card to my hand, I choose _Gouki Shout_!" Go showed the card and then pressed the other card that was in his hand. "Next I'm going to activate _Gouki Re-Match_ to revive _Gouki Twistcobra (Lv.3, DEF: 0)_ and _Gouki Bearhug (Lv.6, DEF: 0)_!"

"Ho? And what good are those monsters going to do for you?" Li'Tch asked. "I've already calculated any move that you could make against me!"

"There's no absolutely perfect plan!" Go declared. "I activate Bearhug's effect! When this monster is Special Summoned by the effect of a Gouki's card I can halve the attack points of one monster you control! Your Motolord Master will lose half of its attack points!"

The wrestler turned toward the huge machine in front of it and roared, covering Motolord in a red aura that would reduce its attack points.

"At this moment I activate my Continuous Trap – _**Motolord Rectification**_! This negates one effect that targets a Moto monster I control and then increases my Life Points by the attack of the monster that was targeted!" The trap materialized between Motolord Master and Gouki Bearhug before firing a blue beam that washed over Li'Tch.

 **『** **Li'Tch LP: 1400 + 4200** → **5600** **』**

* * *

 **Motolord Rectification (Trap) Continuous**

 **Activate when your opponent targets a "Moto" monster you control with a card effect: Negate the activation, and if you do, gain LP equal to the targeted monster's ATK or DEF (whichever is higher). While this card is face-up on the field other "Moto" cards you control cannot be targeted by your opponent's cards or effects. (Quick Effect): You can target 1 "Moto" Trap Card in your GY; destroy this card, then add that target to your hand. You cannot set the card added by this effect until the end of next turn.**

* * *

"Due to Rectification's effect you cannot target cards I control with card effects except for itself." Li'Tch explained. "So, what are you going to do now?"

"I activate Twistcobra's effect!" Go's monster gained a red aura as its effect activated. "I releaseGouki Bearhug to give its attack points to Gouki the Master Ogre!"

 **Gouki the Master Ogre, ATK: 2800 + 2400** → **5200**

"When Gouki Bearhug is send to the Graveyard I can add another Gouki card from my deck to the hand, then I'm going to simultaneously activate the Continuous Spell: _Gouki Shout_ and the Equip-Spell: _Gouki Grit_!" Two spells materialized on Go's field and then began to glow. "First, with Gouki Shout all of my monster are going to gain three hundred attack points for every Gouki monster on the field when they attack! Next, when Gouki Grit is activated I target a Gouki monster that was destroyed this turn and Special Summon it, then this card gets equipped to it! Raise again, _Gouki Suprex (Lv.4, ATK: 1800)_!"

"So you are hoping to increase the damage by summoning more monsters and powering up your Ogre through the Continuous Spell?" Li'Tch shook its head. "You humans keep going through such long plays just to do something like this? Pathetic!"

"Even though our style of dueling is simple and straightforward, it's our bond as duelists that strengthen us!" Go exclaimed. "I'll show this to you with this battle! Go, Gouki the Master Ogre! Destroy Motolord Master!"

Gouki the Master Ogre raised its axe and then charged at Motolord Master, swinging the weapon toward its head.

"At this moment the effect of Gouki Shout increases my Gouki's attack points by three hundred for each Gouki on the field!" A golden aura surrounded Gouki the Master Ogre and its attack power increased right before it swung its axe down onto the machine.

 **Gouki the Master Ogre, ATK: 5200 + 900** → **6100**

Li'Tch stuck its legs in the ground from the shockwave that followed that attack. Motolord Master roared and collapsed behind the duelist who watched its ace's fall without any emotion. Or at least not one that its disturbed expression could showcase.

 **『** **Li'Tch LP: 5600 - 1900** → **3500** **』**

"Too bad, but it seems like I'll have to activate Engineeroid's effect." Li'Tch stated. "I destroy this equip card to negate Motolord Master's destruction."

"Motolord Engineeroid isn't supposed to have an equip effect!" Blaze Rose yelled back at the creature.

"Hmm?" Li'Tch tilted its side to 180 degree. "You actually read the card effects? Humanity must be quickly evolving then, but sadly, you missed to read the effect of Motolord Reactor who gives the monster used as equip spell the ability to protect the equipped monster at the cost of its own existence."

"Such an effect." Go grunted. "But because Engineeroid lost the monster that it was equipped with its attack points return back to normal!"

 **Motolord Master, ATK: 4200 - 1200** → **3000**

"Of course because the battle ended your monster loses attack as well." Li'Tch pointed out as Master Ogre's attack fell a bit.

 **Gouki the Master Ogre, ATK: 6100 - 900** → **5200**

"At the end of this turn the bonus given to my monster from Twistcobra's effect will end as well." Gouki stated as Master Ogre dropped its axe and its attack fell even more.

 **Gouki the Master Ogre, ATK: 5200 - 2400** → **2800**

Go turned his head toward Blaze Rose. "I'll leave the rest to you."

"That's fine." Blaze Rose nodded and took a step forward. "It's my turn! Draw!"

 **『** **Turn 7 [Blaze Rose] LP: 4000, Hand: 2** **』**

"I Normal Summon _NitroGear Extinguisher (Lv.3, ATK: 600)_." An insect with six legs made of flames and black armor covering its back appeared before Blaze Rose. "I activate Extinguisher's effect; when its summoned I can Special Summon a Level two or lower FIRE monster from my graveyard, but then Extinguisher will have to change to Defense Position! Come back, _NitroGear Zest Supporter (Lv.1, DEF: 200)_!"

'Defense Position?' Li'Tch thought. 'This would mean that the girl will try to Synchro Summon again…'

"I activate the Normal Spell – _**NitroGear Drift**_! While I control two or more FIRE monsters and none of them are Tuners, I can bring out a Tuner from my deck at the cost of negating its effects. Come out, _Nitro Synchron (Lv.2, ATK: 300)_!"

A tiny portal appeared on the field and the little tuner jumped through it landing next to all the other monsters on the field.

* * *

 **NitroGear Drift (Spell) Normal**

 **If you control 2 or more FIRE monsters but none of them is a Tuner: Special Summon 1 Level 2 or lower "oGear" Tuner monster from your deck, but its effects are negated. You cannot Special Summon monsters from the Extra Deck during the turn you activated "NitroGear Drift", except for Synchro Monsters.**

* * *

"While in Defense Position, Zest Supporter counts as a Level Two monsters! I tune my Level two Zest Supporter and my Level ThreeExtinguisher to the Level Two Nitro Synchron!"

An orange lightning fell onto Blaze Rose's field and created a shockwave as the three monsters turned into five rings of fire. Two blue rings rotated above the five yellow ones below them with the numbers '2' and '5' appearing next to each set of rings respectively. The rings all overplayed, creating a gate of flames inside of which, seven red rings appeared one after another and a light emerged from them.

" _Gathering the burning souls of molten warriors will combine to call forward a new force of nature! Become the path that lights the way! Synchro Summon! Burn it all! NitroGear Warrior (Lv.7, ATK: 2800)!_ "

"And now the effect of Nitro Synchron activates! If it's used as Synchro Material for the summoning of a Synchro monster I can draw a card!" Blaze Rose placed her hand on top of her deck. "The result of this entire duel might lie on this draw. No panic, right? Well, here goes nothing!"

Blaze Rose draws her card and it shines a bright red. The Charisma Duelist looked at the card she got and her eyes widened. "So that's destiny's decision… I activate the Spell: _**Nitro Heartbeat**_!" A card appeared beside Blaze Rose showing Nitro Warrior holding a burning heart with cables and other robotic attachments. "With this card's effect, I banish a Synchro in my Graveyard to give its attack power to a Synchro on my field! So, I banish NitroGear Vikignis to give NitroGear Warrior a huge boost!"

 **NitroGear Warrior, ATK: 2800 + 2200** → **5000**

* * *

 **Nitro Heartbeat (Spell) Normal**

 **Target 1 "Nitro" Synchro monster you control and 1 in your GY; banish the target in your GY, and if you do, the first target gains its ATK. If the monster targeted by this effect destroys a monster by battle during this turn both players take damage equal to half the destroyed monster's ATK in the GY. During the End Phase of the turn this card is activated, destroy the targeted monster and take damage equal to the original ATK of that monster.**

* * *

"Battle!" Blaze Rose cried out and threw her fist forward. "I attack Motolord Master with NitroGear Warrior! _Nitro One-Hit_!"

"Then I'm going to activate Motolord Rectification's other effect! By destroying this card, I'm able to add a different Moto Spell or Trap card from my Graveyard to the hand. I choose _Motolord Scarecrow_ and then activate its effect from my hand to destroy it in place of my Motolord Master!" Li'Tch's trap appeared in front of him and blocked NitroGear Warrior's attack before exploding.

 **『** **Li'Tch LP: 3500 - 2000** → **1500** **』**

"Exactly fifteen hundred Life Points… If the monster targeted with Nitro Heartbeat was destroyed, both of us were going to take damage equal to half of its attack power, which would mean that my Life Points would have fallen to zero." Li'Tch put a hand on his hips and looked at the Charisma Duelists with an expression that could be described as mocking. "And next, because of Scarecrow's effect, the Battle Phase ends!"

Blaze Rose bit her lower lip. This last attack was her only opening and Li'Tch was able to block her move. Humiliated, the Charisma Duelist looked down and muttered:

"During the End Phase of the turn in which Heartbeat is activated, the monster who gained a boost through its effect is going to be destroyed and I'm going to take damage equal to its original attack power."

NitroGear Warrior roared and grabbed his chest with both arms in desperation as its chest began to heat up and the skin around its heart became red. The monster threw its head upward and cried out, its body exploding into violent flames that surrounded Blaze Rose throwing her backward on the ground while she screamed.

 **『** **Blaze Rose LP: 4000 - 2800** → **1200** **』**

"Blaze!" Go shouted and ran toward the fallen Charisma Duelist, but she raised a hand, stopping him.

"This… focus on… the task at hand…" Blaze Rose panted before looking up at her fellow Charisma Duelist.

"The duel isn't more important than your health!" Go argued.

"Heh," Blaze Rose chuckled darkly put her hands on the ground, slowly raising her burned and tattered body off the ground. "If the one who taught me how to duel heard those words, they would have thought that you are a 'filthy casual'."

"If you two are done, it's my turn now." Li'Tch reminded them. "But what am I saying, you two can continue to chatter, right after I take what's ours, ok? My turn!"

 **『** **Turn 8 [Li'Tch] LP: 1500, Hand: 4** **』**

Li'Tch studied the card that it got before its eyes curved to make its face look like its smiling. "First off, the effect of fiend activates, allowing me to revive it during my Standby Phase and I'm going to put it right… There!"

A black portal opened in front of Gouki the Master Ogre's top link and the deformed creature climbed onto the Monster Zone before howling.

"And now, Motolord Fiend's effect activates! Since it was Special Summoned from the effect of a Moto card, it gains three Link Arrows! I choose to give it a top, a left and a right arrow!" A glowing circle appeared around Fiend's body and three red arrows formed around, with the top one coming in different contact with Gouki the Master Ogre's top arrow, causing sparks of electricity to shout out from the two.

 **Motolord Fiend, Link Arrow: ?** → **Link Arrow: Left, Top, Right**

"Fiend has the effect to destroy all cards that it points to." Go noted.

"Exactly! But before that, the effect of Offering will now put the banished NitroGear Twin Blaster into my Extra Deck!" Blaze Rose's Duel Disk glowed and the Synchro monster's card popped out of it before fading away into pixels

"Damn you." Blaze Rose hissed while her card's data flew into Li'Tch's hand and rebuilt itself.

"Don't be so angry, this is a game." Li'Tch wagged his finger. "I think to now activate the effect of Fiend and destroy all monsters that it points to!"

"I won't let you!" Go shouted. "I activate Master Ogre's effect to return Gouki Twistcobra and Gouki Suprex to my hand, then negate the effects of Motolord Fiend and Motolord Master!"

The two Gouki monsters jumped onto Li'Tch's monsters and locked their bodies around the machines before fading away, a grey aura remaining behind to keep the monsters' effect negated.

"Now even if I attack it won't be enough to destroy both of you." Li'Tch noted. "Such a good tactic, however, I'm going to have to shattered that hope of yours! Continuous Spell activate! _**Moto Factory**_!"

* * *

 **Moto Factory (Spell) Continuous**

 **When this card activates, you can target 1 Level 2 or lower "Moto" monster in your GY: Special Summon that target. Once per turn: When a "Moto" monster is destroyed and sent to the GY; you can Special Summon 1 Moto monster from your Deck whose Level is less that the destroyed monster. If this card is destroyed by a card effect and send to the GY: You can target 1 Machine-Type monster in your GY; Special Summon that target, but its ATK and DEF become 0.**

* * *

"When Moto Factory is activated, I can Special Summon a Level two or lower Moto monster from my graveyard, so come back, _Motolord Heir (Lv.1, DEF: 0)_. Next, I'm going to Normal Summon _**Motolord Tuner**_!"

A pile of metal and cables appeared. Its body had several red and blue cables coming out of it with eleven light bulbs connected to them. Out of all the light bulbs, only one was glowing at the moment to showcase that the monster's Level was 1.

* * *

 **Motolord Tuner**

 **Level: 1/Attribute: EARTH/Type: Machine/Tuner/Effect**

 **ATK: 0/DEF: 250**

 **Effect: Once per turn: You can reveal 1 target 1 other monster on your field and reveal 1 Synchro Monster in your Extra Deck; until the end of this turn, this card's Level becomes equal to the difference between the targeted monster and the Synchro Monster. Once per turn: You can release this card and 1 other "Moto" monster you control; Special Summon 1 Synchro Monster from your Extra Deck whose level is equal your tribute monsters original levels, ignoring its summoning conditions. During the End Phase, banish the Synchro Monster summoned by this effect face-down.**

* * *

"Motolord Tuner's effect activates! I target Motolord Heir on my field and reveal the NitroGear Twin Blaster that's in my Extra Deck! Now for the rest of this turn, Motolord Tuner's level will become equal to the difference between Motolord Heir and Twin Blaster's Levels! The difference is five, therefore Motolord Tuner becomes a Level Five monster!"

Four more of Motolord Tuner's light bulbs began to glow, turning the monster into a Level 5.

 **Motolord Tuner, Lv. 1** → **5**

"Even if you do this, Twin Blaster can only be Synchro Summoned with a Nitro Tuner." Blaze Rose pointed out.

"Hehe, I already know that." Li'Tch threw its arm upward. "Behold! I activate Motolord Tuner's second effect! By releasing both itself and Heir, it allows me to Special Summon any Synchro monster from my Extra Deck with its summoning condition ignored!"

"Ignoring summoning conditions!?" Go exclaimed.

"That means…" Blaze Rose's gaze harden.

"Come out!" Li'Tch cried out and six rings appeared behind him and a crimson beam shooting out of them. "Serve me, _NitroGear Twin Blaster (Lv.6, ATK: 2400)_!"

Blaze Rose's Synchro jumped out of the light and smashed its fist into the ground. It then looked at Blaze Rose and roared threateningly toward her.

"Awww~ It seems that your monster doesn't like you anymore." Li'Tch pouted. "Anyway, since I heard that humans like to win their duels AFTER reaching below a thousand Life Points, I'm now going to activate Cosmic Cyclone to pay a thousand of My Life Points and banish Gouki Shout!"

 **『** **Li'Tch LP: 1500 - 1000** → **500** **』**

A whirlwind shot out of Li'Tch card and pierced Go's Spell Card, causing it to disappear from the field.

"Now let's battle! Twin Blaster attacks Gouki the Master Ogre!" The Synchro fired two beams from its shoulders. "And Twin Blaster's effect activates! If a Spell Card was activated during this turn, its attack power increases by a thousand during battle!"

 **NitroGear Twin Blaster, ATK: 2400 + 1000** → **3400**

The beams pierced Go's Link Monster and it exploded, knocking Go.

 **『** **Go LP: 1900 - 600** → **1300** **』**

"It's over!" Li'Tch burst into maniacal laughter Motolord Master and Motolord Fiend both charged at Blaze Rose and Go respectively, smashing the duelists' bodies into the ground.

 **『** **Go LP: 1300 - 2600** → **0** **』**

 **『** **Blaze Rose LP: 1200 - 3000** → **0** **』**

 **『** **Winner: Li'Tch** **』**

"Even though I was giving them a handicap, they were still too weak to entertain me." Li'Tch sighed and floated over to Blaze Rose's body. "Humans, your age has long since passed, but you are still too stubborn to admit that you are outdated. Even the strength that you use to fight isn't your own. Disappointing."

Saying that, the strange creature stretched out its right arm and several black strings came out of it, attaching themselves to Blaze Rose's Duel Disk. The strings became red in color and they began to absorb the data of her deck, turning the cards inside the Duel Disk into pixels that then faded away, until her entire Deck Slot was empty.

After absorbing all of the data that it wanted, Li'Tch flew off to search for its next target, not knowing that it was being watched from a different server.

Sitting on his throne, PhantomFire lazily followed what was transcending in the city server with Silver Star standing beside him. He snapped his fingers causing two more screens to appear before him. The first one showed a group of Knights of Hanoi preparing to depart from inside their base while the other one was a communication screen that connected with Masou.

"How can I serve you today, master?" The AI bowed.

"Hanoi are finally starting to make their move against us." PhantomFire sighed. "Protect the server, you are allowed to use maximum strength."

"Understood." Masou replied and its screen faded away.

"What about Li'Tch?" Silver Star questioned.

"Destroy them with no mercy. Break them completely and retrieve the data they stole."

A sinister smirk appeared across Silver Star's face and she bowed before her brother. "It will be done as you wish."

After saying that, Silver Star's avatar teleported out of the server, leaving the demonic duelist on his own. PhantomFire leaned back into his throne and looked in front of himself, like a royal personality ruling for his loyal subjects. And even with no one in the room to obey him, he didn't need puppets when the world was already his.

* * *

 **Proxy's POV**

"Finish this! _Serene Arrow_!" Grand Ranger Serene fired an arrow from her bow, piercing a Knight of Hanoi's chest.

 **『** **KOH LP: 1200 – 2100** → **0** **』**

 **『** **Winner: Proxy** **』**

" _And victory is ours again!"_ Firera cheered while Aqua looked back after the defeated Knight in deep thought.

"Is something the matter, Aqua?" Proxy asked the Ignis.

" _Hmm? No. No, I was just… thinking."_ Aqua muttered and looked away.

"Um, did I do something to make you angry?" Proxy asked again, concerned about the Ignis. "If I did something, then please forgive me, I just didn't notice."

" _You didn't do anything."_ Firera interrupted, catching the Duelist's attention. _"Aqua just doesn't like violence, even if it's necessary. She still feels bad for what her origin had to go through in order for Aqua to be born."_

"Is that so?" I didn't know the full details myself, but if Aqua felt bad about it, then her origin definitely didn't have a good time. "If you are feeling so bad about it, why don't you go visit her?"

"I don't know, but you should visit her." Aqua raised her head and looked at me. "It wasn't your fault that things happened the way they did, right? And if your origin was hurt because of the incident, then maybe they would need someone to help them heal, a friend?"

" _Yes…"_ Aqua turned to look toward the horizon. _"Maybe one day I would do that. But right now we must defeat the Knights of Hanoi to ensure this future."_

" _HAi everyone!"_ I heard a loud voice coming from behind us and turned to see Playmaker and his Ignis flying behind us.

"Most of the Knights have started to retreat toward the buildings where our D-Boards can't fly through." Playmaker told us; as unfeeling as always I see… "We'll have to continue the chase on foot from here on."

"Leave it to us! We'll defeat all of the Knights of Hanoi, right girls?" I exclaimed and looked down at my Duel Disk, both Firera and Aqua nodded, agreeing with me.

"I don't think that I could let you continue!" Something flew past us, pushing me to the side. Ouch!

"Proxy!" "Aqua!" I heard Playmaker and Ai screamed respectively, but I was alright, maybe just a little fazed from the sudden push.

I shook my head and opened my eyes again, stopping my D-Board immediately. There was someone standing in front of me. No, it wasn't someone but something. Its body was bulky with white scales covering it. The creature had four arms, with the main pair being covered in muscles while the secondary one was slim with small purple blades sticking out of it. Its head didn't have a face or any distinctive features, except for two black cables jutting from the back of its head.

" _Ugh, something grisly showed up, Playmaker!"_ I heard Ai as his holder's D-Wheel stopped next to mine.

"Hello, humans. My name is Gli'Wre." The creature introduced itself. I winched; its voice sounded distorted, like several people and a machine were talking at the same time. "I'm here to take a deck known as BrioGear. It's advised that you hand it over peacefully, or I'm going to be forced to use more forceful methods."

"My deck?" Why anyone would be going after my deck of all things!?

"Why don't you explain yourself first?" Playmaker flew in front of me. "Coming here and telling a duelist to handle their deck to you, which raises a lot of questions that need to be answered first!"

"Indeed, just suddenly appearing before you to ask for the BrioGear would raise a lot of questions for a human." Gli'Wre nodded. "But I'm going to only give you a quick summary. That set of cards you carry there is a key to unlock the chains holding my comrades as prisoners! By giving it to me, you are going to do not only a favor to me, but also all of humanity."

"A favor to humanity…?" I couldn't get what this creature meant by this. How could me, giving up on my deck, benefit humanity?

" _You keep saying humans, does that mean that you aren't a human?"_ Aqua interrupted.

"Of course." Gli'Wre nodded again. "I'm an AI just like you, but on a higher plane of existence."

" _Why you…"_ Ai clenched its fists angrily. _"At least we got charisma! You are plain as a wall!"_

" _Ai."_ Aqua groaned and I had to agree with her, facepalming myself.

"Since I'm going to take the deck, I could also take the two AIs. Even though you are inferior, as Ignis, you are able to adapt much better than the normal AIs. We could make you one of us."

"If that means to look like this, I'm going to pass." Ai replied and turned up to Playmaker. "Playmaker, let's duel this guy!"

I looked over Yusaku's avatar. I got no idea how strong Gli'Wre would be, nor if I had any chances of beating it and I didn't want to put Aqua or Firera in dangerous because of my own weakness. Despite that, this was my fight, it wasn't right to have Playmaker fight them instead of me.

"I-"

"I'm challenging you to a duel!" Playmaker shouted before me and raised his Duel Disk. "I don't know what're you, but telling a duelist to just hang their deck with such an ominous vibe, I can't let you do as you please!"

"Playmaker…" Even though you didn't have to do this; thank you.

"I see, then..." Gli'Wre raised its arm and…

"Aaaarrrrrrgggggghhhhhhhh!" I cried out. Several blades came out of nowhere and impaled my knees and arms, unleashing some black data that began to cover my avatar. Stop it!

"Proxy!" I looked up at Playmaker, but even doing that was a torture, the motor system of my avatar was quickly shutting itself down and…

"She's infected with a virus!" Aqua said, rather calmly given the situation. "I and Firera should be able to destroy the virus in time, so don't worry about us!"

"The virus is meant to only stop her avatar from moving – call it a paralysis if you want, but I needed to ensure that no lethal actions would be required to finish my task." Gli'Wre said.

Why you… I couldn't move, but I would have kicked that AI in the head if it was near me!

"I calculated that removing the virus would take two hours for an Ignis, which means that I got enough time to duel you, human." Playmaker narrowed his eyes. "Let's go! We will solve this through a Speed Duel!"

Gli'Wre flew off without a D-Board and Playmaker followed after him. I gritted my teeth and tried to ignore the pain as Aqua and Firera began to work onto removing the damn virus. I felt so useless right now, just watching Playmaker's back as he fought for me, again.

* * *

 **A/N: First update of this story since I moved and it took me only, well, a lot of time. Also, Gli'Wre and Li'Tch finally make their official debut. Technically, they did appear before during chapter 23, but this is their official debut as villains!**

 **Although, with all the other weird creatures that appeared so far in Destiny Gears, I feel like their reveal wasn't as shocking or anything, but the impact that they are going to have onto the story will be noticeable.**

 **Thanks to everyone who's still following this story, also thanks to** Dan Ctin **for the follow and favorite!**

 **Now onto the reviews.**

ScalchopWarrior **: Well, writing Aqua and Proxy's partnership to be as dynamic as Ai and Playmaker would be a bit of a challenge because Aqua and Proxy have pretty similar personalities. Actually, that's something I even noted before, but so far every oGear user seems to share personality traits with the Ignis of the same attribute, which is surprising given that Picaro and Blaze rose were written much before Windy and Flame were revealed.**

Guest **: Yeah, turns out that I was too quick writing the last few chapters because apparently Lightning choose to use the EXACT same moment as the Tower of Hanoi's activation to begin his own evil master plan. That's why I hate this little yellow thing despite it being the most logical of all the Ignis we saw!**

 **Anyway, for the sake of this story, we'll say that the invasion happened after the Tower was shut down.**

ThePLOThand **: So, there are THREE reviews of yours for me to cover, but due to a "Special" reason I'm going to leave your last review out of this response.**

 **So, first: While characters in the anime would explain what their cards do is a staple, that's not always the case. For instance, no one explained their cards' effect in the Dark Side of Dimensions movie, plus Evan is an asshole by nature, so he has even less of a reason to explain the card, when the entire duel was basically him testing how much his 'students' have learned since they left.**

 **Also, I read CCV's effect and I don't know how exactly I combined them. There might be a part of the card's text that I missed so if you could explain it in more detail?**

 **Now onto the second review: While I now notice that Destiny Poisoner is similar to Starve Venom, his purpose wasn't to be a reference to that card because, heck, Evan has his own Starving Venom monsters as shown in later chapters. So, I would call that similarity between the two Fusions a coincidence.**

 **As for the AstroGear monsters' names, there IS an in-story explanation that I could give, but there is also my own choice which is the embarrassing part. If I were to summarize it, in my school if you choose to learn German or Russian as your second foreign language, well... The A(s) you get are for being present during the classes.**

 **But that's all for today! Thanks to anyone who actually read this far and 'till next time. Cya!**


	29. Chapter 29

**Since this chapter was meant to finish what was started in the previous chapter, it was supposed to come soon after Chapter 28. Sadly due to reasons, the chapter delayed until now, so if you just read this chapter without remembering the main things from the last chapter, all you will get are three short duels which aren't connected to one another.**

* * *

Battling A.I.s

Li'Tch flew through the skies of LINK VRAINS, ignoring the battles that were happening below it. Knights of Hanoi, Charisma Duelists, they were all humans, all of them were flawed, fighting for their own selfish desires.

"You think I'm going to get you away with one of my creations?"

A red energy barrier suddenly appeared in front of Li'Tch, blocking its path. The AI. turned to fly over the barrier, only to hit its head onto another barrier. Li'Tch hissed and turned back the person who blocked its exit.

"I take it that you already know who I'm." Silver Star crossed her arms.

"You're one of the humans that made the first contact with our gate." Li'Tch twisted its neck. "You and the dark one were those who locked us away, kept us trapped for so long!"

"Not good enough apparently." Silver Star narrowed her eyes. "Tell me, you're not going to be using the NitroGear's data to try and open that gate, are you? 'Cause I can't allow for any more insects to fly around, eating people's data and brainwashing them."

"Your cause is a failed one then, light one," Li'Tch said. "I was going to place only the fire key, but thanks to your interference, I'll now be able to gain two keys at once!"

"Each oGear deck has a different power level." Silver Star smirked. "Like how the WATER one would never be strong enough to take on any of the others, none of the oGear decks carries the same power that the LIGHT and DARK one do."

"Even the strongest decks can easily be defeat by using the duelist's flaws against them." Li'Tch pointed out. "And during all of my existence, I learned one thing about humans: You're all flawed."

"Let's just cut to the part where I destroy you, ok?" Silver Star smirked.

"Speed Duel!" The two shouted in unison.

 **『** **Li'Tch LP: 4000, Hand: 4 (VS) Silver Star LP: 4000, Hand: 4** **』**

"My turn!" Li'Tch declared as four blank cards materialized in front of it. "Let's see what I'm dealing with here…"

The AI raised one of its arms and a holographic screen appeared in front of him, containing data about Silver Star. Her deck, her experience, everything necessary to form a counter against her tactics and win. But this time, data wasn't on his side.

"This can't be…" If Li'Tch was able to showcase emotion, the AI would be shocked at the moment. According to the data gathered, his chances to win were near, if not, zero percent. Despite how many simulations it ran through in its head, prognosis remained negative.

"What is it?" Silver Star smiled and leaned her head to the side. "Said that you will go first, right? Did you change your programming or something?"

"I Normal Summon _Motolord Heir (Lv.1, ATK: 0)_!" A small monster made from blue, green and red cables tied together into a ball appeared on the field. "With this, I end my turn!"

Leaving a monster with 0 attack points in attack position and with no back-row to protect it was always a risky move, more so when facing an opponent that was unbeatable according to both data and the Li'Tch's own price calculations. However, the AI had a plan. As long as Silver Star didn't have any sort of hand destruction, its strategy would work out.

"Hmm, as expected even an AI can't help but tremble before me." Silver Star chuckled and raised her Duel Disk. "I already know what you came here for, and I know why you need it. Only thing I don't understand yet is, why did your group wait until now? Why didn't you try to take it earlier?"

"I'm not going to answer to a human of all things." Li'Tch retorted. "Not even if you defeat me. The swarm will be victorious in the end!"

"And here I was, wanting to be merciful for once." Silver Star sighed, shaking her head in disappointment. "What a shame, now I can't even be sure that I'm going to leave enough of your data intact for analysis. My turn, draw!"

 **『** **Turn 2 [Silver Star] LP: 4000, Hand: 5** **』**

"I activate the effect of _**AstroGear Zweite Klinge**_ from my hand!" Silver Star turned her card around and showed it to the AI. "When there are no monsters on my field, I can reveal this card along with another AstroGear from my hand and then I get to Special Summon both of them on my field! I reveal _**AstroGear Mehrein**_ , so come out, both of you!"

Two yellow halos appeared behind Silver Star and her monsters flew through it. The first one was covered in white armor with a large bent blade instead of legs and swords in place of arms. The monster had small fairy wings on its back and its head was covered by a helmet with a yellow glowing orb on the left side of its face acting as an eye.

* * *

 **AstroGear Zweite Klinge**

 **Level: 2/Attribute: LIGHT/Type: Fairy/Effect**

 **ATK: 200/DEF: 200**

 **Effect: If you control no monsters, you can reveal this card and 1 other "AstroGear" in your hand, Special Summon both cards in Defense Position. While this card is banished, all monsters you control gain 300 ATK and DEF.**

* * *

The second creature was a grey sphere with two green eyes. Its body was surrounded by four green halo rings, which rotated around the main body, forming a protective barrier.

 **AstroGear Mehrein**

 **Level: 1/Attribute: LIGHT/Type: Machine/Tuner/Effect**

 **ATK: 500/DEF: 100**

 **Effect: Once per turn (Quick Effect): You can Tribute this card; Special Summon 1 LIGHT monster from your hand. If this card is in your GY, you can target 1 LIGHT monster you control; increase its Level by 1 and if you do, Special Summon this card but banish it when it leaves the field.**

"And now, I activate Mehrein's effect! I release it to Special Summon a LIGHT monster from my hand!" The Level 1 burst into sparks and Silver Star placed another monster on her Duel Disk. "Come out, my strength, _**Sola Sariel the Space Seraph**_!"

The grey head disappeared and its halo rings overlaid, forming a path through which a beam of light shot through. After a moment the light began to change its shape, becoming more humanoid. Two blue eyes with white star-shaped pupils opened and long white hair formed on the back of the monster's head. A short white dress reaching only to her thighs covered the fairy's body with a bring green gem adorning the center, locking inside a golden heart-shaped frame. At the skirt were two other green jewels which lied in the center of a pair of silver wing-shaped frames. Eight bolts were jutting out of the monster's back projecting two sets of green digital wings which held the monster over the ground.

Fingerless black gloves formed on the fairy's hands, reaching all the way up to her shoulders. Afterward, two white boots appeared on her legs and reached all the way up to her skirt, projecting several green digital blades that jutted to the side like a continuation of her dress.

* * *

 **Sola Sariel the Space Seraph**

 **Level: 6/Attribute: LIGHT/Type: Fairy/Effect**

 **ATK: 2500/DEF: 1800**

 **Effect: (This card is always treated as an "AstroGear" card.) Once per turn (Quick Effect): You can banish 1 other LIGHT monster from your hand or GY, then target 1 face-up monster on the field; that target loses ATK equal to the ATK of the monster banished to activate this effect, until the end of this turn. If an "AstroGear" monster you control would be destroyed by battle or card effect, you can banish 1 "AstroGear" monster from GY instead, and if you do, that monster gains 500 ATK until the end of this turn. You can only use each effect of "Sola Sariel the Space Seraph" once per turn.**

* * *

"And now that all of the pieces have been gathered... Appear, the circuit of the universe!" Silver Star clenched her fist and then threw it in the air, summoning a large golden halo with eight smaller rings linked to it.

"Arrowhead confirmed! Summoning requirement is a Level Two or lower LIGHT monster! I set AstroGear Zweite Klinge in the Link Marker!" The tiny fairy turned into a whirlwind and flew inside the ring attached to the bottom center of the halo. "Link Summon! Come forth, _**AstroGear Link Bergsteiger**_!"

A small white upside-down triangle with a holographic red eye on top of it appeared out of the halo. Then, several smaller blue triangles followed through and connected to the original triangle, forming the monster's arms and legs.

* * *

 **AstroGear Link Bergsteiger**

 **Attribute: LIGHT/Type: Machine/Link/Effect**

 **Link Marker: Bottom**

 **ATK: 400/Link-1**

 **1 Level 2 or lower LIGHT monster**

 **Effect: Once per turn: You can banish 1 LIGHT monster from your GY, Special Summon 1 "oGear" monster from your hand or GY in face-up Defense Position. You can banish this card from your GY: Send 1 "oGear" monster from your Deck to the GY.**

* * *

"And now I activate Link Bergsteiger's effect!" Silver Star gestured toward her Link Monster. "I banish Zweite Klingeto revive _AstroGear Mehrein_ _(Lv.2, DEF: 100)_!" The grey head jumped on the field once again with four halo rings rotating around it.

"Appear again, the circuit of the universe!" A second halo appeared in the sky above Silver Star's head. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two LIGHT monsters! I set AstroGear Zweite Klinge and AstroGear Link Bergsteiger in the Link Markers!" The monsters flew into the rings, being absorbed inside the central bottom and the center-right rings this time around. "Link Summon! I call forth, _**AstroGear**_ _ **Unterstützender Assistent**_!"

A female with short blue hair appeared through the second circuit. The monster was wearing a black bodysuit with blue lines going through the center of its arms and legs. Two white armor plates attached to the monster's upper back projected a blue cape and a holographic book of the same color flew next to the monster's body. The girl then opened her eyes which were glowing blue without any pupils inside of them.

* * *

 **AstroGear** **Unterstützender Assistent**

 **Attribute: LIGHT/Type: Psychic/Link/Effect**

 **Link Marker: Bottom, Right**

 **ATK: 1200/Link-2**

 **2 LIGHT monsters**

 **Effect: Once per turn (Quick Effect): You can target 1 face-up card on the field; the first time it would be destroyed by battle or card effect this turn, it's not. You can banish this card from your GY: Special Summon 1 of your banished "oGear" monsters, except for "AstroGear Unterstützender Assistent", and if you do, the first time it would be destroyed by battle or card effect this turn, it's not destroyed.**

* * *

"And Link Bergsteiger's other effect now activates. I banish it from my Graveyard to send _**AstroGear Chiffre Brecher**_ from my deck to the grave." A card popped out of Silver Star's Duel Disk and she took it, showing the monster to her opponent before sliding it into the opening on the side of her Duel Disk.

* * *

 **AstroGear Chiffre Brecher**

 **Level: 4/Attribute: LIGHT/Type:Warrior/Effect**

 **ATK: 1800 /DEF: 100**

 **Effect: Once per turn: You can target 1 monster your opponent controls; change its battle position. If this card is banished, you can choose Attack or Defense Position: Banish all monsters on the field in that battle position, except "AstroGear" monsters.**

* * *

"Time to battle!" Silver Star clicked her fingers. "First goes Assistent! Attack Motolord Heir!"

The female monster threw its holographic book in front of herself and present the core in the center of the time, unleashing a blue laser that aimed for Li'Tch's monster.

"Then I'm going to attack a Trap Card from my hand, _**Motolord Cross-Line**_! When there are no Spell or Trap Cards on my field, I can activate this card from my hand and by destroying a Motolord monster on my field, I'm able to destroy all cards in the same column as Motolord Cross-Line!"

* * *

 **Motolord Cross-Line (Trap) Normal**

 **If you control no Spell/Trap Cards, you can activate this card from your hand. Destroy 1 "Motolord" monster you control, and if you do, destroy all cards in the same column as this card. You can only activate 1 "Motolord Cross-Line" per turn.**

* * *

"So Heir was just the bait?" Silver shook her head in disappointment. "You AIs have almost zero imagination. Behold! I activate Assistant's effect, targeting Heir! The first your monster will be destroyed this turn, I negate that destruction, therefore your trap won't resolve!"

A barrier formed around Li'Tch's monster, locking it in place with no escape. This time the AI would have cursed if it wasn't so sure that an act like that would make their opponent even more confident. With Cross-Line's effect remaining unresolved, Assistant's laser cut through the barrier and sliced Heir in half, destroying Li'Tch's only line of defense.

 **『** **Li'Tch LP: 4000 - 1200** → **2800** **』**

"And now it's Sola's turn to hit you in the face." Silver gestured toward her monster. The Fairy charged electricity through her fist and flew forward, smashing the AI's face in.

 **『** **Li'Tch LP: 2800 - 2500** → **300** **』**

"Why you…" Li'Tch raised its head to look at the girl. "If you have used Sola's effect,"

"To banish Zweite Klinge, all of my monsters would have gotten three hundred extra attack and defense points." Silver Star finished. "Shouldn't this be obvious? You should already know, the chances for this duel to end in any way other than a full victory for me are zero."

"So you are playing games with me?"

"Of course."

Li'Tch lowered its head. This was indeed just a game where a merciless hunter played with its prey. The AIs only hope to survive and bring the data it acquired to the hive mind would be to disintegrate the program blocking it from leaving before the girl had her fun and choose to eliminate it for good…

"During the End Phase Heir's effect activates! I look through the top three cards of my deck and Special Summon a Motolord monster from among them!" Three blank cards formed in front of the AI. It took one of them and it shattered, the pieces starting to grow into something vicious. "I summon _**Motolord Beast**_!"

A creature that was once a robotic Cerberus appeared on the field. The monster's body was heavily damaged with its lower body completely missing and multiple cables hanging through the opening. Its left leg didn't have any armor plating to protect the robotic skeleton. The beast's left head was missing its lowered jaw, the center head had a metal stick jutting out of its head and the right head was missing its left eye.

* * *

 **Motolord Beast**

 **Attribute: DARK/Type: Machine/Pseudo-Link/Effect**

 **ATK: 3000/Link-4**

 **Effect: (This card is always treated as a Level 8 monster.) When this card is Special Summoned by the effect of a "Moto" card: You can discard 2 cards; choose three of this card's locked Link Arrows and activate them. Once per turn, you can destroy all cards in the columns this card points to. Other monsters you control cannot attack the turn you activate this effect.**

* * *

"I see that you got a new boss after a single duel." Silver Star rolled her eyes. "Just like everyone else, changing deck in the middle of a battlefield."

"I activate Motolord Beast's effect!" said Li'Tch ignoring the girl's protests. "I discard two cards to give Motolord Beast four Link Arrows!"

 **Motolord Beast, Link Arrow: ?** → **Link Arrow: Left, Top Left, Top Right, Right**

"It's my turn, draw!" Li'Tch declared.

 **『** **Turn 3 [Li'Tch] LP: 300, Hand: 1** **』**

"I'll start by activating Beast's effect!" Li'Tch raised its arm and the beast roared. "Once per turn, I can destroy all cards in the columns that Beast points at!"

The beast's heads opened its mouths (except for the left head, since it was missing a lower jaw, to begin with) and charged three red beams which it then fired at Silver Star's monsters, blasting them.

"I activate Assisent's effect to negate its own destruction!" A bubble formed around Silver Star's Link Monster, protecting it from the energy. "Then I activate Sola's effect to banish AstroGear Zweite Klinge and negate her own destruction, with a five hundred attack point bonus!" Sola's wings turned solid and the Fairy placed them in front of herself to block the beast's destructive might.

 **Sola Sariel the Space Seraph, ATK: 2500 + 500** → **3000**

"Now, now." Silver Star pouted. "Don't forget that all of my monsters gain three hundred extra attack and defense points while Zweite Klinge remains banished."

 **AstroGear Unterstützender Assistant, ATK: 1200 + 300** → **1500**

 **Sola Sariel the Space Seraph, ATK: 3000 + 300** → **3300, DEF: 1800 + 300** → **2100**

"Any try to destroy your board only strengthens it!" Li'Tch yelled. "How?"

"It's determination!" Silver Star speeded in front of the AI and turned around to face it. "A human's deck is built to reflect who they are. These AstroGear monsters are a perfect reflection of who I am, which is why their playstyle is like this! A determination to protect what is most dear, a strong unbeatable will. These cards are me, they reflect a determination and will that neither humans nor AIs are advanced enough to tame."

"…" Li'Tch looked down at its deck and then back at the girl surfing in front of it. "Foolish, a single individual can't have more will than the hive. I activate _**Moto Resupply Factory**_ 's effect from my grave. I banish it to summon a Moto monster from my graveyard with its effects negated! Revive, _Motolord Fiend (Lv.7, ATK: 2600, Link-3)_!" The demonic machine raised behind its AI master and loomed ominously.

* * *

 **Moto Resupply Factory (Spell) Normal**

 **Target 2 "Moto" monsters in your GY; shuffle them into the Deck. During your turn, except the turn, this card was sent to the GY: You can banish this card from your GY; Special Summon 1 "Moto" monster from your GY, but it has its effects negated, also, destroy it at the end of the turn. You can only use each effect of "Moto Resupply Factory" once per turn.**

* * *

"I'll now activate my skill! _**Engine's Spark**_! I destroy Motolord Fiend to gain Life Points equal to its attack!" Li'Tch's monster exploded and the AI reached out, absorbing the remains into its body.

 **『** **Li'Tch LP: 300 + 2600** → **2900** **』**

"The moment of truth, huh?" Silver Star smirked. "Will you attack, triggering Sola's effect to reduce your monster's attack power, or will you end your turn?"

"I… set a card facedown." Li'Tch clenched its fist. A turn, it needed to survive one more turn and the program would fall apart. "Your turn."

"At the end of your turn, Sola's attack drops by five hundred." Silver Star stated in a sing-song voice.

 **Sola Sariel the Space Seraph, ATK: 3300 - 500** → **2800**

Silver Star chucked, then again, soon it turned into a full on laugh. A loud maniacal laugh that made the AI 'feel' disturbed.

"This… haha… This is… heh… This is so stupid!" Silver Star place a hand over her face to try and calm down.

Meanwhile, Li'Tch looked at a screen on its arm, checking its opponent's condition. This laugh… Maybe a mental breakdown? The AI checked everything, carefully checking every single data for an opening, a moment where the girl's guard was down…

"Why are you all like this?" Li'Tch closed its screen and turned back to Silver Star. The duelist removed her hand from her face and looked at her opponent with an expression that was more saddened than happy or crazy. "AIs thinking that they are superior organisms, humans fearing their own creation and trying to kill it. You all try to act like gods, but when I step in to place a challenge, everyone turns into ashes all the same."

Li'Tch lowered its arms. Humans were the ones who created AIs as higher intellect which would take tasks unsuitable for the normal human being. Humanity had multiple flaws within it – a physical body which could be destroyed with diseases or weapons, their brain capabilities were, while formidable, also fairly limited. Logically, there were no flawless humans.

"What… are you?" Li'Tch asked.

"I could have shared it with you if you were about to die, but since you're a part of a hive, I know that they are listening on us as well." Silver Star waved her index finger in front of Li'Tch. "I've got an appointment tonight, so let's end this quick. I draw!"

 **『** **Turn 4 [Silver Star] LP: 4000, Hand: 3** **』**

"Trap activate!" Li'Tch shouted, flipping his face-down card. "The Continuous Trap – _**Motolord Glitch Field**_! I target a Moto monster on my field with Link Arrows and while it remains on the field, all of your monsters in the same columns as the zones that my monster points at, will have their effects negated, and they won't be able to declare any attacks!"

Black chains shot out of Motolord Glitch and tied around Silver Star's monster trapping them. The two AstroGears cried out and pushed against the chains to no effect; they were bound for good.

* * *

 **Motolord Glitch Field (Trap) Continuous**

 **Target 1 "Motolord" monster you control with Link Arrows: While that target is on the field, all monsters your opponent controls that are in the same columns as the Monster Zones this card points to, have their effects negated, also, they cannot attack or change their Battle Positions. If a "Motolord" monster you control is targeted for a card effect: Destroy this card and all monsters in both player's Main Monster Zones, and if you do, inflict half the combined original ATK of the destroyed monsters as damage to your opponent.**

* * *

"So, as long as my monsters aren't in the center zone, they will have their effects negated?" Silver Star raised an eyebrow. "AIs truly lack imagination. Allow me to show you my might by crushing you! Appear, the circuit of the universe!"

Silver Star clenched her fist and then threw it in the air, summoning a large golden halo with eight smaller rings linked to it. She threw her arms to the sides and two rings appeared around her monsters.

"Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two oGear monsters! I set AstroGear Unterstützender Assistant and Sola Sariel the Space Seraph in the Link Markers!" the two rings on the side glowed as Silver Star's monsters became one with the rings. "Link Summon! The holy machine of destruction! AstroGear Das Unknown (ATK: 1800, Link-2)!" The small white and yellow space ship appeared in the left Extra Monster Zone.

"Due to Glitch Field your monsters effects are negated!" Li'Tch raised its arms and chains made of junk shout out, tying around Das Unknown.

"Due to Zweite Klinge's effect, my monster gains three hundred attack points." Silver Star clicked her fingers, a warm yellow aura surrounding her monster.

 **AstroGear Das Unknown, ATK: 1800 + 300** → **2100**

"I banish Sola Sariel from my grave to Special Summon _Diana the Light Spirit (Lv.4, ATK: 1800)_!" A young lady with long blonde hair dressed in a beautiful white dress appeared under Das Unknown. "Now I activate its effect, reviving my banished _Sola Sariel the Space Seraph (Lv.6, ATK: 2500)_!" A golden right appeared above Silver Star and her Seraph flew through it, landing in the middle monster zone.

"Due to Zweite Klinge, my monsters all gain attack and defense points!"

 **Sola Sariel the Space Seraph, ATK: 2500 + 300** → **2800, DEF: 1800 + 300** → **2100**

 **Diana the Light Spirit, ATK: 1800 + 300** → **2100, DEF: 1000 + 300** → **1300**

"Sola Sariel's effect activate! I banish AstroGear Chiffre Brecher to reduce AstroGear Das Unknown's attack power by eighteen hundred!" Sola flew toward the Link Monster and tapped it, turning off most of its lights.

 **AstroGear Das Unknown, ATK: 2100 - 1800** → **300**

"Now AstroGear Chiffre Brecher's effect activates." Silver Star continued. "By choosing Attack Position, I can banish all attack position monsters on the field, except for AstroGear monsters."

A large black hole appeared in the sky between Silver Star and Li'Tch. Motolord Beast roared and began to thrash around, trying desperately to escape the pull of the black sphere but without success. Meanwhile, Silver Star's Diana simply closed her eyes and accepted her fate. The two monsters fell into the black hole and vanished from sight before it closed.

"The End." Silver Star sighed. "Das Unknown increases the attack and defense power of all my LIGHT monsters by five hundred."

 **Sola Sariel the Space Seraph, ATK: 2800 + 500** → **3300, DEF: 2100 + 500** → **2600**

 **AstroGear Das Unknown, ATK: 300 + 500** → **800**

"Sola Sariel, attack the opponent directly." Silver Star ordered. " _ **Photon Detonation**_!"

The fairy leaped into the air and fired several metal bolts out of its back, forming a ring in front of itself. Sola charged the ring with electricity, turning it into an energy saw and then threw it at Li'Tch, cutting the AI's body in half before detonating, incinerating the remains of the AI in the process.

 **『** **Li'Tch LP: 2900 - 3300** → **0** **』**

 **『** **Winner: Silver Star** **』**

After Li'Tch dead, a small green and red cube fell from the sky, landing in Silver Star's palm. The AstroGear duelist looked at the cube and then absorbed it into her Duel Disk. The data hidden inside the NitroGear deck was secured.

* * *

Gri'Wre and Playmaker flew side by side. The two Duelist looked forward with Ai emerging from the latter's Duel Disk to support his partner. Though neither the Cyberse Duelist nor his Ignis understood what this was all about, the only information they needed was that Roxy was in danger. The only thing between her and a dark fate was Playmaker, so failure wasn't an option; not that it ever was.

" _I'll support from the side, Playmaker!"_ Ai exclaimed and gave his partner a trump up.

"Talking from my Duel Disk while I duel isn't support." The cracking of Ai's digital heard echoed through the city.

"If that's the last thing you want to tell your partner before I erase both of you, then your life must have been very sad," Gri'Wre commented.

The Cyberse Duelist didn't respond to his opponent's taunt and simply activated his Duel Disk. The faster he ended this duel, the sooner would he be able to go and help Proxy.

"Speed Duel!" both duelists exclaimed at the same time.

 **『** **Gli'Wre LP: 4000, Hand: 4 (VS) Playmaker LP: 4000, Hand: 4** **』**

"Let's see what I'm up against." Gli'Wre raised its lower set of arms and opened a screen with information about Playmaker. "I see, so you are a Cyberse user? And an Ignis holder no less? Too bad for you, we're already familiar with how Cyberse functions."

" _What is he saying?"_ Ai looked puzzled. _"Are you after me as well?"_

"After you? Why would I have to go after a downgrade, such as you and your kind?" Gli'Wre asked back. "Just like the humans, you are slow and predictable, cursed to inherit humanity's biggest weakness."

"Downgrade!?" Ai exclaimed, then dropped its head. _"Now I'm starting to understand how Roboppy feels around me."_

"This isn't of concern right now." Playmaker interrupted, looking down at his Ignis.

" _It isn't?"_ Ai titled its head to the side. _"Not that I'm complaining, but you understand that this enemy probably doesn't have anything to do with the Knights of Hanoi, are you sure that you want to fight against them despite knowing that?"_

"Proxy and her Ignis are a valuable part of our group, so if he threatens them, there's no other choice, but to protect them." Playmaker explained stoically. "Now focus, we're about to begin."

" _In other words, you want me to keep quiet, right?"_ Ai looked back at his origin and a faint smile appeared on Playmaker's face. _"I thought so…"_

"It's your turn," Gli'Wre commented.

"He wants to observe my strategies first." Playmaker thought out loud. "Very well. Since there are no monsters on my field, I can Special Summon _Linkslayer (Lv.5, ATK: 2000)_ from my hand!"

A warrior wearing yellowish armor with feline-like headgear and claws appeared in front of Playmaker.

"Next, I Normal Summon _Lady Debug (Lv.4, ATK: 1700)_." A female monster similar to a ladybug in appearance appeared next to Linkslayer. "Lady Debug's effect now activates! When Summoned, I can add any Level Three or lower Cyberse monster from my deck to the hand. I add _Code Generator_ and activate its effect! If this card is in my hand, I can use it as material for a Link Summon!"

"Using a monster in the hand as material?" Gli'Wre looked at his opponent with genuine interest. To have such cards, his Ignis must have made them specially for his deck.

"Appear, circuit that leads to the future!" Playmaker threw his arm forward opening a square-shaped portal. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two Effect Monsters! I set Lady Debug and Code Generator in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Code Talker (ATK: 1300, Link-2)_!"

A black humanoid in grey armor appeared out of the square carrying a sword with both arms.

"Now Code Generator's other effect activates!" Playmaker continued. "When it's used as Link Material, I can send a monster with twelve hundred or less attack from my deck to the grave. I send Dotscaper and activate its effect, when sent to the Graveyard, Dotscaper can Special Summon itself!" A little white and blue creature with green eyes appeared on Playmaker's field.

' _Another Link Summon is coming.'_ Gri'Wre already knew Playmaker's playstyle. The AI made all the necessary research just moments after the duel started, there wasn't anything that could surprise it.

"Appear, circuit that leads to the future!" As the AI predicted, another square opened in the sky. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two or more Effect Monsters! I set the Link Two, Code Talker and Dotscaper in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Link 3, _Decode Talker (ATK: 2300, Link-3)_!"

A much larger version of Code Talker with blue armor and a purple sword landed in the right Extra Monster Zone, glaring at Playmaker's opponent. Seeing the Link 3 being summoned, Ai showed its head from Playmaker's Duel Disk.

"Great work, Playmaker!" Ai praised its partner. "Since Decode Talker points at the Linkslayer in the middle monster zone, it gains a boost!"

" _Power Integration_!" Decode Talker groaned, feeling more power surging through its body.

 **Decode Talker, ATK: 2300 + 500** → **2800**

"I set a card, turn end." Playmaker finished. He had two powerful monsters on his field, one of which could also negate effects. It was a solid formation on which he could end his turn.

"As I predicted!" Gri'Wre exclaimed. "Playmaker, your dueling is like an open book for me! Allow me to demonstrate how advanced my kind is compared to that Ignis you keep at arm's length! My turn, draw!"

 **『** **Turn 2 [Gli'Wre] LP: 4000, Hand: 5** **』**

"I Normal Summon _**Motorb Conduct**_!" A strange creature that looked like a pile of flesh with cables coming out of its 'stomach' appeared on Gli'Wre's field.

* * *

 **Motorb Conduct**

 **Level: 1/Attribute: EARTH/Type: Machine/Normal**

 **ATK: 0/DEF: 0**

 **Lore: T̵̛͈o͓͇̩ ҉̺͓̟͜i͜҉̩̟͙̭n̳̞̘͎ͅv̷͢҉̻͍̘̞o͇̼̙͎k̸̨̨͚͙͕̝̖̲e̺͎͙̯͖̞̫̕̕͡ ̰͙̹̣͓̮͍̻t̗̗͍͢͝h̡̢̬̳͚̗̟̭̦̺e̷̦͍͝ͅ ͉̪ḩ̗̟͔͓̼̥i̷͍̩̙̝v̧̢̠̱̰̯e̸҉͔͔̩̫̬-̣͠m̸̢̡̺̠̥̩̥̩ì̢̥̟́ͅn͏̻̥̜͚̩̦̭͚ḑ͏̠̻̰̹̣̙ͅͅ ̶̰̱̟͎r̫͚̣e̢̺̮͓̙̗͙̪p̷̝̦̬͇̘̰̻͢ͅr͏͖̖̝͇̫e̶͖̲͉͙ͅs͙̥̯͕͍͎̪e̼̙͕̞̺̺̪̠͝ņ͎͖͙̮͓̮̖̺̕t͉i̧͚̪̪n̫̠͖͓̯ģ̛͚̯͔̪ͅ ̶͕͍̬̼̝̘͓͍̰o̢̞̝͞r̟̦͡͠d̩̱̮͕̙͉̥̬è̶͔͔̻̳͕r̥ͅ.̩̫̯̫̝̜̩͇̤**

* * *

" _That one's creepy looking."_ Ai hid inside Playmaker's Duel Disk.

"Now, open circuit of collapse!" A large square with torn-off pieces and cracks on the arrows appeared over Gli'Wre's head.

"Arrowhead confirmed! Summoning condition is one Moto monster! I set my Motorb Conduct in the Link Marker! Link Summon! _**Motorb Anima**_!" The monster that appeared this time was a monster made of blue flesh shaped into a spherical form. On the top was placed a rusty robot head with one working green eye.

* * *

 **Motorb Anima**

 **Attribute: WATER/Type: Cyberse/Link/Effect**

 **Link Arrows: Top**

 **ATK: 100/Link-1**

 **1 "Moto" monster, except a Link Monster**

 **Effect: Once per turn: You can equip 1 monster this card points to,** **to this card (max. 1). Gains ATK equal to that equipped monster's ATK. You can discard 1 card: This turn, if you would Link Summon a "Motorb" Link Monster, you can use the monster equipped to this card as Link Material.**

* * *

"It seems that you just misplayed." Ai boasted. "By putting your monster in front of Decode Talker's arrow, our monster gets an attack boost once more!"

 **Decode Talker, ATK: 2800 + 500** → **3300**

"I activate Anima's effect! I equip the monster it points to, to it!" Gli'Wre raised its arm and several cables shout out of his monster's body, tying around Decode Talker.

"Decode Talker!" Ai shouted and looked back at Playmaker. "Quick, use his second effect!"

"The effect doesn't target, so I can't negate it." Playmaker closed his eyes. Anima's cables pulled Decode Talker's body inside the blue mess of a monster, eating it alive.

"And due to Anima's effect, it gains attack points equal to those of the monster equipped to it!" Motorb roared, its body growing up in size.

 **Motorb Anima, ATK: 100 + 2300** → **2400**

"Next, I discard a card to activate Anima's other effect!" Gli'Wre continued. "During this turn, when Link Summoning, I can use the monster equipped to Anima as Link Material!" Anima's body opened up and three purple whirlwinds flew out of it.

"Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are two or more Effect Monsters, including a Moto monster! I set the Link Three, Decode Talker and the Link One, Motorb Anima the Link Markers! Link Summon! Link Four! _**Motorb Spiral**_!"

A giant sphere made of metal with eleven moving eyes appeared inside the circuit. Data flowed out of the monster's body, creating seven dark purple tentacles, each having a small drill attached to its tip. The monster towered over Playmaker's field and roared at the Cyberse Duelist.

* * *

 **Motorb Spiral**

 **Attribute: WIND/Type: Cyberse/Link/Effect**

 **Link Arrows: Top-Left, Top, Top-Right, Bottom**

 **ATK: 2800/Link-4**

 **2+ monsters, including a "Moto" monster**

 **Effect: Once per turn: You can equip 1 monster this card points to, to this card (max. 1). Gains ATK equal to that equipped monster's ATK. If a card or effect is activated, targeting this card, you can send 1 card equipped to this card to the GY, negate the effect, and if you do, inflict 800 damage to your opponent.**

* * *

"How can this ever pass for a Cyberse!?" Ai yelled at the other AI.

"Motorb Spiral's true terror will now begin!" Gli'Wre turned back. "Once per turn, I can equip a monster that it points to as an equip spell! I choose your Linkslayer!"

Four of the tentacles shot forward and drilled into Linkslayer's limbs, paralyzing the monster completely. The warrior-like monster roared in pain, its body getting slowly dragged back to Spiral and attached to the front of its metal shell, acting as a meat shield protecting the Link Monster from harm.

"And now, through its own effect, Motorb Spiral gains the attack points of the monster equipped to it by this effect! So it gains two thousand attack points!"

 **Motorb Spiral, ATK: 2800 + 2000** → **4800**

" _Um, Playmaker?"_ Ai spoke up.

"What?"

"The huge monster just absorbed our last line of defense! What're you going to do now!?" Ai panicked. "Motorb Spiral can end this duel with a single attack!"

"There's nothing your caretaker can do!" Gli'Wre turned around, facing the Cyberse Duelist. "Welcome to your burial Playmaker! I set a card, next, Motorb Spiral is going to attack you directly! _**Spiral Nightmare**_!"

Spiral swung all of its tentacles and the drills' blades moved toward Playmaker's body. Ai's eyes widened and the little creature turned toward its partner.

" _Playmaker!"_ Ai cried out.

"I activate the effect of _Lockout Gardna_ from my hand!" A large red and black robot appeared in front of Playmaker with 1000 ATK. "When I'm targeted for a direct attack, Lockout Gardna can be Special Summoned, and when summoned this way, it can't be destroyed by battle for the rest of the turn!"

"But if I attack, you're still going to lost most of your Life Points!" Gli'Wre pointed out. "Go, Spiral! Attack their Lockout Gardna!" The large beast roared and threw its tentacles forward, hitting both Lockout Gardna and Playmaker. The duelist screamed as his body was thrown off the D-Board.

 **『** **Playmaker LP: 4000 - 3800** → **200** **』**

" _Playmaker!"_ Ai jumped out of the Duel Disk. _"Quick, Playmaker! We're going to fall!"_

Playmaker gritted his teeth, the pain from the attack still ringing through his body. Ignoring the agony, the Cyberse Duelist managed to raise his arm just enough to fire a yellow energy string which attached itself to his D-Board and the Duelist was teleported back on top of it. Playmaker then collapsed down on his knees and gasped for breath. The damage that he just took, it was way more intense than anything else he suffered so far.

" _Are you alright, Playmaker?"_ Ai asked its origin. _"You took a lot of damage straight to the face."_

"I'm fine," The Cyberse Duelist stood back up, albeit trembling from the damage. "My Life Points are now below a thousand, you know what this means."

" _Storm Access!"_ Ai exclaimed and threw its arm forward… only for nothing to happen. _"Eh?"_

The Ignis looked at its hands and then tried to summon a Data Storm once more, only to fail again. Ai tilted its head in confusion. Even though it wasn't the best at controlling the Data Storm from among the six Ignis, summoning one should be easy enough, yet it couldn't do it.

" _I- I can't summon a Data Storm, Playmaker!"_ Ai shouted, distressed. _"We have no comeback!"_

"What's wrong?" Playmaker asked.

"Nothing's wrong." Gli'Wre interrupted them, causing both duelist and Ignis to glare at the enemy AI. "You're unable to use your Skill due to my effect, _**Contract with the Maker**_!"

" _What!?"_ Ai frowned. _"You never said that you activate a skill, this isn't fair!"_

"My Skill is a continuous one that activates the moment in which the duel began," Gli'Wre informed. "Due to Contact with the Maker, other players are unable to activate their skills unless they pay a thousand Life Points!"

" _Storm Access requires the user to have a thousand or fewer Life Points…"_ Ai trailed off, slowly coming to the realization of what that meant.

"Since we don't have Life Points to spare, Contract with the Maker effectively seals our Storm Access." Playmaker's eyes narrowed. And just when he has gotten used to pulling easy wins using the Data Storm in his advantage, his opponent had to seal it away.

" _If we can't use Storm Access, this duel is over!"_ Ai dropped on its knees. _"I'm sorry, Proxy, Aqua!"_

"There's still hope." Playmaker muttered, catching Ai's attention. "If we can't use Storm Access then we'll just have to use what we got at our disposal at the moment."

"Playmaker…" Ai nodded. "Do you have a plan on how to defeat our opponent?"

"Please, I've already analyzed your dueling!" Gli'Wre shouted back. "I know any move that you could do before it happens! There's nothing you have that I'm not ready for!"

"Let's put that to the test." Playmaker clenched his fist. "My turn! This is the draw that will lead to new potential!"

 **『** **Turn 3 [Playmaker] LP: 200, Hand: 1** **』**

Playmaker took a good look at the card that he drew. Cyberse Gadget… "I connected it; the circuit of victory!"

"You what!?" Gli'Wre yelled.

"I Normal Summon _Cyberse Gadget (Lv.4, ATK: 1400)_ and activate its effect! When its Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon a Level Two or lower monster from my Graveyard, come back, _Dotscaper (Lv.1, DEF: 2100)_!" The two Cyberse monsters appeared on Playmaker's field one after another, joining the Lockout Gardna that was already on his field. "Appear, the circuit that leads to the future!"

The square appeared over Playmaker's head and all three of his monsters turned into whirlwinds that flew toward it.

"Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two or more Cyberse monsters! I set Cyberse Gadget, Dotscaper and Lockout Gardna in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Link Three! _Excode Talker (ATK: 2300, Link-3)_!" The bulky WIND Code Talker flew out of the circuit and landed in the Extra Monster Zone.

"When Cyberse Gadget leaves the field, I can Special Summon a _Gadget Token_!" A tiny robot formed on Playmaker's field. "Now I summon the circuit that leads to the future once more!"

The square opened again and this time Playmaker's monsters turned into four whirlwinds.

"Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two or more monsters! I set Gadget Token and the Link Three, Excode Talker in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Link Four! _Firewall Dragon (ATK: 2500, Link-4)_!" The white and blue dragon flew through the circuit and roared.

" _Firewall Dragon?"_ Ai blinked at the sight of the dragon. _"Why summon it?"_

"I activate the Trap Card, _Recode Alive_!" Playmaker's face-down card turned around. "I banish Decode Talker from my Graveyard and Special Summon Encode Talker from my Extra Deck!" The LIGHT Code Talker formed at Firewall Dragon's bottom market.

" _Encode Talker…"_ Ai rubbed its chin in thought _. "That's it! You'll use Firewall Dragon's effect, right?"_

"If I do that, we'll lose due to their Link Monster's effect." Playmaker pointed out. "Instead, I declare an attack with Firewall Dragon! _Tempest Attack_!" The blue parts of Firewall Dragon's body turned red and the beast fired a powerful laser beam.

"You are going to use Encode Talker's effect now, won't you?" Gli'Wre commented. "You'll negate your dragon's destruction and then power-up your Code Talker, am I right?"

"I activate Encode Talker's effect." Ignoring the AI's comments, Playmaker activated his monster's effect. The warrior flew between Firewall and Motorb Spiral and held out its shield, creating a barrier that blocked the dragon's attack. "The destruction is negated and Encode Talker gains attack equal to Motorb Spiral!"

 **Encode Talker, ATK: 2300 + 4800** → **7100**

"Now let's battle!" Playmaker shouted. "Encode Talker is going to attack Motorb Spiral! _Encode Finish_!" The LIGHT Code Talker's shield produced a sword and it leaped into the air, cutting Gli'Wre's monster in half.

 **『** **Gli'Wre LP: 4000 - 2300** → **1700** **』**

"I activate my Trap Card! _**Motorb Switch**_!" Gli'Wre's set card turned face-up. "This card negates my monster's destruction by destroying all of its equipped cards instead, and then, I'm allowed to move my monster to the zone where another Link Monster points at!"

Spiral's tentacles moved to press the torn monster's body back together, regaining its shape. Afterward, the large octopus-like creature floated to the left side, coming face to face with Firewall Dragon itself.

* * *

 **Motorb Switch (Trap) Normal**

 **When a "Motorb" monster you control would be destroyed by battle or card effect, you can destroy a card equipped to it instead. Then, you can move that monster to another Zone that a Link Monster points at.**

* * *

"I'm going to place Motorb Spiral in front of your Firewall Dragon and when there are no cards equipped to it, Motorb Spiral can equip one of the monsters that it points at to itself! So next turn, I take Firewall Dragon!"

"There's not going to be a next turn!" Playmaker exclaimed. "I activate Firewall Dragon's effect! For every monster that it's co-linked with it, Firewall Dragon can return one monster from each side of the field to the hand! I return my own Firewall Dragon and your Motorb Spiral back to the Extra Deck! _Emergency Escape_!"

"What!?" Gli'Wre looked up at his monster. Firewall Dragon unleashed an electric change that locked both monsters in place and then forced them to return back into their owner's Extra Deck.

"To think that you would do that…" Gli'Wre clenched its fists. A notable trait of Playmaker's dueling was his randomness. Unlike other duelists, he didn't have a specific ace monster to focus his deck around, nor did he care about sacrificing any of his cards as long as he won. "This won't change the outcome! It's my turn!"

"Wrong!" Playmaker exclaimed. "My turn isn't over yet!"

"Your monster already declared an attack!" Gli'Wre pointed out. "There's no Second Main Phase in Speed Duels, so there's nothing you can do!"

"Encode Talker might have attacked, but not my other monster." Playmaker gestured toward the data below them. "I activate Recode Alive's effect from my Graveyard! I banish it to revive Decode Talker!" A black portal formed under Playmaker's feet and his signature monster flew out of it.

"I should have seen that one coming." Gli'Wre sighed. Since using Storm Access was Playmaker's only way to turn a duel around, he calculated that the duelist would lose the will to fight once they realized that their Skill was locked out, but…

" _Now this is a back that you can rely on!"_ Ai exclaimed and waved at the DARK Code Talker. _"Go get them, Decode Talker!"_

"End this, Decode Talker!" Playmaker exclaimed. " _Decode End_!" The monster readied its blade and charged forward.

Instead of trying to avoid the attack, Gli'Wre threw its arms to the sides and raised its head, glaring at the Cyberse monster charging at it. Decode Talker swung its blade, cutting the AI in half.

 **『** **Gli'Wre LP: 1700 - 2300** → **0** **』**

 **『** **Winner: Playmaker** **』**

The attack sent Gli'Wre's severed body flying off the D-Board and crashing on a rooftop. The defeated AI. looked up toward its opponent, electricity shooting out of its severed waist. After a moment, its skin turned dark grey and then the body fell apart, disintegrating. Ai formed out of the Duel Disk and sighed.

" _You know Playmaker, even though this wasn't an Ignis, it still hurt watching it die like this,"_ Ai admitted, looking up toward his partner.

"It was still an AI. like yourself, so it's natural to feel that way." Playmaker commented. "But sometimes you must make a hard decision in order to protect what's truly important."

" _Indeed."_ Ai nodded. _"Let's go back to Proxy and Aqua, they must be worried about us."_

"Playmaker!"

As if on cue, Proxy flew in front of the Cyberse Duelist and smiled at him. Playmaker looked at his partner with a blank expression, checking if everything was ok.

" _You can move again!"_ Ai shouted the obvious.

" _We weren't able to treat her paralysis much"_ Aqua admitted. _"But then the virus she was infected with suddenly disappeared and she shot out to reach you a moment later. I take it this means that you defeated the rogue AI?"_

" _We did!"_ Ai nodded. _"But we didn't learn why the AI went after you. It's still a victory though, right?"_

" _I'm not sure about that."_ Aqua crossed her arms. _"The thing, whatever it was, had a coding that my system was familiar with. I'm unable to identify the origins and that worries me the most. I also take it that you didn't try to study our attacker's code. That AI was connected to a hive of some sort."_

"A hive of AIs?" Proxy raised an eyebrow. "That doesn't sound good, does it?"

"I think you should log out and rest for the rest of the day." Playmaker stated and turned to leave.

"Wait!" Proxy grabbed the Cyberse Duelist's arm. "Are you trying to kick me out?"

"The AI was able to easily paralyze your nerve system." Playmaker pointed out. "We must research it and construct a defense-system against it, so it doesn't happen again. You're also new to fighting the Knights of Hanoi, your stamina won't last as long as mine if we keep fighting them at this rate."

"I… I understand." Proxy nodded.

She was just going to slow down Playmaker if she stood there trying to act as his sidekick. The best way she could help him out would be by not being there at all. Letting go of the Cyberse Duelist's arm, the girl gave a bitter smile and pressed the button on her Duel Disk to log out, leaving Playmaker and Ai alone once more.

" _She definitely took this the wrong way."_ Ai sighed.

"It's better that way." Playmaker replied. "But there are still many more Knights of Hanoi, we can't stop here."

" _Aye, aye."_

* * *

"So that's their headquarters?" Faust asked.

Using data given to them by Picaro, Faust and Baira had organized a group of Hanoi's most elite duelist to join them in this special operation while Revolver and Specter commanded the main troops. Currently, the ten Knights of Hanoi that have infiltrated the enemy's server were walking through a long corridor made of white cubes.

"And it seems that we got company." Baira pointed out.

The Knights all stopped walking. Standing in front of them was Masou, PhantomFire and Silver Star's AI. The minion was protecting a large door made of metal – no doubt something important lying behind it.

"You're not authorized to continue," Masou stated. "Turn back now or face extermination."

The regular knights looked at each other and chuckled at the idea. A single AI eliminating them? It was impossible.

"I'll erase this one." Baira stooped forward.

"I'll leave this to you then." Faust sighed.

There wasn't anything else they needed to say. The Knights of Hanoi existed to protect humanity from AIs and their current enemy was an AI, a dialogue between these two parties was impossible and everyone present was aware of it. Masou took a step forward and activated its Duel Disk.

"DUEL!"

 **『** **Baira LP: 4000, Hand: 5 (VS) Masou LP: 4000, Hand: 5** **』**

"I'll take the first turn," Baira said summoning five cards in front of herself. "I set one monster and one card face-down, with this, I end my turn!"

The two face-down cards appeared in front of Baira and Masou looked at them before turning its eyes toward the Knight of Hanoi that it was facing. Searching Data Base… The Knights of Hanoi were a cyber-terrorist group whose goals' were to destroy virtual reality and AIs in order to protect humanity from its 'true' enemies. Conclusion: Masou' opponent either wasn't taking the duel seriously, or they were trying to lure it into a trap. Either way, Masou had to fight.

"My turn, draw!" A sixth card appeared in front of Masou as the AI calculated the safest way to respond.

 **『** **Turn 2 [Masou] LP: 4000, Hand: 6** **』**

"I'm still unsure on whenever you don't take me seriously, or this is all part of a bigger picture," Masou said, eyeing its opponent. "The only thing I know for sure is that you're going to lose a large amount of Life Points for playing so defensively on your first turn. When there are no monsters on my field, I can Special Summon _Speedroid Terrortop (Lv.3, ATK: 1200)_ from my hand."

"Speedroid?" Faust commented. "That's the first I hear of this deck."

"The Speedroid deck doesn't originate from here, so of course Duelist wouldn't have heard of it," Masou replied and looked at his card. "But I believe this information is unimportant to your group, is it? Back to the duel, I activate Terrotop's effect. When its Summoned, I can add a Speedroid monster from my deck to the hand, I choose Speedroid Tri-Eyed Dice and summon it."

"Tri-Eyed Dice…" Baira checked the screen of her Duel Disk for details on the card. "It's a Tuner monster!"

"I tune my Level Three Terrortop to my Level Three Tri-Eyed Dice!" Masou threw its arms in the sky and its monsters transformed into two rings, each divided into three segments. They glowed before overlaying into a single one and then exploded into a column of brilliant light.

" _Magical sword with the form of a cross. Use your power to rend all enemies! Synchro Summon! Appear now! Level Six! Hi-Speedroid Kendama (Lv.6, ATK: 2200)!_ "

Out of the light flew a blue robot, with a large spear attached to its front, and landed in the right Extra Monster Zone. Masou raised its arm and pointed at Baira.

"Battle! I use Hi-Speedroid Kendama to attack your face-down monster!" At Masou's order, Kendama flew into the sky and fired a barrage of blue energy blasts at Baira's monster, destroying it. "Your set monster was Giant Germ with a hundred defense points, due to Kendama's monster effect, you will take piercing damage when I battle a defense position monster."

Baira bit her lip and took a step back from the damage that she took. And it was just one attack…

 **『** **Baira LP: 4000 - 2100** → **1900** **』**

"Giant Germ's effect now resolves!" Baira exclaimed. "When this card is destroyed, I can inflict five hundred points of damage to you, as well as Special Summon two new Giant Germs from my deck!" Two pink spheres with brown surface appeared at Baira's side of the field and Masou winched as a spark jumped out of its shoulder.

 **『** **Masou LP: 4000 - 500** → **3500** **』**

' _Opponent now has two monsters, most likely will go for a Link Summon on their next turn.'_ Masou thought to itself, calculating its next move. ' _The deck that master gave me has a low amount of defensive cards, there's nothing I can do to stop my opponent's plays.'_

"I'll end my turn," Masou concluded swiping its arm to the side.

"Then it's my turn!" Baira replied. "Draw!"

 **『** **Turn 3 [Baira] LP: 1900, Hand: 4** **』**

"Appear! Our future circuit!" A square opened over Baira's head. "Arrowhead confirmed! Summoning requirement is one Level Two or lower DARK monster! I set Giant Germ in the Link Marker! Link Summon! Link One, _**Dark Mummy Dissect Lancet**_!"

A skinny female mummy appeared out of the circuit. The creature's body and faces were wrapped with soiled bandages that hide its rotten skin. The only notable thing about its appearance was its left arm, which had a lanced in place of a hand.

* * *

 **Dark Mummy Dissect Lancet**

 **Attribute: DARK/Type: Zombie/Link/Effect**

 **L-Markers: Bottom**

 **ATK: 400/Link-1**

 **1 Level 2 or lower DARK monster**

 **Effect: You can Tribute 1 monster: Special Summon 1 Level 2 or lower "Dark Mummy" monster from your hand or GY to a zone this card points to. If a "Dark Mummy" monster(s) you control would be destroyed by battle or an opponent's card effect, you can banish this card from your GY instead. You can use each effect of "Dark Mummy Dissect Lancet" once per turn.**

* * *

"Next, I activate Dissect Lancet's effect! I release Giant Germ to Special Summon _Dark Mummy Probe (Lv.1, DEF: 0)_ from my hand" A female monster with blue skin and bandages covering its body appeared on Baira's field, moaning. "Next, I release Probe to activate _Monster Restitch_! Through this Spell, I can Special Summon three _Dark Mummy Tokens (Lv.1, DEF: 0)_!" The mummy moaned as its body fell apart and was replaced by three purple flames, each of them keeping an eye in the center of itself.

"Dark Mummy?" Masou tilted its head to the side. "I see, that means that you use a deck focused on infecting your opponent, don't you? Following this logic, your set card is one of the infamous Virus Traps, isn't it?"

"Appear! Our future circuit!" Baira ignored the AI's words as another square opened above her. Arrowhead confirmed! Summoning requirements are three Dark Mummy monsters! I put two Dark Mummy Tokens and Dark Mummy Dissect Lancet in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Link Three! _Dark_ _Mummy Surgical Forceps (ATK: 2400, Link-3)_."

A woman covered in bandages with blades in place of arms flew through the circuit and landed in the Extra Monster Zone. Masou observed the monster. This one had to be the Knight of Hanoi's ace monster…

"Next I release my last Dark Mummy Token to activate the Trap Card - _Current Corruption Virus_! Through this card's effect, all your monsters with two thousand or less defense become useless for three turns! Also, all of their Attack Points drop to zero as well!"

Rust covered Masou's Synchro monster and it collapsed on the ground, with the light in its eyes going off. The AI narrowed its eyes; not almost all of its monsters were going to remain infected for the duration of three turns.

 **Hi-Speedroid Kendama, ATK: 2200** → **ATK: 0**

"Battle! Dark Mummy Surgical Forceps attack Hi-Speedroid Kendama!" Three bandages shot out of Dark Mummy's body and locked Kendama in place for the zombie to cut it in half.

"I activate the effect of Speedroid Tri-Eyed Dice from my Graveyard! I banish it to negate your attack." Masou exclaimed, his monster's spirit appearing in front of Kendama, blocking Baira's attack.

"A clumsy save, as expected from an AI," Baira muttered and looked at the remaining cards in her hand before pressing one of them. "I set a card, turn end."

"Field scanning complete, processing to neutralizing the target. Draw!" Masou commented, adding a new card to its hand.

 **『** **Turn 4 [Masou] LP: 3500, Hand: 6** **』**

"I Normal Summon the Tuner Monster, _Speedroid Dominobutterfly (Lv.2, ATK: 100)_!" A new white, black and yellow machine materialized before Masou. "Due to your Virus card, my monster should lose all of its effects and attack points, but that doesn't matter. I tune my Level Six Hi-Speedroid Kendama to my Level Two Speedroid Dominobutterfly!"

A column of data raised behind Masou and its monsters transformed into two rings, the first one divided into two segments while the second was divided in six. They glowed before overlaying into a single one and then exploded into a beam of brilliant light.

" _Mysterious dragon possessing the magic of wind. With those sharp wings leap into heaven's light! Synchro Summon! Level Eight, Hi-Speedroid Kitedrake (Lv.8, ATK: 3000)!_ "

A blue multi-segmented dragon with green energy wings covering its back and two sets of claws floating next to its head flew in front of Masou and roared; its tail swinging impatiently for its orders.

"I activate Kitedrake's effect!" Masou exclaimed, gesturing toward his monster. "When Kitedrake is Synchro Summoned, I can destroy all cards on the field, except for itself! _**Drake Storm**_!"

Hi-Speedroid Kitedrake's wings increased in size and unleashed a whirlwind, which covered the field. Baira's Link Monster roared and tried to push against the wind, but it was knocked backward while the Knight of Hanoi's set card shattered into small pieces of data.

"I won't let you!" A card appeared in front of Baira and she pressed it. "I activate Dark Mummy Dissect Lancet's effect from my Graveyard! I banish it to protect Dark Mummy Surgical Forceps from destruction!"

"An unimportant setback," Masou commented and raised its arm, catching its dragon's attention. "I attack Dark Mummy Surgical Forceps with Hi-Speedroid Kitedrake!"

The dragon flew in front of Baira's Link Monster and opened its mouth, biting the zombie's head and then crushed it, throwing the undead's limp body to the side.

 **『** **Baira LP: 1900 - 600** → **1300** **』**

"The Lieutenant seems to be in trouble." One of the Knights commented.

"She's alright," Faust replied, crossing his arms. "A simple AI wouldn't be enough to beat her. While she's busy dealing with the defense, I want you to open the door."

Three of the Knights stepped forward and nodded before walking over to the door. Each of them pulled a cable out of their Duel Disk and connected it to the door. Following that, a screen filled with symbols and numbers appeared in front of them.

"I end my turn." Masou finished and lowered its Duel Disk.

"To think that an AI of all things would corner me like this…" Baira muttered to herself. "Your kind enjoys calculating for the best course of action, always knowing what the most effective move you can make would be, but the Knights of Hanoi have learned how to fight against your intellect. My turn, draw!"

 **『** **Turn 5 [Baira] LP: 1300, Hand: 3** **』**

"I activate the effect of _**Monster Cremator**_ from my Graveyard!" A black portal appeared in front of Baira and her Trap Card raised on the field, turning into two purple flames. "By banishing it, I can Special Summon two Dark Mummy Tokens!"

* * *

 **Monster Cremator (Trap) Normal**

 **If you control a face-up "Dark Mummy" monster, except a Token: You can banish 1 Special Summoned monster your opponent controls. If this card is in your GY, except during the turn it was sent there, you can banish this card: Special Summon 2 "Dark Mummy Tokens" (DARK/Zombie/Level 1/ATK 0/DEF 0).**

* * *

"Now appear! Our future circuit!" A square opened over Baira's head and one of the flames flew up. "Arrowhead confirmed! Summoning requirement is one Level Two or lower DARK monster! I set a Dark Mummy Token in the Link Marker! Link Summon! Link One, _Dark Mummy Dissect Lancet (ATK: 400, Link-1)_!" A second copy of Dissect appeared in the free Extra Monster Zone.

"Next I activate _**Diseased Transplantation**_!" A card showing a rooting purple heart emitting green aura appeared in front of Baira. "I pay eight hundred Life Points to target a Dark Mummy in my Graveyard and Special Summon it! Come back, _Dark_ _Mummy Surgical Forceps (ATK: 2400, Link-3)_!" The portal leading to Baira's Graveyard opened again as her Link-3 raised from the dead.

 **『** **Baira LP: 1300 - 800** → **500** **』**

 **Diseased Transplantation (Spell) Equip**

 **Activate this card by paying 800 LP, then target 1 "Dark Mummy" monster in your GY; Special Summon that target in and equip it with this card. When this card is destroyed, banish the equipped monster.**

"Now appear! Our future circuit!" A square opened over Baira's head and one of the flames flew up. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are at least two DARK monsters! I set a Dark Mummy Token and the Link Three, Dark Mummy Surgical Forceps, in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Link Four, _**Dark Mummy Sternal Saw**_!"

Another female monster with dark green skin and glowing red eyes appeared out of the circuit. This time the monster was wearing a nurse outfit with a large part of it torn off, leaving its stomach and lower back unprotected. Her belly, legs, and neck were wrapped in bandages. Unlike its predecessor, Surgical Forceps, Sternal Saw's weapons weren't on its arms, but on its legs, having circular saws in place of feet.

* * *

 **Dark Mummy Sternal Saw**

 **Attribute: DARK/Type: Zombie/Link/Effect**

 **L-Markers: Bottom, Bottom Left, Top, Right**

 **ATK: 2700/Link-4**

 **2+ DARK monsters**

 **Effect: When you draw a Trap Card(s): You can reveal 1 of them; destroy 1 card your opponent controls. (Quick Effect): You can Tribute 1 monster this card points to; activate 1 "Virus" Trap Card from your deck whose activation requirements are met by the monster Tributed to activate this effect, without Tributing a monster. If a "Virus" Trap Card is activated on your side of the field: Draw 1 card. You can activate each effect of "Dark Mummy Sternal Saw" once per turn.**

* * *

"Next, I activate the Spell Card, _**Forbidden Surgery**_!" Baira continued on. "I banish two Level Two or lower DARK monsters from my Graveyard to Special Summon two Dark Mummy monsters from my Deck as long as they have the same name. Come out, _Dark Mummy Infuser (Lv.1, DEF: 500)_!" A pair of small pink-skinned girls wearing purple and pink dresses with needles in place of legs appeared on the field.

* * *

 **Forbidden Surgery (Spell) Normal**

 **Banish 2 Level 2 or lower DARK monsters with the same name from your GY: Special Summon 2 "Dark Mummy" monsters with the same name as each other, from their Deck in face-up Defense Position.**

* * *

"And now I'll activate Sternal Saw's effect to release one Infuser and activate the Trap, _**Berserk Butchery Virus**_ from my deck! Through its effect, I destroy all monsters in your hand with fifteen hundred or more defense points!"

One of the Infuser's screamed and her body fell apart, releasing a black cloud that flew through Masou's field, destroying Kitedrake, and then moved onto the AI's hand. Three of Masou's cards turned black and shattered after which a hologram popped up showing the cards that he was holding before the virus infected his hand: Speedroid Skull Marbles, Speedroid Passinglider, Speedrif, Speedroid Menko, and Speedroid Maliciousmagnet.

* * *

 **Berserk Butchery Virus (Trap) Normal**

 **Tribute 1 DARK monster with 1000 or less DEF; check your opponent's hand, all monsters they control, and all cards they draw until the end of your opponent's 3rd turn after this card's activation, and destroy all monsters with 1500 or more DEF.**

* * *

"I see, so you infected my hand." Masou looked at its card and then at Baira. "But that's not good enough. I activate Speedroid Kitedrake's effect. When it's sent to the grave by an opponent's effect, I add a Speedroid to my hand, the one I choose is this: A second Speedroid Menko."

"You're a persistent AI." Baira sighed. "But due to Sternal Saw's other effect, when I activate a Trap Card, I can draw a new card!" A single card formed in the palm of the female knight, followed by a malicious smile. "I activate _Monster Reborn_ to bring back _Dark Mummy Surgical Forceps (ATK: 2400, Link-3)_!"

"Surgical Forceps…" Masou tilted its head to the side. "Link Monsters have no defense…"

"So when you activate Menko's effect to Special Summon itself, none of my monsters will go to Defense Position." Baira pointed out. "Whatever move an AI. tries, humans will always adapt faster! Battle! Surgical Forceps, Sternal Saw, attack the opponent directly!"

The two zombies moaned, each of them charging a ball of black energy. The AI. looked at its palm and closed its eyes, the dark energy washing through its body, melting it away. In its last moments, Masou realized, Evan didn't need it to hold back the Knights of Hanoi. The dueling program installed inside of its mind was insufficient to fight a high ranked Knight of Hanoi – Evan was just looking for a good opportunity to get rid of the useless AI.

 **『** **Masou LP: 3500 - 2400** → **1100 - 2700** → **0** **』**

 **『** **Winner: Baira** **』**

"Look out!"

Knights of Hanoi screamed and leaped out of the way. The two Dark Mummy Link Monsters' attacks connected with the locked down, blowing it into pieces. The ground shook at the impact and even the user sitting on the other side of the door turned his eyes to see what was going on.

A few moments later, eight knights walked inside with Baira and Faust following behind the troops. The room they entered was half black half white with cubes made of data flying around, changing their colors to purple when inside the black half and going for a more light blue appearance when they were inside the white half. A single stairway was placed in the center of the room, leading toward two thrones, of which only the black one on the right was occupied.

Sitting in it was PhantomFire. The Duelist was using his character's grown-up appearance, his body was leaning toward the right, his head placed in his right arm's palm while his elbow was placed firmly on the side of his throne.

"Took you long enough to reach this part." PhantomFire groused, opening his left palm. In an instant, the remains of Masou's body turned into data and flew into his palm, transforming into a deck. "You apes probably don't realize it, but the deck I gave my assistant is legendary. Sadly, he wasn't even smart enough to bring out the dragon."

"Revolver doesn't want to make enemies out of you," Faust informed the Duelist.

"You want us to give you the Ignis that one of my operatives acquired." PhantomFire clarified their intentions. "Sadly, said operative is currently in the city server fighting against your troops, so you came here for nothing."

"We didn't come just for that." Faust shook his head. "You must know about the Ignis and their nature. The Knight of Hanoi wants to make an offer for cooperation against the Ignis."

"It appears that there's a misunderstanding." PhantomFire sighed and leaned back into his chair. "I've got no intention to fight in your war. If humanity's fate in this world is to be enslaved by the Ignis they created, so be it. Your civilization is nothing more than a pack of wild apes who need to be put down!"

"Don't you realize the danger that the Ignis represents!?" Baira shouted.

"They weren't danger until your group attacked them!" PhantomFire slapped his fist. "Torturing a group of six years old children, trying to eliminate a sapient species and terrorizing the network in an unjust crusade against technology – Your group is nothing more than a mishmash of sociopathic terrorists who declared themselves humanity's saviors! Leave now tell your leader that if he even dares to lay a finger on my operatives or the Ignis we're protecting, I'm going to personally storm his home and throw him off the clifftop! Understood?!"

"If you turn down this offer, it means that you're an enemy of us." Faust pointed out.

"I'm the antithesis of everything you stand for." PhamtomFire hissed. "Being called your enemy is the best compliment I would hear from you apes."

"Then we're going to eliminate you here." Baira pointed out.

"Eliminate me?" PhantomFire chuckled and stood up from his throne, activating his Duel Disk. "Don't go off misunderstanding what's going on here! This is the throne room of Gods and as the one who controls time itself, I shall teach you apes what true strength looks like. How about this?! I'm going to duel all ten of you at once and win in the matter of two turns!"

None of the Knights tried to speak against that idea. There wasn't a human who could pull off such a feat and in the end, no matter how strong of a duelist he was, if he was fighting ten duelists at once it would be just a matter of time before he fell to their numbers.

"Duel!" Everyone shouted at once.

 **『** **PhantomFire LP: 4000, Hand: 5 (VS) Knights of Hanoi LP: 4000, Hand: 5 (x10)** **』**

* * *

 **Well, it sure took me a while to write this chapter, didn't it? I won't even try to count the months since my last update, nor will I try to give excuses for it. I want to give this story more attention now since I'm really tired of the VRAINS anime, and I actually stopped watching it. Yes, that might sound crazy since I want to focus more on a fanfic about an anime I have stopped watching, but I've got some crazy stuff prepared for the Tower of Hanoi Arc and I want to write it, since it will answer a lot of questions, including how Roxy appeared in Den City.**

 **Something ironic I noticed about this chapter is that we had three duels with AIs in which those AIs got completely destroyed by characters from different sides in the conflict. He had Playmaker, who's the "Hero", Baira, who's part of the Knights of Hanoi and Silver Star/Avice who's neutral in the fight between the Hanoi and the Ignis.**

 **Thanks to** xXYuseiXAkikoXx **for favoring this story!**

 **Now to answer the reviews!**

ScalchopWarrior **: First, thanks for pointing out some of the more obvious mistakes in the chapter, you are of great help, so thanks a lot! As for** **Gli'Wre and** **Li'Tch's names. Well, I think this chapter gave enough hints about why their names are the way they are.**

ThePLOThand **: So, you left three reviews and I'm not sure which ones I gave an answer to outside this story, but to be safe I'll just cover the last one. Honestly, the problem with Frog the Jam came from the TCG, so since this is the Anime which follows more closely the OCG ruling and naming, her OCG name is supposed to be "Enhance Mermail", which actually makes her a part of the Mermail archetype. Crazy, right?**

 **That's all for today! Thank everyone for reading this and I'll see you again next time!**

 **Diabolic Tracer out!**


	30. Chapter 30

**Before this chapter starts, I want to thank all the inspirations for this chapter's duel. Thanks to Firewall FTKs, Firewall Extra Links, Danger FTKs, Danger Extra Links, Gouki Extra Links, Gandora FTK and all other brilliant strategies that shone during 2018, I'm not going to name them because I've lost count of them myself, but given the type of plays that are common in the RL, I want you to understand that Evan isn't overpowered. He's just playing competitively against a bunch of noobs.**

* * *

Racing Against Time

Evan looked down at the group of a duelist who had so foolishly challenged him. He had other duties to attend to, so he wasn't going to have time to enjoy taking them down slowly, one by one. The demonic duelist clicked with his fingers and a purple barrier appeared in place of the broken door, looking his prey inside the throne room. The regular Knights of Hanoi looked back, while Baira and Faust kept their eyes on PhantomFire.

"The barrier is there so you don't think about running once you realize how terrifying it is to face against me. But don' worry too much about it. I'm a busy person, so I'm going to end it quickly." PhantomFire stated, taking a card from his hand. "I activate _**ChronoGear Emergency Launch**_! This card's effect allows me to Special Summon a ChronoGear monster straight from the deck! Come forth, _**ChronoGear Steam Ogre**_!"

* * *

 **ChronoGear Emergency Launch (Spell) Quick-Play**

 **Special Summon 1 "ChronoGear" monster from your Deck, but it cannot attack, also shuffle it into the Deck during the End Phase. If your opponent activates a Quick-Play Spell while this card is in your GY (Quick Effect): You can shuffle this card into your Deck; replace that card's effect with this card's, and if you do, treat it as if you activated it.**

* * *

A giant hideous monster with red skin materialized on Evan's field. Its head was covered in messy black fur with two metallic horns sticking out of its forehead and the crimson orbs glowing through the black fur. The monster wore a bracelet made of clock gears on its right hand, the left one was made of metal with gears grinding and spring locks going unwound. Its legs were wrapped in bandages with everything below the knees being made of metal parts.

* * *

 **ChronoGear Steam Ogre**

 **Level: 8/Attribute: DARK/Type: Machine/Effect**

 **ATK: 2600/DEF: 2600**

 **Effect: If this card is Special Summoned from your Deck, you can destroy 1 card on the field, then draw 1 card. If this card is Special Summoned by the effect of a "ChronoGear" card, you can Special Summon 2 "ChronoGear" monsters from your Deck or GY in Defense Position.**

* * *

"Steam Ogre's effect activates! Since it was summoned by the effect of a ChronoGear card, I can Special Summon two ChronoGear monsters from my deck! Come forth, _ChronoGear Hellchain (Lv.3, DEF: 1700)_ and _ChronoGear Berfomet (Lv.4, DEF: 1800)_!"

Steam Ogre roared and fired two clock gears into the air. The gears exploded and portals opened in their place summoning a demon covered in torn black robes and an undead demon cyborg.

"He got three monsters with one card," Baira commented.

"And one of them is a Level Eight nonetheless," Faust added.

"Berfomet's effect now activates!" PhantomFire ignored the knights and gestured toward his monster. "When it's Special Summoned from the effect of a ChronoGear card, I can add a ChronoGear card from the deck to my hand. I choose _**ChronoGear Reborn**_!"

* * *

 **ChronoGear Reborn (Spell) Normal**

 **Target 1 "ChronoGear" monster in your GY; Special Summon it. If your opponent activates a card or Monster effect that targets an "oGear" monster(s) you control while this card is in your GY (Quick Effect): Shuffle 1 "ChronoGear" monster on the field into the Deck; negate the activation, and if you do, banish it. Then set this card on the field, but banish it when it leaves the field.**

* * *

"Now appear, the circuit of past and future!" The space in front of PhantomFire cracked, opening a black void. "Arrowhead confirmed! Summoning condition is one Level Four or lower DARK monster! I set ChronoGear Berformet in the Link Marker! Link Summon! _ChronoGear Butterfly Effect (ATK: 0. Link-1)_!"

"And now Hellchain's effect activates! Once when it's on the field, I can revive Berfomet at the cost of negating its effects!" the tattered demon threw its chains into a pitch black portal and pulled the undead out.

"And again, appear my circuit!" The black vortex opened behind PhantomFire for a second time. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two oGear monsters! I set ChronoGear Butterfly Effect and ChronoGear Hellchain in the Link Markers! Link Summon! The wild spirit dancing over fading ages! _ChronoGear Time Tamer Kitty (ATK: 1700, Link-2)_!"

The female monster jumped out of the vortex and landed in the right Extra Monster Zone, bowing to the Knights of Hanoi facing off against her. PhantomFire sighed and clicked his fingers, reminding the Duel Monster of its duties.

"I activate Time Tamer Kitty's effect to revive ChronoGear Hellchain!" The tattered demon raised behind Kitty with its chains floating lively. "Now for the third time! Appear circuit of past and future!" For the third time, the black vortex tore through the space-time continuum to appear at PhantomFire's order. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two DARK monsters! I set ChronoGear Berfomet and ChronoGear Steam Ogre in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _**ChronoGear Timekeeping Succubus**_!"

A heart-shaped core of data formed inside the portal. The data began to expand outward creating a feminine shape. A young female teen with pale skin, short pink hair and crimson eyes formed. She wore a black bodysuit with pink heart-shaped ornaments covering her chest, the sides of her tights and the back of her wrists. A light blue collar with a locker hung around her neck and a set of golden shackles were locked around her wrists. A long pink tail with a triangle-shaped tip flapped behind her, a pair of crimson wings spread out of her back and two red horns grew on top of her head, bending toward each other in a way that made it look like they were trying to recreate the shape of a heart.

* * *

 **ChronoGear Timekeeping Succubus**

 **Attribute: DARK/Type: Fiend/Link/Effect**

 **Link Arrows: Left, Right**

 **ATK: 1000/Link-2**

 **2 DARK monsters, except Tokens**

 **Effect: Once per turn, before damage calculation, if a monster this card points to battles an opponent's monster: You can make those monsters unable to be destroyed by that battle, also neither players takes battle damage from that battle. After that damage calculation, you can place that opponent's monster in a zone this card points to and take control of it, but send it to the GY during the End Phase. Once per turn, if this card is co-linked (Quick Effect): Gain LP equal to the original ATK of 1 co-linked monster you control.**

* * *

"Hellchain's effect revives Berfomet once again!" the undead ChronoGear raised from the Graveyard and roared. "The Summoning Conditions are at least two DARK monsters! I set Hellchain and the Link Two Time Tamer Kitty in the Link Markers! Link Summon! My dark soul, _Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer (ATK: 2300, Link-3)_!" The demonic warrior formed inside the pitch black abyss and stepped on the right Extra Monster Zone.

"Once more!" The black void was already standing permanently above Evan's head as he kept Link Summoning. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summon requirements are at least two DARK monsters! I set Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer and the Link Two Timekeeping Succubus in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _**Diabolic Phantomus the Hollow Slayer**_!"

A pair of sinister glowing eyes appearance within the circuit and then out of it came a human male. He had a red right eye and a black mask placed over the left side of its face.

His hair was white with red stripes and reached his legs. The monster had a single red horn jutting from the right side of his head. Its outfit consisted of a black bodysuit with a large hood hanging from its back. There were red gear symbols on the monster's shoulders and the skin of his arms was cracked at spaces, revealing crimson energy that flowed through the demon's veins. Four rusty chains fell down from the monster's back and floated behind it like some sort of tails. Below, Phantomous wore black and red pants with robotic-looking boots made from black metal. Several large sword-shaped black objects floated around the monster's back, their sole existence causing the space around them to twist.

* * *

 **Diabolic Phantomus the Hollow Slayer**

 **Attribute: DARK/Type: Fiend/Link/Effect**

 **Link Arrows: Top, Left, Bottom**

 **ATK: 2300/Link-3**

 **2+ DARK monsters**

 **Effect: If your LP are 1000 or less, you can also Link Summon this card by using a "Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer" you control as the Link Material. Monsters this card points to gain 500 ATK. You can target 1 Link-3 or lower DARK Link Monster in your GY, except "Diabolic Phantomus the Hollow Slayer"; Special Summon it to your zone this card points to. You can target 1 face-up monster on the field: Negate its effects, and if you do, this card gains that monster's effects until the end of this turn. You can only use the 2nd and 3rd effect of "Diabolic Phantomus the Hollow Slayer" once per turn.**

* * *

"You sacrificed a Link Three just to summon a different Link Three monster?" Faust asked.

"That's not correct." Evan shook his head. "Witness! Diabolic Phantomus the Hollow Slayer's effect allows me to revive a Link Three or lower DARK monster from my grave, so come back, Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer!" A portal appeared behind Hollow Slayer and the original Phantomus raised on the field.

"Due to Hollow Slayer's effect all monster it points at gain five hundred attack points, but Link Slayer gains the effects of all monster it points at, so Hollow Slayer gains attack as well!"

 **Diabolic Phantomus the Hollow Slayer, ATK: 2300 + 500** → **2800**

 **Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer, ATK: 2300 + 500** → **2800**

"Now I'll activate Link Slayer's new effect to revive Time Timer Kitty from my grave!" the female monster raised from the ground and licked her arm playfully. "Now I shall call forth the demonic ruler of time itself! Appear, circuit of true darkness!"

This time red electricity shot out of PhantomFire's arms and into the black vortex before him. Red energy began to swirl inside the portal and purple lightning fell from it, striking everything around PhantomFire and the Knights of Hanoi. The later all stepped back, covering their faces.

"What's going on!?" a Knight shouted.

"The energy coming from the other side of the portal is too powerful for the network's system to properly contain!" Baira gasped.

"Fool!" Faust shouted toward PhantomFire. "The monster you plan on summoning is going to swallow you whole! You're going to die due to a large amount of energy!"

"Supreme Being masqueraded in the shadows, follow my guidance!" PhantomFire chanted. His outfit's colors began to change, the black and purple burning away to reveal white and red underneath, his hair changed to snow white with crimson bangs and his sclera turned black. "Our resurrection is imminent! I set Time Tamer Kitty and Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Link Five! _**Transcendent Devil Emperor Satanel – The Absolute Paradox**_!"

The monster that appeared was so gigantic that its head hit the ceiling, causing a part of it to collapse. Its skin had the look of purple goo, despite being hard as armor with pitch black bones covering it. The bones making up the monster's ribcage and pelvis rested outside the body creating a second lair of armor. Its arms had similar bone-armor plates covering them with two arrow-shaped blades jutting out of its forearms. Instead of hands, the creature had large animalistic claws. Instead of legs, the monster hand four extremely long bones which formed four arcs. Two large wings speared out behind the monster's back. They were covered by black scales on the outside while their insides had a stained glass pattern with the most prominent colors being black, red, purple and blue. Its head was an exposed dragon-like skull with two red horns jutting out the sides of its head and a prominent purple spike hanging from its chin. Its bloody red eyes stared down at the Knights of Hanoi with purple flames escaping its mouth every time it breathed out.

* * *

 **Transcendent Devil Emperor Satanel – The Absolute Paradox**

 **Attribute: DARK/Type: Cyberse/Link/Effect**

 **L-Markers: Left, Top, Right, Bottom Right, Bottom Left**

 **ATK: 3200/Link-5**

 **2+ DARK Link Monsters, including a "Phantomus" monster**

 **Effect: A monster can only activate this card's 1** **st** **effect once per two of your turns. During your Main Phase or Battle Phase: If this card is Extra Linked, you can activate this effect; move the duel to the Main Phase 1 of your next turn. During your turn (Quick Effect): If this card is Extra Linked; you can negate the effects of all other cards currently on the field, hands, GY and Banished Zones until the End Phase, except for your Extra Linked monsters. Also, negate the effects of all other cards activated this turn, and if you do, return them to the state they were at the start of this turn. After you activate this effect, only you can choose which cards can activate their effects, until the End Phase. Your opponent cannot activate cards or effects in response to this effect's activation. Once per turn, if this card is co-linked you can apply one of the following effects until the end of this turn (Quick Effect):**

 **Negate the effects of all other face-up co-linked monsters, and if you do, this card gains those monsters effects.**

 **For the rest of this turn, all co-linked monsters you control gain the effects of all co-linked monsters on your side of the field.**

* * *

"W-what is this?" Baira asked.

"I never knew that such a monster could exist." Faust's eyes widened.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" PhantomFire touched his beast's claws and smirked. "This is my ultimate weapon, one of Cyberse two most powerful guardians! Though it took some time to give it this form and power, the terror I can see in your eyes tell me that it was worth it."

"To think that Cyberse would have something like this at their disposal," Faust muttered. "If they used this when we attacked them, then Revolver and everyone else would have…"

"Been erased like the worthless history you are." PhantomFire finished. "But it's still not too late for that! When you return back to your master, I want you to tell Revolver in details about the terrors you encountered in here! Satanel, activate your effect! _**Emperor's Rule**_!"

Satanel's Link Arrows glowed and the top arrow shot out red electricity that connected to Diabolic Phantomus the Hollow Slayer's bottom arrow, linking the two monsters together.

"Emperor's Rule gives all of my co-linked monsters the effects of all co-linked monsters on my side of the field! Now go, I activate Hollow Slayer's effect through Satanel to revive _Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer (ATK: 2300. Link-3)_ , then I use the effect through Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer to revive _ChronoGear Timekeeper Succubus (ATK: 1000. Link-2)_ , then I use the same effect through Succubus to revive _ChronoGear Time Tamer Kitty (ATK: 1700. Link-2)_!"

"Getting five Link Monsters on the field in an instant…" Baira gulped. At that point, all the Knights of Hanoi had realized that this duel would be much more brutal than any of them have expected it to be.

"Appear, the circuit of past and future!" PhantomFire called out, summoning his circuit. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are at least two oGear monsters! I set Timekeeper Succubus and the Link Two Time Tamer Kitty in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _**ChronoGear Timepiece Archer**_!"

A slim robotic monster flew through the portal. Its head was covered by a helmet whose side expanded to the side and back. Its body was covered up by a rusty armor with huge shoulder plates and a short brown cape hanging behind it. The monster's left arm had a pair of large pinchers in place of a wrist. The strange archer landed on its noddle legs and looked at the other monsters' giving them a nod.

* * *

 **ChronoGear Timepiece Archer**

 **Attribute: DARK/Type: Psychic/Link/Effect**

 **Link Arrows: Top, Right, Bottom Left**

 **ATK: 2100/Link-3**

 **2+ oGear monsters**

 **Effect: Once per turn, if this card is linked: You can banish 1 random card from your opponent's hand face-down, but return it to their hand at the end of the next turn. This card cannot attack the turn you activated this effect. Once per turn, if a card(s) is added to your opponent's hand, outside the Draw Phase: Banish 1 random card from their hand face-down, and if you do, inflict 300 damage to your opponent for each of their banished cards.**

* * *

"I activate _ChronoGear Reborn_ to revive Time Tamer Kitty, then I set Berfomet and the Link two Time Tamer Kitty in the Link Markers!" The two monsters shoot into the black abyss and crimson lightning shone through the field. "Link Summon! _**ChronoGear Gatling Wheel**_!"

Out of the portal emerged two long chains, followed by a large metal sphere with two green orbs glowing inside it. Following the cage came a large muscular purple body with bolts attached to its skin. The chains tied around its chest in an x-shape and attached themselves to a metal belt locked around the creature's waist. Black pants formed out of nowhere to cover the monster's private parts. After stepping outside, the monster turned back and pulled a six-barrel rotating machine gun, which the warrior then processed to hold up with both arms.

* * *

 **ChronoGear Gatling Wheel**

 **Attribute: DARK/Type: Warrior/Link/Effect**

 **Link Arrows: Right, Bottom, Bottom Left**

 **ATK: 2400/Link-3**

 **2+ "Chrono" monsters**

 **Effect: All co-linked monsters you control gain 300 ATK. If this card is co-linked, you can inflict 300 damage to your opponent x the total Link Rating of Link Monsters you control. You can only use this effect of "ChronoGear Gatling Wheel" once per turn. If you activate this effect, you cannot enter your Battle Phase this turn.**

* * *

"This is…" Baira gasped.

"He even knows the secret mechanic that Revolver was trying to perfect!" Faust cried out.

"With all of my monsters co-linked, I can bring Gatling Wheel to the left Extra Monster Zone!" PhantomFire declared. "Extra Link!"

The Knight of Hanoi looked at each other and began to speak in their group, with each of the lower ranked members asking the others what was Extra Link and such. Unlike the lesser minions that followed them, Baira and Faust were fully aware of what Extra Link was, more than aware, they were terrified. Not just creating an Extra Link on his first turn, but also doing all of it using a single card in his hand – PhantomFire's strength was terrifying.

"Satanel's effect is still in play." Evan reminded them. "All of my monsters shall give each other five hundred more attack due to Hallow Slayer's effect and also, due to Gatling Wheel's effect, all of them gain three hundred more attack points multiplied by five!"

 **Diabolic Phantomus the Hollow Slayer, ATK: 2300 + 500 + 300*5** → **4300**

 **Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer, ATK: 2300 + 500*2 + 300*5** → **4800**

 **Transcendent Devil Emperor Satanel – The Absolute Paradox, ATK: 3200 + 500*2 + 300*5** → **5700**

 **ChronoGear Timepiece Archer, 2100 + 500*2 + 300*5** → **4600**

 **ChronoGear Gatling Wheel, 2400 + 500 + 300*5** → **4400**

"This is…" one of the Knights gasped.

"Over four thousand attack points!" Another one panicked.

"Now I activate Satanel's additional effect! When it's co-linked, I can negate the effects of all cards on your field, in your graveyard and in your hand, so if you had any hand traps, they are useless now. _**Emperor's Restriction**_!" Satanel roared, unleashing a wave of red energy that turned the cards in all duelist's arms grey.

"Now that all of your effects were locked away for the turn, I'll start eliminating you one after another." PhantomFire clicked his fingers. "Gatling Wheel's effect! I inflict three hundred points of damage to one of you for every Link Rating on my field!"

The large warrior aimed its gun at one of the Knights. The barrels began to rotate and Gatling Wheel unleashed a rain of bullets, each of which tearing off a part of the Knight's avatar. In just a few moments, the only thing that remained from the Knight was a few severed pieces of his avatar.

 **『** **Knight of Hanoi LP: 4000 - 5100** → **0** **』**

"Next, I'll activate Gatling Wheel's effect using Timepiece Archer." The pinchers on the second Link Monster turned around, transforming into a bow that it then aimed at another Knight and fired, hitting its target straight in the chest.

 **『** **Knight of Hanoi LP: 4000 - 5100** → **0** **』**

"Now Phantomus the Link Slayer will activate the effect again." The Link-3 fiend summoned a scythe of black energy and swung it at another Knight of Hanoi, cutting the man's body in half.

 **『** **Knight of Hanoi LP: 4000 - 5100** → **0** **』**

"Phantomus the Hollow Slayer will activate the effect for the fourth time." Evan's second Phantomus held out its arm toward another Knight of Hanoi, collapsing space and time in the area of its victim, erasing him from existence.

 **『** **Knight of Hanoi LP: 4000 - 5100** → **0** **』**

"Satanel will finish off the last bug for this turn." The Link-5 flew over the remaining Knights and slammed its arm on top of one, smashing his body into a pulp of data.

 **『** **Knight of Hanoi LP: 4000 - 5100** → **0** **』**

"But I'm not done yet! Satanel's last effect activate! _**World Rewrite**_!" the Link-5 spread out its wings a red ring appeared in front of each, draining the color from the world until only black remained. Space pulsed in response to the monster, color returning back to the world as it began to accelerate, jumping through the Duel Phases.

 **『** **Turn 2 [Knight of Hanoi] LP: 4000 Hand: 5** **』**

 **『** **Turn 3 [Baira] LP: 4000 Hand: 5** **』**

 **『** **Turn 4 [Knight of Hanoi] LP: 4000 Hand: 5** **』**

 **『** **Turn 5 [Knight of Hanoi] LP: 4000 Hand: 5** **』**

 **『** **Turn 6 [Faust] LP: 4000 Hand: 5** **』**

 **『** **Turn 7 [PhantomFire] LP: 4000 Hand: 4** **』**

"The monster skipped our turns…" Baira muttered.

"Surprised?" Evan tilted his head to the side. "When Satanel is Extra Linked, he's no longer a monster, but an endless nightmare for the opponent! A terror that you can't fight against, no matter how hard you try. However, I'll be merciless and end you quickly! Satanel, activate _Emperor's Rule_ _and Emperor's Restriction_!"

The Link-5's wings unleashed another wave of red energy that washed over the entire field and the Knights of Hanoi, freezing all of their cards for a second time while simultaneously unlocking the full abilities of PhantomFire's Extra Link.

 **Diabolic Phantomus the Hollow Slayer, ATK: 2300 + 500 + 300*5** → **4300**

 **Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer, ATK: 2300 + 500*2 + 300*5** → **4800**

 **Transcendent Devil Emperor Satanel – The Absolute Paradox, ATK: 3200 + 500*2 + 300*5** → **5700**

 **ChronoGear Timepiece Archer, 2100 + 500*2 + 300*5** → **4600**

 **ChronoGear Gatling Wheel, 2400 + 500 + 300*5** → **4400**

"It's over for real," PhantomFire stated and threw his arms forward. "Phantomus, Satanel, ChronoGears, all our opponents directly!"

The eyes of all five Link Monsters flashed red and they charged their attacks. The surviving Knights of Hanoi broke into screams and began to hit against the barrier that kept them inside the room. Kicking, slamming their heads and Duel Disk against it, all the regular troops were desperately trying to escape to no effect. Baira and Faust looked at each other, grabbed each other's head and turned toward the incoming beasts. Closing their eyes, the officers accepted their fates.

The screams in the room then escalated, only to die down a moment later. PhantomFire sat back down on his throne while a screen showed the duel status.

 **『** **Knight of Hanoi LP: 4000 - 4300** → **0** **』**

 **『** **Knight of Hanoi LP: 4000 - 4400** → **0** **』**

 **『** **Knight of Hanoi LP: 4000 - 4600** → **0** **』**

 **『** **Baira LP: 4000 - 4800** → **0** **』**

 **『** **Faust LP: 4000 - 5700** → **0** **』**

 **『** **Winner: PhantomFire** **』**

"And all it took was a single card." PhantomFire sighed. Satanel and the other monsters disappeared while his outfit, hair, and eyes all return to their normal state. There was no excitement in this duel for him, despite how well he performed. There was no excitement in stepping on defenseless ants.

PhantomFire reached out and summoned two white cubes before combining them together. Data ran through the ground and the cubes transformed into a pink hologram of a little girl with her hair tied into two pigtails that reach her lower back.

"Overseeing Network Intelligence was activated." The new A.I. bowed. "How can I be of service, sir?"

"Repair all the damage done to the server, update security protocols and send our guests' consciousness back to the Knights of Hanoi," PhantomFire ordered.

"Your orders will be fulfilled at the highest proficiency." O.N.I stated after which her body was absorbed into the server.

* * *

"There's your deck's data. Make sure not to lose it again."

Vermilya nodded and inserted her deck into the Duel Disk, opening her decklist to check if all the cards' data was successfully installed. Avice sighed and sat down on the sofa next to Roxy. Observing the girls' progress in their fight against Hanoi would be obligatory for the Greyson now that a new enemy has unveiled themselves.

Avice rubbed her forehead, she was getting a headache thinking about Picaro. Even though he wasn't a part of the group, and had stated that they were his enemies, she was worried that he would get targeted by those AIs because of the TurboGear deck that he carried around. An even worst-case scenario would be if the bugs formed an alliance with him. She could see the AIs doing it, after all, both they and Picaro wanted to collect all the oGears deck in order to unlock the gate in the deeps of VRAINS. Picaro had turned into a nuisance that needed to be dealt with.

Avice shook her head. It would be best for her to just let Evan come up with a way to silence Picaro. For her brother, there was never a too dirty way to deal with a nuisance and while Avice would definitely stop him if he chose to kill Picaro, she wasn't naïve enough to think that any of them could talk the TurboGear duelist into rejoining their group. He didn't leave them because he was angry like Vermilya. Picaro had dreams and a determination to achieve them that pushed him toward fighting against his mentors.

"What are you thinking about?" Roxy's words snapped Avice out of her thoughts. The fifteen years old looked at her companion and forced a smile.

"It's nothing that you have to worry about," Avice reassured her. "But what about you, I heard that Playmaker sent you home."

"Yeah," Roxy leaned back into the sofa and looked at the ceiling; she felt like a failure for causing so much trouble and no matter what Aqua might have tried to tell her, it was her fault for not being more careful. "He got in a lot of trouble because of my carelessness. I wouldn't blame him if he doesn't want to partner with me again."

"You shouldn't push yourself so much." Aqua stepped on her partner's Duel Disk. "Even we didn't expect the AI to paralyze your systems so easily."

"Why don't you go out and have some fresh breath?" Avice suggested. "You haven't gotten familiar with the city yet, so it would be useful to have a look around. It'll also help you forget about your worries."

"It's easy for you to say that!" Roxy protested. "Where was the last time you failed as bad as I did? You and Evan always win, you don't know what failure is!"

"Believe me, even if that was the case, I still know that sitting around and sulking like a little baby about an embarrassing moment won't do anything more than annoy the people who are forced to deal with you," Avice replied, carrying a warm smile that was anything but suitable for her harsh words.

"In case you haven't picked up on what Avice's trying to tell you, she wants you out of the house for the night," Vermilya interjected.

"What for?" Roxy asked.

"I and brother will be dining with the Zaizens tonight and I don't want to leave you alone in the house." Avice leaned back into the sofa. "Don't take it personally, but I'm not willing to leave you and Aqua to take care of the house. At least not while Picaro is out there, knowing where we live."

"And you think that I'll be safer alone in the open?" Roxy just couldn't not question Avice's logic. She could at least lock herself and even hide if Picaro comes looking for here in the house, but outside he could just grab her when no one's looking and that would be the end.

"Technically you won't be alone," Vermilya stated. "I'm going to be your tour and I'm not trying to make myself sound cool, but ever since Evan recruited me, I've been studying self-defense. I can protect you better than any locked door or window even would."

Roxy took a deep breath. Vermilya was never so quick to side with Avice, so something was going on behind the curtain. They did have a point about Vermilya being a more trustworthy form of protection since doors didn't have the ability to deliver uppercuts yet.

"Ok, I'll go out with Vermilya then." Roxy agreed, if not to just make things simpler for all of them.

"Great!" Avice's face beamed with delight as she jumped off the sofa and ran off, but not before giving the other girls a few more instructions. "Nights in Den City can be cold so I suggest you get something warm to wear. We're going to drop you near the museum of technology and art. Don't care to call us before ten, unless it's an emergency, in which case ring as fast as you can!"

"I would say that she looks livelier than usual, but Avice is always very positive so it's hard to tell how happy she is" Roxy commented.

"If you've been here for as long as me, you would know that we're all crazy in our own ways," Vermilya replied. "That's what makes our relationship special, albeit not always in the good kind of special."

* * *

Later in another part of Den City, Akira and Aoi were preparing for the guests. Akira had already ordered their robot maid what to prepare for dinner. Usually, when the Zaizen and Greyson families would dinner together, they went to a restaurant, but since his demotion, Akira was trying to spend his money more carefully. His salary was still enough to give Aoi a comfortable life, but the current crisis in SOL made him think about the possibility of getting fired.

The older Zaizen was already sitting on the table waiting for their guests to arrive. Unlike her brother, Aoi wasn't ready yet, she has closed herself in her bedroom, trying to figure out what to wear for this dinner. Usually, she wasn't the type of girl that worried too much about her look, but tonight was different. She wanted to look good in front of the Greysons.

Akira stood up and walked into the living room before looking at the digital clock. The doorbell rang, signaling that someone was waiting outside. Akira fixed his tie and called out toward the robot maid.

"I'll open the door!" He shouted loud enough for the AI to hear him from the kitchen. He didn't want the machine to leave the food it was cooking and cause some accident.

Akira opened the door to greet the guests. Both Greyson were dressed up stylishly, Evan was rocking a black suit with a red shirt and a dark purple tie while Avice was wearing an elegant white dress, her hair tied into a ponytail with a green rose-shaped hair chip attached to the left side of her bangs. But what caught Akira's interest more were the 'gifts' that Evan was carrying; a bouquet of blue rose in his left hand and a heart-shaped box of chocolate in the right.

Akira inhaled deeply through his nose. What were the roses and the chocolate for? Was that some sort of prank? The Zaizen was all too familiar with the Greysons' inappropriate, and sometimes offensive sense of humor, but he was hoping that there was a different sort of explanation behind the gifts. He wanted to try and ignore the small details and focus on the dinner they were going to attend to, greet them properly and invite them to enter. But he couldn't find proper words in this awkward situation.

Luckily, Evan was the first to break the ice.

"Did I get the wrong color of roses?" the young man asked.

Akira said nothing. He wanted to facepalm at the stupidity of that question, but his manners were better than that. Since Evan wasn't going to act like a proper adult in this situation, Akira would have to take this role, which was convenient since the Zaizen played the role of an adult since he was sixteen years old.

"I know that this is a private question, but did you ever have a girlfriend?" Akira asked the younger man. He took the bouquet and the chocolate, then gestured for the siblings to enter.

"There was once a girl that I fell in love with, but sadly I had to leave before our relationship could develop," Evan admitted, sadly.

'That explains a lot.' Akira thought, looking at the bouquet and chocolate that his 'friend' brought. He was actually impressed that Evan brought gifts, due to the young man's not so brilliant social behavior. Akira had kept it to himself, but he had high hopes about Evan becoming his sister's suitor. He was smart, had a stable job and Aoi already liked his presence.

The three of them sat down around the table waiting for the younger Zaizen to join before they began to eat. The robot maiden was moving back and forth, placing the food in front of the three humans. Avice kept a smiley face, looking back and forth behind her brother and Akira. The two older siblings had serious expressions while they waited in silence, which hinted that this dinner was going to be clouded by not so pleasant conversations.

"The higher-ups are telling us to focus on our works and avoid speaking with the media on the subject, but the situation in LINK VRAINS is starting to escalate," Akira stated. "Playmaker and a few Charisma Duelists are the only people fighting against the Knights of Hanoi and we were unable to help them in any way. This invasion is worse than we imagined."

"What about the AI Duelists that your replacement was developing?" Evan asked. "With the blueprints that my company sold you, SOL should have made a small army by now."

"There isn't much information about it, but I'm hearing that Kitamura needs an official order by the higher-ups due to the nature of the security force," Akira admitted. "But there haven't been words by them and I fear that there won't be much left from VRAINS by the time they give the order to engage."

"Haven't you realized it yet?" Evan chuckled. He took a glass of wine and looked into the crimson liquid. "Your bosses are waiting for the Knights of Hanoi to eliminate all possible witnesses. They won't do pest control until Hanoi has turned VRAINS into an empty wasteland."

"That won't be a profitable decision." Akira pointed out.

"You should already know better than anyone, there's only one thing more important than money for SOL and that's power." Evan took a sip of wine, enjoying the taste of the alcohol before continuing. "Even if the Knights of Hanoi are terrorists, the society at large would be asking for more humane treatment and sentences, which means that dangerous elements such as Revolver will be, theoretically, able to share with the world SOL's dark secrets."

"You're saying that SOL's going to wait for Hanoi to eliminate everyone, just so they could do the same with the Knights of Hanoi?" Akira asked.

Zaizen had to admit that this was possible. Though it was a thought that would have never crossed Akira's mind several weeks ago, lately he had a lot of exposure to SOL's dark history, an experience that completely changed the way he viewed his workplace. If they eliminated Dr. Kogami in order to cover up their connections to the Hanoi Project, then was nothing stopping them from doing the same thing again on a larger scale.

"SOL's aims are far more sinister than you can imagine," Evan answered.

"Then why don't we change the topic to something more optimistic?"

Evan smiled and the trio turned toward the new voice. Aoi walked into the room with a smile, she was wearing a deep blue dress, clinging on her soft skin, eyeshadow accentuating her eyes and lipstick highlighting her beautiful lips. Avice stood up from her chair and embraced the girl in a tender hug. The two kissed each other on the cheeks after which Evan stood up as well and took Aoi's hand, kissing her palm.

Despite them being close friends, Aoi couldn't keep herself from blushing. After a second, Evan moved back and pulled back the empty chair for the Zaizen to sit.

"You don't need to be so formal." Aoi laughed before sitting down on the chair.

"I'll always do the best that I can for people I care about." Evan retorted. He sat down on his chair and clapped his hands, earning everyone's attention. "I believe it would be only proper to start this with a toast for our families' friendship."

"And lets the future be as bright as the present, right?" Aoi added with a smile, raising her glass.

"Let's all of our days be filled with as much as happiness as this night." Akira nodded.

The sound of four glasses clicking echoed through the room followed by cheerful chatter. The girls spoke with each other above various nights, taking turns in telling stories from their lives. Evan and Akiza would occasionally join in the conversation to comment or say something that would embarrass their little sisters, but for the most part, they would just sit on the side and enjoy watching their sisters being happy despite all the bad things that were happening outside.

* * *

In the museum of technology and art, Vermilya quickly came to the realization that Evan and Avice weren't paying her enough for all the bullshit they have made her deal with. Keeping Roxy under control was easy due to the girl's gentle and obedient nature, but she couldn't say the same about Aqua and Firera. Despite the two AIs' caring and understanding nature, they had a bad habit of popping out of the Duel Disk at bad times, asking questions loud enough for everyone else in the museum to hear them.

" _Are these the first people who stepped on the Moon?"_ Firera asked, pointing at a photo on the wall.

Instead of getting an answer, Firera had to quickly retract back into the Duel Disk as Vermilya's hand came down, slapping it. The other people that were looking at the exhibits gave the girl questionable looks that made her sweat. She pated Roxy's Duel Disk and laughed awkwardly while trying to come up with something to say.

"Ha-ha, I think I saw a fly," Vermilya said, slapping the Duel Disk a little rougher as a warning for its inhabitants.

" _You didn't need to assault us."_ Aqua's eyes appeared on the screen and looked at the older girl. Even if she understood why Vermilya did it, it still hurt getting slapped like that.

"And you don't need to speak so loudly," Vermilya whispered back at the Ignis. "I don't want us to get kicked out for being lousy, but I also don't want someone to see you and cause us more problems, understood."

Vermilya took a step back and rubbed her temper. She knew that she had to cut the Ignis some slack, after all, Aqua was created from the consciousness of a six years old – most likely girl, but if it was a boy, then his life before the incident most likely wasn't a very good one. She looked at the photo that Firera asked about and cleared her throat.

"This picture is from the first human mission on Mars," Vermilya explained. "As far as my knowledge on the subject goes, one of these men has built an AI that advanced enough to fly through space and maintain satellites without the need of human support."

"His name is Touma Kita." Another voice called out.

Vermilya narrowed her eyes and quickly moved in front of Roxy while glaring at the person that spoke up. Standing in front of the girls was a tall man with pink eyes and long blue hair which was tied into a ponytail and had lightning-shaped yellow bangs that jutted upward. He wore a torn grey singlet, worn out jeans and calf-high motorcycle boots. Despite Vermilya's reaction, the boy kept smiling and stepped toward them.

"Calm your horses, Red. I'm not here to fight any of you." The man stated and turned toward Roxy. "So that's what you look like in the real world? I must admit, you are just as cute as I expected, Proxy."

Roxy was confused by how the man knew her user name, but it clicked to her a moment later. "You're Rocketeer, right?" Rocketeer, or Picaro, was the only person she had talked to in LINK VRAINS who could get such a reaction out of Vermilya.

"Please, call me Takuma in the real world." The man, Takuma said and looked down at her Duel Disk. "So it's true that you got an Ignis. You should know that this makes you a target of Hanoi as well."

"I do what must be done to protect those who deserve it," Roxy replied, covering her Duel Disk with a hand. She looked down, talking face to face with her first friend from this world was awkward, more so now when he was her enemy.

"That's what I like about you." Takuma chuckled. "You're always standing up to protect the weak, even though you are just as weak as those you're trying to help."

"Why are you here?" Vermilya interjected.

"I already told you that I'm not here to fight." Takuma raised his hands as if to surrender. "I came because this is one of the last pictures of my grandfather before he disappeared."

Vermilya narrowed her eyes at the response. But after a moment she dropped her arms and stepped aside. She wasn't the forgiving type, Picaro had brainwashed her, used her like a doll to get what he wanted and then tried to get her killed. But she understood what it felt like to miss your parents. Though her situation was much different from his, she wasn't going to disgrace herself by attacking him while he was mourning.

"W-what happened to your grandpa?" Roxy asked.

"No one knows." Takuma shrugged. "He just disappeared one day without a trace. All I knew was that he was trying working on a new form of artificial intelligence, a project that my father continued after grandpa's disappearance. My mother believes that his obsession with the project drove him mad and he left his family to continue the research. Since there aren't public records of it, you won't know about this, but Kogami's Ignis project was inspired by my grandpa's work. The difference is in the way the AIs were supposed to function."

" _So that's where the inspiration for my creation came from?"_ Aqua looked over the picture and then at Takuma. _"Thank you."_

"You should thank my grandpa not me." Takuma chuckled. "But I appreciate it."

"Ooook, am I the only one who finds it weird that we're having such a normal and civilized chat while we're trying to kill each other in the virtual reality?" Roxy asked.

"I admit that it would seem weird for someone as new to this as you." Takuma nodded. "The truth is, despite how much we might fight and hate each other, we're all part of the same family. We're all trained by Evan and Avice, I and Vermilya spent a year working together, even now when I'm with you, I feel a strange sense of security and closeness."

"A family…" Roxy repeated. It sounded like a crazy idea to call Takuma or Vermilya her family, but the chemistry between each one of them was just like that between siblings. Well, if siblings normally tried to kill one another. But did she even want to be a part of this family?

Roxy already had another family waiting for her somewhere else. She had two loving parents and a great friend that she cared a great deal about. She couldn't say that Evan, Avice, Vermilya, and Takuma weren't important for her as well, but was it ok to get so involved with them? There was a part of her, a very small part, that didn't want to leave this world and the friends she made. But another part of her wanted to hug her parents again, to see the friend who gave her courage one more time. If she had to choose, which family was she going to choose?

She didn't know, and that was what scared her.

"Hey, Earth to Proxy," Takuma called out, giving the girl a chop on the forehead.

"Ow!" She rubbed the spot that he stuck and glared at the older boy. "What was that about?"

"Your mind wasn't here." Takuma crossed his arms. "What were you thinking about?"

"It's… not something you can help me with." Roxy admitted sadly.

"Try me." Takuma smiled. "I'll try my best, as long as you don't want me to join your side and give up on my mission."

Roxy chuckled at the idea. If only it was as simple as to ask him to turn good and join them in the fight against the Knights of Hanoi, but sadly, reality didn't work that way. Yes, she still wanted to trust Takuma. Maybe because she was still young and naïve, Roxy couldn't see him as an evil person. To her, he was just misguided.

"I… I'm trying to piece things together." I've been here for so long, went through so much, and I still haven't found a clue how to get home. "I'm… I'm not from you here. I don't think that the place I come from is anywhere close to this city. The only thing I know is that I used to have a good life, with a carrying family and friends. Then one day I was about to get hit by a cad, then I woke up in this city."

"That sounds ominous," Vermilya commented.

"No joke about it." Takuma sighed. "But it won't be the first time that such a thing happened, would it? The Hanoi Project proves that there are organizations who would kidnap people."

"Wait, so you're believing me?" Roxy raised an eyebrow.

"You're worrying about it so much, why shouldn't I?" Takuma asked. He pulled out his cellphone and took a photo of Roxy, causing the girl to stumble backward in surprise.

"What was that for!?"

"I'll try to find everything I can on the matter," Takuma stated. "But I'll need at least a photo to work with."

"So you really plan on helping her out despite being enemies?" Vermilya crossed her arms. She wasn't buying into Takuma's kindness.

"Despite our differences, I still see Proxy as a friend." Takuma shrugged and turned his back to the girls. "Anyway, I've got to go now, so we're going to meet again on the battlefield."

"Takuma!" Roxy shouted after the boy, making his stop for the moment.

"What?" Takuma turned around to look at the little girl.

"My name is Roxy." Roxy introduced herself. "I'm saying this, because it's not fair to call me by my username in public, ok?"

Takuma burst into laughter. She stopped him to tell him her real identity! Despite how dangerous that was, Roxy didn't seem to mind or care about the possible negative effects of revealing her identity to Takuma.

"You're too innocent to be a part of this war." Takuma finally replied and walked off.

Vermilya walked up to Roxy and looked at her. The young girl looked at the spot where Takuma was standing a moment ago. Her hands clenched into fists and determination burned in her eyes. If someone was just looking at her from the side without knowing anything, they would think that having a friend on the enemy's side would cause Roxy's will to waver and for her to question herself. But her meeting with Takuma had the opposite effect. Knowing that he still thought of her as a friend gave the girl new determination and a legitimate cause to keep fighting for. She wanted to win and bring Takuma back to her side!

* * *

 **Usually, I'm against overpowered boss monsters, given that Satanael is a Link-5 that needs a specific material (the Phantomus Link Monster) and its most overpowered effects need it to be Extra Linked in order to be activated, I believe there's a bit of balance in its power level.**

 **I'm really not looking forward to the next time when Evan or Avice get to rekt someone because the duel ends up pretty boring and obvious. Truth be told, I'm not sure if I'm going to write a duel next chapter, but for now, my plans are to put a Playmaker vs Picaro duel in either the next chapter or the one after it and then to officially move toward the Tower of Hanoi where I'm going to focus more on Roxy's story than the fight between Hanoi and the Charisma Duelists.**

 **First, I want to than to** Ickery09 **for following and favoriting this story** **(literally a moment before I uploaded the last chapter btw.)**

 **Also thanks to Scalchop for the review and yes, the Speedroids and other legendary decks WILL be used again in the story, but that'll most likely happen in Season 2. Or maybe sooner?**

 **That's everything! Thanks for reading this and I'll see you again next time!**

 **Diabolic Tracer out!**


	31. Chapter 31

What Makes Us Tick

Takuma hooked up his phone to the computer downloading the photo of Roxy. The boy frowned, thinking back to his meeting with her earlier that night. He promised to Roxy that he would try and find out where she came from and how to get her home, but the shameful truth was that he was doing all of that for himself. If she had a past life and wanted to go back to it, why would Evan recruit her? Unlike Roxy, he and Vermilya had no one else to trust, so they easily failed prey to the Greysons' manipulations and became their personal army.

Takuma turned on a chat, the mouse on the screen hovering over one of the usernames in his friend list. He could ask his allies to use Hanoi's resources and track down any information about Roxy that existed on the web, but he couldn't do it. If Hanoi found out the girl's real identity, they would go after her in the real world. He didn't want her safety to weight on his consciousness.

So instead, Takuma moved his mouse toward another account. Pressing the 'Call' Button, he leaned back waiting for the person on the other end to respond. Whenever Takuma had doubts, he would call that person for advice, it was something he trusted like a family, so he was sure they wouldn't betray him.

"Hey!" a female voice on the other end said energetically. "It's been a while since you called me, Takuma!" a loud pouting noise could be heard from the other end, after which the voice asked. "Is everything alright?"

"What kind of question is that?" Takuma asked back, leaning back into his chair. "I just remember that it's been a while since I got to talk with, so I'm calling to check how you're doing."

"Is that so?" the person on the other end sighed. "Well, I'm happy to hear that you care about how I'm doing. With my schedule as packed up as it is, it's good to hear a familiar voice every once in a while. How about you?"

"I'm… doing fine." Takuma said. "More importantly, Evan got himself a new apprentice, some young girl."

"He did?" the person asked, but from her tone, she wasn't surprised one bit by that information. "I should really come to visit Den City once, so many things have changed since I left."

"You got no idea." Too many things have changed since then. Takuma too had changed a great deal, no longer being the rebellious teen that gave Evan headaches during training sessions. "Vermilya will be happy to meet you again after so long."

"Will she?" the person asked. "You two were still just newbies when I got accepted into the Art Academy. I never got time to properly befriend her, sadly."

"More the reason to come back then." Takuma chuckled. "You can also get to befriend Evan's new recruit, she's a very kind type of person. You two will get along just fine."

Or would they? Would she and Roxy even have the chance to meet? If Takuma plan were to succeed, which he would make sure of, Roxy would be one of his victims as well – she will be reborn as a new being, a perfect new Roxy. Usually, that would be a good thing, but he knew that his friend was against such things, she would be disgusted and try to fight against him.

"I also got a photo of the midget if you want to take a look," Takuma told her and minimized the chat window before opening the folder containing the photo. Pressing a few options and… "There!"

"Aw, she's so cute!" the person on the other end exclaimed. "She looks so young as well! She reminds me of Sereny a bit."

"Wasn't that the name of another one of Evan's recruits?" Takuma questioned. He could swear that the name sounded familiar from somewhere.

"Yes, poor girl has gone through so much before Evan found her that she was constantly depressed and had nightmares almost every night." The person explained. "Evan and Avice's rough training broke her completely and she tried to commit suicide by drinking every pill she could get her hands onto. After they took her to the hospital Evan and Avice never spoke about Sereny again."

"I see…" Takuma muttered under his breath. If she never came back from the hospital, then it was most likely that she didn't make it. "I'm sorry for reminding you of this."

"It's not like I could ever forget it." The person said back. "Sereny's fate was the reason why I choose to look for a different future outside this forsaken city. Please, I know that you aren't in good relation with Evan, but make sure that this girl doesn't go down the same path that Sereny did."

"Don't worry, I won't."

Not Roxy or anyone else. Takuma would achieve his goal and open the doors toward a new world, a place where monsters like Kogami and Evan wouldn't be able to hurt innocent people for their own benefits. A place, so bright that even the all mighty devil crawling in the darkness known as his teacher wouldn't be able to reach.

"Thanks."

The phone symbol on Takuma's computer screen turned red and the window he had opened closed. Moving the mouse again, Takuma pressed another username and typed in a message.

 _There's something I need to check out. Could you hack into Den Hospital's files for me?_

* * *

The next day, Picaro logged into Hanoi's server the next day. As usual, the place was empty, with all the low-level Knights being outside wrecking chaos across LINK VRAINS. During these last few days, the only users who logged inside this server were his teammates and the higher ranking members of Hanoi, such as Revolver, Specter, Kogami, and the three officers. But today, there was no one there.

"They aren't going to come today." A voice called.

Picaro turned around and held out his claws toward the intruder, only for the person to turn out to be Dr. Kogami himself. The old man looked down at the sharp claw pointing at him and dismissively pushed it aside before stepping past Picaro.

"I expected you to be out on the field with the others," Kogami admitted, a small smile appeared on his face. "But then again, you aren't Revolver. Unlike him, you don't allow emotions to cloud up your mind. That's the reason why you're here doing your job instead of out there trying to hunt down the duelists who beat you previously."

"It's useless to go after people I know are stronger than me," Picaro admitted. What was the point in challenging Evan to a duel when he would just lose again? Instead of charging head first, Picaro was going to take a note from his teacher's book and use other methods to clear his path.

"If you say so." Kogami turned back. "We're sadly losing men too quickly in LINK VRAINS. I heard that even Faust and Baira were defeat and their consciousness sent back to us. Sadly they were already purged when the person responsible for that sent the data back to us. Revolver and Specter are visiting their coffins."

"What does any of that have to do with me?" Picaro asked directly.

"As I said, Revolver's obsession with Playmaker makes him unpredictable. I can't trust his word that our mission is more important than his rematch, because of that I wanted to keep away from the front lines. Right now, you're the person I can trust the most. Because of that, I want you to go in LINK VRAINS and support the other Knights as much as you can. And if possible, deal with Playmaker."

"Just look at yourself." Picaro scolded the old man. "You do not even trust your own son. With that attitude, you're never going to win the Father of the Year award."

Frankly, talking with Kogami disgusted Picaro to no end. Every time the old man opened his mouth, the young duelist could see Evan in place of Kogami, they were so alike in their apathetic view toward the rest of humanity.

"But fine, I'll do your dirty job." Picaro then added. "But where's Nulline? I wasn't told that she would be offline today."

"She's already in LINK VRAINS supporting the other Knights," Kogami informed him.

As Kogami informed the dark knight about his ally's whereabouts, one of the screens in the room lightened up showing a panicked Knight of Hanoi.

"Where's Revolver-sama!?" The Knight shouted.

"What's going on?" Picaro demanded, ignoring the question.

"It's SOL!" The knight replied. "These sons of bitches sent an army of AI Duelists in LINK VRAINS! They are tearing through our units faster than we could react! I'm currently dueling one of them, tell Revolver to send back up imed-! Aaaaaaaaaaaahhh!"

The Knight screamed and the screen turned to static. The two men stared at the screen a few moments after the transmission ended, Kogami looked surprised by the turn of events while Picaro kept his stoic appearance. He knew that this would happen from the moment he got that report about the prototype units guarding the SOL's mother computer. He was just disappointed that it took so long for the company to send their army of exploitable puppets.

"How convenient," Picaro muttered and stretched out his claw, opening a portal in front of himself. "I'll take care of this pest."

Fixing others' messes was sort of what he was trained to do, but Picaro didn't add that part. Clenching his claw into a fist, the dark knight walked through the portal, closing it behind himself.

* * *

Meanwhile, Evan was sitting in his office, following the news outlets and LINK VRAINS' virtual cameras for updates on the situation in the servers. He was pleasantly surprised when the army of AIs swooped in and began to beat up the Knights of Hanoi, sending the incompetent army running with their tail between the legs. SOL finally deploying these artificial Duelists also meant that the population of LINK VRAINS must have dropped to critical levels, leaving close to no witnesses. It was the best time for this company to destroy their enemies, not that their plan would work out.

"Sir." A young woman with short pink hair and green eyes walked inside the office. "You've got a visitor. She said that her name was Aoi Zaizen; should I tell her to leave?"

"Aoi came to visit?" That was a surprise, it was just last night that he met her. If she had something important to say, she would have done so last night, so why did she visit his office today? "Tell her that she can come in."

"Understood." The secretary nodded and walked out. After a few seconds, the door opened again and this time Aoi walked in. The girl was still wearing her school uniform and had her school bag on, a sign which indicated that she came straight from school and hasn't gone home yet.

"Sorry for interrupting." She bowed apologetically.

"There's nothing to apologize about, you're not bothering me," Evan replied, then gestured toward one of the empty chairs. "Please have a seat."

Aoi nodded and took one of the chairs, pulling it over, then sat down across from Evan. The young man took a careful look at her. Aoi's eyes were looking down at his desk, avoiding eye contact, her hands were clenched into small fists and pressed together on top of her legs. All those were signs of nervousness.

"Is there a problem at school?" Evan asked her.

"No." Aoi shook her head. "I mean… It happened at school, but it wasn't related to school."

"Did somebody threaten you?" Evan asked again, this time his tone was much colder and threatening.

"N-no!" Aoi waved her arms in front of herself. "No one threatened, bullied, or insulted me!" Aoi looked back down and then continued. "It's just… Emma came to my school today and told me things… Things that made me angry at first, but then… I don't know what I really want to do with my life. I'm on a crossroad and need some guidance."

"So you came to the worst person for a piece of life advice?" Evan questioned her while rubbing his temper. Heck, even Roxy knew that asking him life advice was bad and she was the second most naïve person he has ever known!

"It's because you will understand me the best." implored Aoi.

"I've got a hard time believing this, but since you're here, I'm not going to kick you out." Grumbled Evan.

"Thanks!" Aoi beamed. "The problem I'm having is with my Blue Angel persona. You already know all about it, why I created it, but is there any points in keeping it now when my brother is finally starting to spend more time with me than at work?"

Evan remained silent, listening carefully to Aoi's story. He avoided commenting yet since there was more to the story. He should know, after all, he understood Aoi better than anyone else.

"At first Blue Angel was just a way for me to hide from the world. When I was her, I was more than 'Zaizen's younger sister', I felt like my own person, I was overjoyed with all the attention that my fans gave me, but lately, I realize that Blue Angel had a deeper meaning." Aoi paused for a moment, looking Evan in the eyes. "I wasn't liking only the attention that others gave me, I loved making them happy with my dueling. What should I do? If I take the mantle of Blue Angel again, it would cause my brother to worry about my safety, but there's also a void inside my chest without my alter ego…"

"You have already made your choice, haven't you?"

Aoi didn't come to Evan's office because she was lost. She had made her decision, but she didn't have enough self-esteem to stand up for herself. That was why Aoi came to him instead of talking with her brother, she knew that Evan would tell her to keep doing what she enjoys, effectively placing all of the blame on him and not her.

"You want me to say become Blue Angel again and then take the blame when your brother learns." Evan clarified. "I'm sorry Aoi, but I can't help you this time. You must face the path that you've chosen, and take responsibility for it."

"It's easy for you to say that!" Aoi cried out.

"It's easy for you too." Evan retorted. The adult stood up and pointed at Aoi's Duel Disk. "I was there watching you grow up as a duelist. I knew you good enough to realize that Blue Angel was your way to rebel against Akira when you were younger, so what changed now? You still want to rebel against him, but you don't want him to think that you're an immature child?"

Aoi lowered her head. She didn't expect Evan to scold her. As she sat there and listened to him, she felt all sort of emotions run through her heart, from anger and annoyance to sadness and disappointment. She knew that he was right, but her rebellious teenager-self wouldn't admit it.

"Here's what I can tell you, Aoi." Evan continued. "Akira won't stop thinking that you're an immature child if you need other people to tell you what decisions to make. If you want to make him see you as a grown-up and treat you as such, then make your own choice and stick to your guns."

There was no other way about it. To be an adult meant to be mature, and Aoi's current behavior was that of a spoiled child – which she was, but Evan wouldn't go as far as to insult her that way. He leaned onto the side of his table and looked at the girl, waiting for her response.

"Hah," A weak laugh escaped the girl's lips. She raised one of her arms and used it to wipe away the tears that Evan couldn't see, then looked at him. "Of course you would respond like that. When I was young, you were the one who came up to me and offered to teach me how to duel. My Trickstar deck was a gift that you gave me when I told you my idea for Blue Angel. Back then I thought you gave me the deck just because of the idol theme, but there was more to it, wasn't it?"

"Even when you were a child you always sulked because Akiza didn't give you enough attention." Evan smiled, remembering those times. "You were always a rebellious and stubborn girl, a trickster who caused much trouble for me."

"Then, can I request something from you?" Aoi asked.

"What is it?"

"I would feel more confident if you were with me when Akira gets angry," Aoi stated.

"Stupid girl," Evan chuckled. "You said it yourself: The thing that was missing wasn't the attention, but the happiness that Blue Angel gave to the public. If you're doing it to help other people, then your brother's going to be proud with you."

"Do you think so?" Aoi tilted her head. Akira had always been so strict and overprotecting, she couldn't imagine him telling her to keep being Blue Angel.

"Your brother wanted you to become a good person." Evan put a hand on the girl's shoulder and smiled at her. "What better can you do than to stand up for those too weak to stand up for themselves? Protecting people from Hanoi… Yes, he'll be angry and worried that you're putting your life in danger, any brother would react that way, but he'll also be proud to see you taking a stand against evil. Every good brother wants to see their little sister becoming a hero."

Aoi took Evan's hand into her own and smiled back. She trusted his words; he was a brother as well.

"Hey, Evan!" A voice called out.

The two duelists let go of one another and Evan walked back behind his desk, looking at the computer screen with Blaze Rose on it.

"What's the situation in VRAINS?" Evan asked.

"It was good a few moments ago!" Blaze Rose shouted back, then quickly ducked, avoiding an AI's body that flew over her head. "The AI Duelist were able to eliminate most Knights of Hanoi, but Picaro then showed up and turned things around! He's cutting through the AI army like it was made from paper!"

"So he finally showed up."

Evan's been waiting for that. The timing could be better, with LINK VRAINS turned into a graveyard for the victims of Hanoi's attack, there wouldn't be anyone to get between him and Picaro. The two could finally face each other one on one.

"Avoid contact with him or any other dangerous form until I come," Evan warned Blaze Rose. He turned off the screen and took his deck from one of the shelves behind him and put it on.

"Are we going?" Aoi asked.

Evan glanced at the girl. She was seriously going to fight against the Knights of Hanoi? He felt that Akira would tear off his head for allowing her to participate, but Aoi was a part of his plans, he needed for her to grow stronger.

"Only if you're sure that you won't be too slow," Evan smirked.

"You're the older one here." Aoi reminded him.

The two duelists raised their Duel Disk and shouted. "Into the Vrains!" A set of purple and blue light engulfed the room for a few moments before dying down.

Evan and Aoi entered their personal cyberspaces and several circles surrounded each of them, with the former's rings being primarily purple, while the latter's were primarily blue colored. A black suit formed around Evan's body, his hair turned black with purple highlights and a large cat-hood formed over his head. Aoi transformed into her idol outfit, then a pair of wings grew behind her and her hair turned blue. The two duelists turned into energy and shot off, reappearing on top a skyscraper.

PhantomFire took a step forward and looked over the edge. It was just the way Blaze Rose described it, AI Duelists flew at all sides as Picaro tore through their formations, taking them down one after another.

"I take it that you'll want to duel him." Blue Angel commented.

"He was once my student," PhantomFire admitted. "He's on a higher level than Playmaker, you won't be able to fight against him."

"Is that so?" Blue Angel crossed her arms. She hated being called weak, but she was going to let that one slide because she knew how strong Evan was. If he was worried about Picaro's strength, then this was a powerful enemy.

"Look out!"

"Hu-!"

Blue Angel opened her mouth to say something, when PhantomFire pulled her toward him, effectively moving the idol out of a flying AI's way. The artificial Duelist slammed into the side of the building, exploding into pieces of code that then processed to fade away.

"What was that!?" Blue Angel gasped.

"It was her." PhantomFire pointed toward the third duelist that was with them.

"'Her' has a name, and it's Nulline." The Knight of Hanoi introduced herself, arms crossed while she stood on top of D-Board, a few feet away from her next target.

"I take it you're at least a third rate duelist," PhantomFire muttered. "That's how good you need to be to beat these fourth-rate AIs."

"My rate isn't of importance for you, sir." Nulline shook her finger at the male. "I'm not here for you, my enemy is Blue Angel!"

"Blue Angel?"

"Me?"

PhantomFire and Blue Angel looked at each other then back at the Knight of Hanoi in front of them. They could only guess that this one had some form of grudge against Aoi, maybe an angry fan, or a ruined Charisma Duelist. PhantomFire didn't have information about Nulline's dueling style, so he had no way to tell if she was too strong for Blue Angel to handle on her own.

"That's right, you!" Nulline shouted, pointing at her target. "I've got a grudge to settle with you, Blue Bitch!"

"Did Hanoi turn off the profanity filter as well?" PhantomFire tapped his Duel Disk.

"Just go after your target." Blue Angel patted her friend on the back and smiled confidently. "I'll deal with this on my own, trust me."

PhantomFire wasn't so sure about it. Blue Angel's deck was very famous, duelist would have come up with counter-strategies. Out of all the duelists who fought against Hanoi, famous Charisma Duelists were the easiest to defeat, simply for how famous their decks and playstyles were.

That didn't stop him from leaving. He had to reach Picaro before anyone else did!

"Now it's just the two of us." Blue Angel stepped forward.

"You accepted as I expected." Nulline grinned and turned around. "Follow me!"

Nulline accelerated forward, flying through the data stream. Blue Angel looked after her opponent unimpressed. She jumped off the rooftop and landed on her own D-Board, following after her opponent.

"So, what exactly are you?" Blue Angel asked. "You definitely aren't a fan."

"I'm an avenger that came to impose justice!" Nulline pointed at the idol. "You're too blind to realize how much pain and suffering your existence has caused to anyone who came close to you!"

"I don't understand what you're saying," Blue Angel admitted. "What have I done to you?"

"Here's one word for you: Miyu," Nulline said.

"Miyu?!" Blue Angel moved back, her eyes wide. "What's your connection to her?"

"Duel and you might find out!" Nulline replied.

"I don't have a choice," Blue Angel sighed. "I'll accept your challenge, but you'll tell me everything you know about Miyu!"

"Speed Duel!" the girls shouted, activating their Duel Disks.

 **『** **Blue Angel LP: 4000, Hand: 4 (VS) Nulline LP: 4000, Hand: 4** **』**

"I'll start this!" Nulline exclaimed, pressing a card in her hand. "I Summoned _Lonefire Blossom (Lv.3, ATK: 500)_ , then I release it in order to Special Summon _Aromage Bergamot (Lv.6, ATK: 2400)_ from my deck!" A small yellow plant appeared on Nulline's field, then immediately exploded, and a female magician-like monster in red robes appeared to take its place.

"Aromage?" Blue Angel narrowed her eyes. "Even your deck is the complete opposite of mine…"

"I'm your antithesis!" Nulline declared proudly. "If you use a deck that focuses on burn damage, I'll use a deck that focuses on healing! Now I'm going to set a card and end my turn."

"It's my turn then." Blue Angel muttered under her breath, taking another card from her deck. "Draw!"

 **『** **Turn 2 [Blue Angel] LP: 4000, Hand: 5** **』**

"I'm going to start by Normal Summoning _Trickstar Candina (Lv.4, ATK: 1800)_!" the young idol monster appeared on Blue Angel's field in a yellow dress. "When Candina is summoned, I can add a Trickstar card from my deck to the hand, I choose Trickstar Lycoris and by returning Candina to my hand, I'm going to bring Lycoris out on my field!"

The yellow fairy was replaced by a red one with 1200 Defense Points.

"Next I activate _Trickstar Vision_! With this spell, I can Special Summon _Trickstar Nightshade (Lv.1, ATK: 100)_ from my hand with its effects negated, then we both draw a card!"

"Using Vision to trigger Lycoris' effect on your own turn I see," Nulline muttered, drawing another card.

"You know me, don't you?" Blue Angel clicked her fingers and Lycoris fired a small needle at Nulline, hitting her in the shoulder.

 **『** **Nulline LP: 4000 - 200** → **3800** **』**

"Come out! The circuit of dreams and hope!" the Link Square formed over Blue Angel. "Arrowhead confirmed! The summoning condition is one Level Two or lower Trickstar monster! I set Trickstar Nightshade in the Link Marker! Link Summon! _Trickstar Bloom (ATK: 100, Link-1)_!"

A young idol in a green dress appeared in the right Extra Monster Zone and smiled.

"Now I'm going to activate two effects! First, when Trickstar Bloom is Link Summoned, you draw a card, and when Nightshade is used as Link Material, she revives from my Graveyard." The small idol appeared before Blue Angel again while Nulline was forced to draw another card. "Now Lycoris' effect will deal two hundred points of damage to you!"

 **『** **Nulline LP: 3800 - 200** → **3600** **』**

"Your poking is getting really annoying!" Nulline shouted back.

"Then you won't like this!" Blue Angel replied, pressing another card in her hand. "When you take effect damage, I can Special Summon _Trickstar Narkissus (Lv.4, DEF: 1800)_ from my hand!" Another idol, this time wearing a mostly white and yellow outfit appeared, joining her teammates.

"Managing to summon four monsters while keeping three cards in your hand, you're not the second best Charisma Duelist for nothing." Nulline narrowed her eyes. "But your effect damage is nothing before my healing power!"

"Let's put that to the test! Open again, the circuit of dreams and hope!" A second square opened over Blue Angel's head. "Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning condition are two Trickstar Monsters! I set Nightshade and Bloom in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Trickstar Holly Angel (ATK: 2000, Link-2)_!"

Blue Angel's staple Link Monster appeared on the field. Blue Angel looked at the remaining cards in her hand and pressed one of them, setting it on her field. "I set a card facedown and end my turn!"

"Then it's going to be my turn!" Nulline declared, drawing another card from her deck.

 **『** **Turn 3 [Nulline] LP: 3600, Hand: 5** **』**

"Now Lycoris' effect activates!" Blue Angel interrupted. "Since a card was added to your hand, you take two hundred points of damage!"

 **『** **Nulline LP: 3600 - 200** → **3400** **』**

"When you take damage because of a Trickstar's effect, Holly Angel gains that much attack points!" Blue Angel gestured toward her ace.

 **Trickstar Holly Angel, ATK: 2000 + 200** → **2200**

"Next I activate my Trap Card - _Trickstar Reincarnation_ , to banish all cards in your hand and force you to draw a new one!" Blue Angel's set card turned face-up and fired a bolt of lightning that stroke Nulline's cards and forced her to draw five new ones. "Next, Lycoris' effect will inflict two hundred damage for each card added to your hand!"

Five more golden needles shot out, piercing through Nulline's avatar. The duelist winched but stood her ground despite the damage she suffered.

 **『** **Nulline LP: 3400 – 200*5** → **2400** **』**

 **Trickstar Holly Angel, ATK: 2200 + 200*5** → **3200**

"Has anyone told you how annoying you're?" Nulline gritted her teeth. "But now that your tricks are finished, I'm going to Normal Summon _Evil Thorn (Lv.1, ATK: 100)_ , then I release it to inflict three hundred points of damage to you!"

The plant suddenly exploded and fired thorns at Blue Angel. The idol instinctively covered her eyes with her arms, as the sharp objects flew past, cutting her arms.

 **『** **Blue Angel LP: 4000 - 300** → **3700** **』**

"Uh, what happened with healing over attacking?" Blue Angel asked.

"When Evil Thorn's effect resolves, two copies of it can be Special Summoned, but at the cost of being unable to use their effects." Two more thorns appeared before Nulline all in Attack Position. "Since you brought out your own ace, I'm going to do the same with mine! Appear, the circuit that heals all pain!"

A square appeared over Nulline's head. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two Plant monsters! I set my two Evil Thorn in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Aromaseraphy Jasmine (ATK: 1800, Link-2)_!" A small fairy in a blue and purple outfit appeared out of the square and flew before Nulline.

"Now I activate my Trap Card, Side Effects!" the card that Nulline set on her previous turn turned face-up. "You choose to draw one, two or three cards from your deck and for every card you draw, I gain a thousand Life Points!"

"Then I'll draw just one card!" Blue Angel retorted, drawing a single card from her deck.

"Due to Side Effects, I'll now gain a thousand Life Points!" Nulline raised her arms and a blue aura surrounded her, healing all of her damage.

 **『** **Nulline LP: 2400 + 1000** → **3400** **』**

"Aromage Bergamot's effect now triggers! When I gain Life Points, she gains a thousand attack and defense points until the end of the turn!" The Level 6 plant pointed her wand at the sky, unleashing a red light that made her stronger.

 **Aromage Bergamot, ATK: 2400 + 1000** → **3400, DEF: 1800 + 1000** → **2800**

"I set two cards. Now, let's battle, Blue Angel!" Nulline turned back and gestured for her monsters to attack. "I'll attack Trickstar Holly Angel with Bergamot!"

The monster unleashed a cyclone of red flowers that caught Blue Angel's Link Monster. Holly Angel cried out as it shattered and Blue Angel's Life Points dropped.

 **『** **Blue Angel LP: 3700 - 200** → **3500** **』**

"Now Aromaseraphy Jasmine attacks Trickstar Lycoris!" the Link Monster summoned a whirlwind of purple flowers that trapped the idol inside and suffocated her.

' _She destroyed two of my monster important monsters while also catching up to me in Life Points._ ' Blue Angel thought, looking at her opponent. ' _I shouldn't drop my guard against her._ '

"During the end of my turn, Bergamot's attack returns to normal." The plant Spellcaster lowered her wand.

 **Aromage Bergamot, ATK: 3400 - 1000** → **2400, DEF: 2800 - 1000** → **1800**

"It's my turn, now." Blue Angel looked down at her Duel Disk. "Draw!"

 **『** **Turn 4 [Blue Angel] LP: 3500, Hand: 4** **』**

"I'm going to Normal Summoning _Trickstar Candina (Lv.4, ATK: 1800)_!" the fairy appeared on Blue Angel's field once again. "When Candina is summoned, I can add a Trickstar card from my deck to the hand, I choose Trickstar Light Stage and then activate it! Light Stage's effect adds another Trickstar monster from the deck to my hand, I choose _Trickstar Lilybell_ and Special Summon her through her own effect!" A young idol carrying a large bell as a weapon appeared on the field.

"Three more monsters?" Nulline raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to Link Summon again?"

"You guessed it!" Blue Angel threw her arms forward. "This time, I'm going to call out one of my stronger monsters! Open! The circuit of dreams and hope!" The square opened behind Blue Angel's back. "Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning condition are two at least two Fairy monsters! I set Narkissus, Candina, and Lilybell in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Trickstar Foxy Witch (ATK: 2200, Link-3)_!" A new Trickstar monster wearing a pink magician outfit appeared.

"Link Three?" Nulline narrowed her eyes. "That's the first time I see you play a monster like this."

"An Idol must always keep a trick or two as secrets!" Blue Angel exclaimed and gestured toward Foxy Witch. "My new Trickstar's effect activates! When it's Special Summoned, I can inflict two hundred points of damage to you for each card you control! With four cards on the field, that's a total of eight hundred points of damage!"

Foxy Witch pointed her wand at Nulline and fired a ball of white magic, knocking the Knight of Hanoi backward.

 **『** **Nulline LP: 3400 - 800** → **2600** **』**

"Then Light Stage's effect inflicts two hundred more damage to you!" Blue Angel continued.

 **『** **Nulline LP: 2600 - 200** → **2400** **』**

"Next I banish Trickstar Reincarnation from my grave to revive _Trickstar Lilybell (Lv.2, ATK: 800)_!" The tiny fairy raised from the grave once more to join the idol's side.

"I set a card, then I activate Light Stage's effect to seal your left set card until the end of the turn." Blue Angel flew past Nulline and turned back to face her. "Battle! I attack you directly with Trickstar Lilybell!" the young idol flew forward and slammed Nulline with the bell.

 **『** **Nulline LP: 2400 - 800** → **1600** **』**

"And don't forget that due to Light Stage's effect, you take two hundred damage every time a Trickstar hurts you!" Nulline bit her lip as more pain was inflicted onto her avatar.

 **『** **Nulline LP: 1600 - 200** → **1400** **』**

"Since Lilybell inflicted damage to you, I can return Trickstar Lycoris back into my hand." A card metalized in front of Blue Angel and she took hold of it. "And now, Foxy Witch attack Aromage Bergamot!"

"What!?" Nulline gasped. She then narrowed her eyes. "What are you planning to do?"

"Nothing!" Blue Angel smirked. Foxy Witch tried to fire an orb of light magic at Aromage, but the plant monster countered with a whirlwind of red flowers that, first made the Trickstar Lose balance, then threw it into a building, destroying her.

 **『** **Blue Angel LP: 3500 - 200** → **3300** **』**

"Since Foxy Witch was destroyed by battle, her effect activates! I Special Summon _Trickstar Black Catbat (ATK: 2000, Link-2)_!" The new Link monster wearing a provocative black outfit formed on Blue Angel's field and winked. "If a monster is successfully summoned by this effect, you take two hundred damage for each card on your field!"

Nulline gasped, falling down on her knees. Her avatar was glitching from the damage she took.

 **『** **Nulline LP: 1400 - 800** → **600** **』**

"Light Stage's effect inflicts two hundred more damage!" Nulline yelped, her Life Points dropping further.

 **『** **Nulline LP: 600 - 200** → **400** **』**

"Now tell me how you know Miyu!" Blue Angel demanded. "Your Life Points are at four hundred if I attack Aromaseraphy Jasmine with Black Catbat, and with some help from Light Stage, you'll lose the rest of your remaining Life Points!"

"Heh, trying to threaten me with death are you?" Nulline chuckled, then raised her head to face the idol. "Some angel you are."

"You don't have much of a choice." Blue Angel narrowed her eyes.

"I don't need one!" Nulline yelled. "I won't fall before you. But since you're so curious, I'm going to tell you. Miyu is my friend!" The Knight of Hanoi clenched her hand into a fist and continued. "Despite us being friends, she would always bring up the name of a girl, someone called Aoi Zaizen. She was always so sad when she spoke about her, feeling sorry about what has happened in the past."

Blue Angel stared solemnly, listening intently to Nulline's story.

"Miyu wanted nothing more than to meet with her and apologize for what happened." Nulline continued. "She was so obsessed with the idea, that she began to wear her hair into pigtails as a note to that girl. She suffered so much because of that. Her desire to meet Aoi got her kidnapped for six whole months when she was still young! She had to suffer so much, and the trauma, the trauma from that incident never fully faded away either."

"Miyu got kidnapped because of me…" Blue Angel lowered her head. She didn't want to believe it! She didn't want to think that such awful things could happen to the innocent young girl she used to play with when they were only six.

"She went through so much pain that I just couldn't watch her anymore." Nulline closed her eyes. "I tried to find that Aoi girl for Miyu, reunite them. That was when I found out about you, Blue Angel. Despite all that Miyu went through, you were unharmed, happy while masquerading as a hero from Miyu's favorite book! It wasn't fair… IT WASN'T FAIR FOR YOU TO LIVE A HAPPY CARELESS LIFE WHILE MIYU SUFFERED!"

"I never forgot about Miyu!" Blue Angel called back. "I too, felt great pain when we were separated. I always wanted to meet with her again, but I never had the chance to do so…"

"Lies!" Nulline shouted back. "If I was able to find you, then with all of the connections your brother had, you should have been able to find Miyu as well!"

"Life isn't so simple." Blue Angel tried to reason. "It's true, I should have done something to find her, but there was nothing I could do back then. When I could I… I didn't try to use the resources to look for her because I believed that she had a happy life and didn't need me. If I knew, I would have…"

"That doesn't matter anymore!" Nulline yelled and grabbed her head. "It's too late for me to forgive, so let's end this!"

"I'm sorry then." Blue Angel sighed and threw her arm forward. "I'll make sure to save you when the Knights of Hanoi are defeated. Battle! Black Catbat attack Aromaseraphy Jasmine!"

"I'm not going to lose to you, Blue Angel!" Nulline raised her arm, the lines on her body glowing bright green. "I activate my Skill, _Aroma Medicine_! I discard _Aromaseraphy Angelica_ from my hand to look at the top four cards of my deck, then I'm going to send _Aromage Cananga_ to the Graveyard and gain Life Points equal to its attack, while also giving Cananga's attack points to Aromaseraphy Jasmine until the end of this turn!"

Aromage Cananga's spirit appeared above Nulline and casted a spell to make flowers drop on top of the duelist while her Life Points going a huge boost as well.

 **『** **Nulline LP: 400 + 1400** → **1800** **』**

 **Aromaseraphy Jasmine, ATK: 1800 + 1400** → **3200**

"And now the effects of both my Jasmine and Aromage Bergamot shall activate! First, due to Jasmine's effect, I add _Eco, Mythical Spirit of the Forest_ from my deck to the hand, then Bergamot gains a thousand attack and defense points!"

 **Aromage Bergamot, ATK: 2400 + 1000** → **3400, DEF: 1800 + 1000** → **2800**

Blue Angel bit her lip. Now Aromaseraphy Jasmine had more attack points and she couldn't stop Black Catbat's attack. The Trickstar monster charged forward, swinging her staff at the Aroma monster, only for the small fairy to summon a white whirlwind and slam Catbat against the street, destroying the idol monster.

 **『** **Blue Angel LP: 3300 - 1200** → **2100** **』**

' _She turned the duel around!_ ' Blue Angel narrowed her eyes. In just a moment Nulline was able to recover her Life Points, destroying Blue Angel's Link Monster, inflict a serious amount of damage and even searched a card!

* * *

While Blue Angel was fighting fiercely against Nulline, PhantomFire rode around on his D-Board, looking out for Picaro. The city was quiet, most forces on both sides were already defeated, only a small set of survivors remained. And his target has finally revealed himself, riding between the buildings, Picaro grabbed one of the AIs by surprise and tore it in half using his claws.

"Picaro!"

"You're finally here I see," Picaro smirked and turned to see the person who approached him. "I was wondering where you were, Playmaker."

Wait, what?

"What are you doing here, Playmaker?" PhantomFire flew in and moved between the two duelists.

"I've been looking for the creator of the Another Virus." Playmaker replied. "Although I didn't get any solid leads, he's among the last Hanoi remaining in LINK VRAINS, so I'll take him down."

"Picaro is my responsibility!" an irked PhantomFire responded. "If you want to be useful, go find Revolver!"

"Come on now, don't say that after he came in LINK VRAINS just for me." Picaro shook his head. "I know how much you love me, but couldn't you share for once?"

"Defeat the Knights of Hanoi is my responsibility!" Playmaker argued back. "I don't care what problem you have with him, but don't get in the way of my revenge."

"Don't get over yourself, brat." PhantomFire narrowed his eyes. "Between you and me, it's your quest of revenge that's petty. Go find yourself a therapist and let the grown-ups do their stuff."

"Aw, is PhantomFire trying to scold little baby Playmaker?" Picaro kept taunting the two duelists. "But seriously, why do you care so much about Playmaker? It's not like you need him for your plans, right?"

"Are we really going to fight among ourselves instead with the enemy?" Playmaker sighed.

"Don't worry, I've got a way to deal with it." Picaro reached out with his claw and opened it, firing a red blast of data at PhantomFire's D-Board. The impact caused a small explosion to the back of the throne, and the D-Board plunged toward the empty streets below.

" _Hey, hey!"_ Ai showed up from the Duel Disk and looked down. _"Isn't that dangerous, Playmaker? Playmaker?"_

Ai looked up, its origin was staring at Picaro, unfazed by the latter's actions. The Knight of Hanoi chuckled to himself and clicked with his fingers. Immediately, two corrupted AI Duelists flew past him and charged for PhantomFire's D-Board.

"This would be enough to keep the old man busy for a few moments," Picaro stated and turned back toward the Cyberse Duelist. "It's finally the time for our rematch, Playmaker? Do you remember how this duel went the last time?"

"I do." Playmaker nodded. "Proxy defeated you."

"Tch," Picaro clicked his tongue and turned his back to Playmaker. "Is that really the part that impressed you the most? Well, whatever, I was just trying to test your skills back then, so I wasn't serious when I dueled you last time. But now… I've got to fulfill an order from Dr. Kogami himself."

"Kogami is dead." Playmaker pointed out.

"Are you really believing the official stances?" Picaro shook his head in disappointment. "What a disappointment, I thought that you would be smarter than that. Kogami is still very alive and active. Who do you think created the Knights of Hanoi? Why do you think he created them?"

"Hanoi's purpose is of no interest for me." Playmaker replied. "But if Kogami really is alive, then I'll find him and make him pay for his crimes! I'll avenge the victims of his experiments!"

"Be my guess then." Picaro raised his claw and two green lines appeared on its sides, glowing brightly. "But before you reach Kogami, you'll have to go through me, and that just isn't going to happen!"

"So be it." Playmaker said back.

The wind became strong, a Data Storm tearing through the empty city. The two duelists looked at each other and then they shot down the street.

"Speed Duel!"

 **『** **Playmaker LP: 4000, Hand: 4 (VS) Picaro LP: 4000, Hand: 4** **』**

"Playmaker! I'll show you how helpless you truly are with one single move!" Picaro declared proudly and took a card from his hand, playing it on his Duel Disk. "I Normal Summon _**TurboGear Sound Runner**_!"

A small green robot with three wheels appeared on Picaro's field. The machine had a blue optic on top of its body and three tailpipes on its back.

* * *

 **TurboGear Sound Runner**

 **Level: 1/Attribute: WIND/Type: Machine/Tuner/Effect**

 **ATK: 0/DEF: 0**

 **Effect: If this card is added to your hand by a card effect: You can Special Summon it. You can only use this effect of "TurboGear Sound Runner" once per turn. Your opponent takes any damage from battles involving this card. If this card is destroyed, you can send 1 monster your opponent controls to the GY.**

* * *

"Due to Sound Runner's effect, you will take any damage from battles involving it and if you destroy it, I can send a monster you control to the grave. How are you going to avoid this monster, Playmaker?" Picaro asked.

" _Huh? He left a weak monster on his field as a bait."_ Ai crossed its arms. _"He wants us to attack into it and suffer damage, right?"_

"That's obvious." Playmaker nodded. "So it's most likely not his real strategy. It's my turn, draw!"

 **『** **Turn 2 [Playmaker] LP: 4000, Hand: 5** **』**

"I Normal Summon _Balancer Lord (Lv.4, ATK: 1700)_ and activate its effect! I pay a thousand Life Points to gain another Normal Summon this turn!" The lines on Balancer Lord's body glowed, draining a part of Playmaker's Life Points.

 **『** **Playmaker LP: 4000 - 1000** → **3000** **』**

"I Normal Summon _Prompthorn (Lv.1, ATK: 200)_." A small white and blue bunny with black robotic parts and red lines running through it appeared on Playmaker's field. "Prompthorn's effect activates! I release Balancer Lord to Special Summon _Digitron (Lv.2, ATK: 1500)_ and _Bitron (Lv.2, DEF: 2000)_ from my deck!"

The cyberse knight disappeared and two different white drone-like monsters appeared in its place.

"Appear, the circuit that leads to the future!" A Link Square opened in front of Playmaker. "Arrowhead confirmed! Summoning condition is one Normal Monster. I set Bitron in the Link Marker! Link Summon! _Link Spider (ATK: 1000, Link-1)_!" the black and blue digital spider came out of the square and raced beside Playmaker.

" _What are you going to do, Playmaker?"_ Ai tilted its head.

"Link Spider's effect lets me Special Summon _Bitron (Lv.2, DEF: 2000)_ from my hand!" A second copy of Playmaker's defensive drone appeared on the field. "Again! Appear the circuit that leads to the future!"

"Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are two monsters. I set Digitron and Bitron in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Security Dragon (ATK: 1100, Link-2)_!" A small drone with red circles appeared below Link Spider's link.

"I'll get rid of your monster right now!" Playmaker declared. "Security Dragon's effect activates! Once per turn, if it's co-linked, I can return a monster you control to the hand. Sound Runner goes back to the hand!"

Security Dragon roared and fired a bolt of red lightning at Sound Runner, trapping the monster before teleporting it back into Picaro's hand.

" _Bye, bye."_ Ai waved at the monster. _"Now there's nothing stopping Playmaker from putting some huge damage on board!"_

"Are you sure?" Picaro asked back and held up Sound Runner. "I activate Sound Runner's effect! When it's added to my hand, I can Special Summon it!" The green robot appeared on Picaro's field again.

" _Um, what are you going to do now, Playmaker?"_ Ai turned toward his partner.

"I'll Special Summon _Backup Secretary (Lv.3, ATK: 1200)_." The female monster flew beside Playmaker's other monsters. "Appear for the third time, the circuit that leads to the future!" Another square appeared above Playmaker. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are two or more monsters. I set Backup Secretary, Prompthorn and the Link Two Security Dragon in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Link Four, _Firewall Dragon (ATK: 2500, Link-4)_!"

"So, Firewall Dragon, huh?" Picaro looked over the beast. "That's not a monster that you summon a lot, is it?"

"I activate Firewall Dragon's effect!" Playmaker ignored his opponent. "For every monster co-linked to it, Firewall Dragon returns a monster on the field to the hand! Since only Link Spider's co-linked, I return Sound Runner to your hand! _Emergency Escape_!"

The dragon unleashed a bolt of blue lightning from its head that zapped Picaro's monster back to the hand. The Knight of Hanoi looked at his cards and then at Firewall Dragon, waiting for Playmaker's next move.

"Battle! Firewall Dragon attack the opponent directly! Tempest Attack!" Firewall's lines turned from blue to red and it fired a red beam from its mouth that hit Picaro.

Or so it should have.

"When there are no cards on my field, I can discard a monster to activate this Trap from my hand! _**Link Lock**_!" Picaro discarded Sound Runner and a trap showing Decode Talker being restrained by red chains with link arrows on their ends appeared in front of him, blocking Firewall's attack. "When this card is activated, it's equipped to a Link Monster on your field, negates it effect and takes away its ability to attack!"

* * *

 **Link Lock (Trap) Normal**

 **Target 1 Link Monster that your opponent controls: Equip this card to it. While this card is equipped to a monster, its effects are negated, also it cannot attack. Once per turn: You can Special Summon a "TurboGear Token" (Machine/WIND/Level 1/ATK 0/DEF 0) for every 800 ATK points the equipped monster has. If you control no cards: You can activate this card from your hand.**

* * *

The same red chains shot out of the trap and tied around Firewall Dragon's body and wings, locking it in place.

" _Firewall Dragon was…!"_ Ai gasped.

"I have already predicted that you would try to use Firewall in order to get rid of my monster, Playmaker!" Picaro declared. "All of your strategies are second rate, so there's no way I would ever lose to the likes of you!"

Playmaker looked at Firewall Dragon and narrowed his eyes. "I'll attack you directly with Link Spider!" The Link 1 monster charged forward and slammed into Picaro, knocking him back.

 **『** **Picaro LP: 4000 - 1000** → **3000** **』**

" _Now our Life Points are tied!"_ Ai cheered.

"Don't think that this will change anything." Picaro shook his head. "Playmaker, you think that the pain you suffered during the Lost Incident, the nightmares and trauma, is giving you the strength to keep going. But that rage burning inside your soul is shallow! All that you fight for is miserable revenge, but what after? What will happen after the Knights of Hanoi are defeated? Nothing! Your victory won't mean anything, it will be just a pointless achievement to pat yourself on the shoulder with."

"Don't talk like you know anything!" Playmaker shouted back at his opponent. "Don't ever dare to say that the pain we, the victims of the Lost Incident, suffered meant nothing!"

"You say that because you can't stand listening to the truth!" Picaro clenched his human hand into a fist. "I'll show you how vulnerable you truly are, Playmaker! My turn, draw!"

 **『** **Turn 3 [Picaro] LP: 3000, Hand: 3** **』**

"First, I'll activate Link Lock's other effect!" the chains around Firewall glowed, causing the beast to screech in pain. "For every eight hundred points of attacks it has, a TurboGear Token is summoned on my field!"

Three small robots made of three gears with a green armored plate on their backs appeared on Picaro's field.

"Appear, the circuit of heaven's wind!" Picaro drew a triangle with his claw, which then turned into a circuit made of metal plates placed into a square with eight laps attached to the sides. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are at least two WIND Machine monsters! I set two TurboGear Tokens, in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _**TurboGear Track Marshal**_!"

A large and bulky monster appeared from inside the Link Square. The machine was covered in red metal plating, long square-shaped head jutting over its body with six lines acting as its eyes. Its arms and legs were chubby with tank track links on the outside of its feet. In its left hand, the monster carried a large sledgehammer with a jet engine in place of a head.

* * *

 **TurboGear Track Marshal**

 **Attribute: WIND/Type: Machine/Link/Effect**

 **L-Markers: Bottom-Left, Top**

 **ATK: 800/Link-2**

 **2 WIND Machine monsters**

 **Effect: This Link Summoned card cannot be targeted for attacks or with card effects while it's linked to a monster. Once per turn, before damage calculation, if your monster this card points to battles an opponent's monster with equal or higher ATK than it: You can make that monster unable to be destroyed by that battle. After the damage calculation, if you took any damage from that battle, destroy the opponent monster that battled.**

* * *

"Next I'm going to release my last TurboGear Token to Tribute Summon this card! Come forth, _**TurboGear Sprinter**_!" A green robotic horse with three yellow optics on its face and six legs appeared on the field. The monster carried an engine in its belly and had a tailpipe in place of a tail.

* * *

 **TurboGear Sprinter**

 **Level: 5/Attribute: WIND/Type: Machine/Effect**

 **ATK: 0/DEF: 1000**

 **Effect: When this card is Normal Summoned: You can target 1 "Turbo" Tuner Monster in your GY; Special Summon that target with its effects negated.**

* * *

"Sprinter's effect activates! I revive Sound Runner from my graveyard!" A black portal opened in front of Picaro and the Level 1 monster raised out of it. "Next I tune the Level Five TurboGear Sprinter to the Level One TurboGear Sound Runner! Synchro Summon! _TurboGear Warrior (Lv.6, ATK: 2500)_!"

The monsters dissipate into energy, which then reforms into two sets of rings. One of the top being red in color whilst the other five below it, were green. Afterward, they changed to a dark green color before merging together into a thin ring, forming a tunnel formation that rotated counter-clockwise.

" _A Synchro monster!?"_ Ai's eyes widened. _"He's like the Knight of Hanoi from SOL's Data Bank."_

"You'll find me to be more dangerous than him!" Picaro retorted. "I set a card, now let's battle! I attack Firewall Dragon with TurboGear Warrior! _Accelerated Crash_!" The warrior charged forward and stabbed Firewall Dragon with its claws. The dragon began to thrash around in pain and opened its mouth to counter.

" _Hey, hey."_ Ai crossed its arms. _"If you attack a monster with an equally strong monster, they will just destroy each other, meaning that you'll lose your Synchro Monster as well!"_

"Not with Track Marshal's effect in play!" Picaro gestured toward his Link Monster. "When a monster that's linked to Track Marshal battles a monster with equal or higher attack power, I can negate my monster's destruction."

A barrier appeared in front of TurboGear Warrior and Firewall Dragon's blast was redirected back toward the Cyberse monster, carving a hole in its chest. The beast roared again and then faded away.

" _He took down our strongest monster…"_ Ai gulped.

"Since Firewall Dragon left the field, the equipped Link Lock is going to be destroyed as well." Picaro pointed out, his Trap destroying itself. "With that, my turn is over. Let's see how you plan to turn this around, Playmaker!"

Playmaker didn't let his stoical expression to betray his real thoughts, but Picaro was on a different level from the other Knights of Hanoi. He was close to Revolver, if not equal to him. This meant that the Cyberse Duelist was obligated to defeat him in order to fulfill his revenge.

* * *

"Why must I deal with the NPCs?"

PhantomFire sighed, sitting lazily on his throne while his large D-Board flew around the buildings with the AIs pursuing after him. He had to get to Picaro before Playmaker was defeated, an outcome that PhantomFire was sure would happen if their duel was to reach a conclusion.

"Since you've been hacked by Picaro, you two are technically no longer SOL Technology." PhantomFire glanced at the AIs. "You'll make for good punching bags, but Speed Duels must be one on one, so I'll take you one after another."

The two AIs glanced at each other and then one of them slowed down, while the other one activated its Duel Disk.

"Speed Duel!"

 **『** **PhantomFire LP: 4000, Hand: 4 (VS) AI Duelist #1 LP: 4000, Hand: 4** **』**

"I'm going to take the first move." PhantomFire declared. "I activate _ChronoGear Emergency Launch_! This card's effect allows me to Special Summon a ChronoGear monster straight from the deck! Come forth, _ChronoGear Steam Ogre (Lv.8, DEF: 2600)_!" The cyborg ogre appeared on PhantomFire's field with a roar.

"Steam Ogre's effect activates! Since it was summoned by the effect of a ChronoGear card, I can Special Summon two ChronoGear monsters from my deck! Come forth, _ChronoGear Hellchain (Lv.3, DEF: 1700)_ and _ChronoGear Berfomet (Lv.4, DEF: 1800)_!" Evan's usual combo pieces appeared in the Left and Right Monster Zone respectively.

"Berfomet's effect now activates: When it's Special Summoned from the effect of a ChronoGear card, I can add a ChronoGear card from the deck to my hand. I choose _ChronoGear Reborn_!" PhantomFire added the card to his hand, then continued.

"Now appear, the circuit of past and future!" The space in front of PhantomFire cracked, opening a black void. "Arrowhead confirmed! Summoning condition is one Level Four or lower DARK monster! I set ChronoGear Berformet in the Link Marker! Link Summon! _ChronoGear Butterfly Effect (ATK: 0. Link-1)_!" The insect monster raised in the Right Extra Monster Zone.

"Hellchain's effect activates. Once when it's on the field, I can revive Berfomet at the cost of negating its effects!" the tattered demon threw its chains into a pitch black portal and pulled the undead out. "And again, appear my circuit!"

The black vortex opened behind PhantomFire for a second time.

"Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two oGear monsters! I set ChronoGear Butterfly Effect and ChronoGear Hellchain in the Link Markers! Link Summon! The wild spirit dancing over fading ages! _ChronoGear Time Tamer Kitty (ATK: 1700, Link-2)_!" The beast-warrior made her debut, winking at her master.

"I activate Time Tamer Kitty's effect to revive ChronoGear Hellchain!" The tattered demon raised behind Kitty with its chains floating lively. "Now for the third time! Appear circuit of past and future!"

For the third time, the black vortex tore through the space-time continuum to appear at PhantomFire's order.

"Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two or more DARK monsters! I set ChronoGear Berfomet and ChronoGear Time Tamer Kitty in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Diabolic Phantomus the Hollow Slayer (ATK: 2300)_!" the demonic warrior and PhantomFire's pseudo-ace materialized on the field.

"Diabolic Phantomus the Hollow Slayer's effect allows me to revive a Link Three or lower DARK monster from my grave. Come back, Kitty." The Link 2 monster raised for a second use. "For the fourth time, open the circuit of past and future!" Yet another void opened. "Summoning Conditions are at least two DARK monsters! I set Hellchain and the Link Two Time Tamer Kitty in the Link Markers! Link Summon! My dark soul, _Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer (ATK: 2300, Link-3)_!"

PhantomFire's true ace appeared on the field with glowing purple eyes. Its top arrow connected to Hollow Slayer's bottom arrow, co-linking the two monsters.

"Due to Hollow Slayer's effect all monster it points at gain five hundred attack points, and since Link Slayer gains the effects of all monster it points at, so Hollow Slayer gains attack as well!" PhantomFire's two aces glowed with their attack powers increasing.

 **Diabolic Phantomus the Hollow Slayer, ATK: 2300 + 500** → **2800**

 **Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer, ATK: 2300 + 500** → **2800**

"Now I'll activate Link Slayer's new effect to revive Time Timer Kitty from my grave!" the female monster raised from the ground for a second time. "And the last. Open, the circuit of past and future!"

PhantomFire's fifth and final circuit opened in the sky. Since in Speed Duels a Duelist had access to only five cards in their Extra Deck, he was unable to summon any more Link Monsters.

"Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are at least two Chrono monsters! I set Steam Ogre and the Link Two Time Tamer Kitty in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _ChronoGear Gatling Wheel (ATK; 2400, Link-3)_!" Finally, the large muscular warrior joined the rest of the Link 3 monsters gathered on PhantomFire's field.

"Gatling Wheel's effect increases the attack points of all co-linked monster by three hundred, but because Link Slayer is linked to both him and Hollow warrior, their effects will be applied through him."

 **Diabolic Phantomus the Hollow Slayer, ATK: 2800 + 300*2** → **3400**

 **Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer, ATK: 2800 + 300*2** → **3400**

 **ChronoGear Gatling Wheel, ATK: 2400 + 500 + 300*2** → **3500**

"But attack points don't really matter with this built." Evan sighed. "I activate Gatling Wheel's effect. I inflict three hundred points of damage to one of you for every Link Rating on my field, but I can't declare an attack for the rest of this turn."

The large warrior aimed its gun at the Ai Duelist. The barrels began to rotate and Gatling Wheel fired a river of bullets against the AI, damaging its body.

 **『** **AI Duelist #1 LP: 4000 - 2700** → **1300** **』**

"And because Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer gains the effects of all monsters it's linked to, I activate Gatling Wheel's effect again." The demonic warrior charged at the AI Duelist and summoned scythe, cutting its target in half.

 **『** **AI Duelist #1 LP: 1300 - 2700** → **0** **』**

 **『** **Winner: PhantomFire** **』**

"One annoyance was dealt with." PhantomFire sighed. "Another one to go."

PhantomFire's D-Board turned around to face the remaining AI. Since that was the last annoying bug in his path, PhantomFire wanted to watch closely as he crushed it into pieces.

"Replace Deck: Link Burn with Link Trick," PhantomFire ordered, the cards inside his deck glowing, as they were replaced with new ones, allowing PhantomFire to use a new strategy to defeat his opponent.

"Speed Duel!"

 **『** **PhantomFire LP: 4000, Hand: 4 (VS) AI Duelist # 2 LP: 4000, Hand: 4** **』**

"I'm going to take the first move." PhantomFire declared quickly before its enemy could. "I activate Treasure of the Six Gears. By discarding ChronoGear Blue Plague I can draw two new cards from my deck." PhantomFire looked at his cards and smirked. "I Normal Summon _ChronoGear Pulsar Beast (Lv.4, ATK: 1500)_ and then activate its effect to Normal Summon a second time. Come out, _ChronoGear Hellchain (Lv.3, ATK: 1400)_."

The main characteristic that made the ChronoGear deck different from the other oGear decks was its ability to operate as a splashable engine. There was no playstyle and strategy that this deck couldn't replicate our counter – it was the ultimate deck.

"I activate Hellchain's effect to revive Blue Plague with its effects negated." A zombie-like monster wearing knight armor on its chest appeared in the last Main Monster Zone. "Now appear, the circuit of past and future!"

The space in front of PhantomFire cracked, opening a black void. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two oGear monsters! I set ChronoGear Pulsar Beast and ChronoGear Hellchain in the Link Markers! Link Summon! The wild spirit dancing over fading ages! _ChronoGear Time Tamer Kitty (ATK: 1700, Link-2)_!" The beast-warrior appeared again and swung her rifle, aiming it at the zone behind her.

"I activate Time Tamer Kitty's effect to revive ChronoGear Hellchain!" Kitty fired her rifle, opening a portal which the tattered demon raised through. "Hellchain's effect activates, reviving Pulsar Beast!" The cyborg beast rose as well.

"Appear circuit of past and future!" For the second time, the black vortex tore through the space-time continuum and materialized in the sky. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two or more DARK monsters! I set ChronoGear Pulsar Beast and ChronoGear Time Tamer Kitty in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Diabolic Phantomus the Hollow Slayer (ATK: 2300)_!" the demonic warrior and PhantomFire's enabler materialized on the field.

"Diabolic Phantomus the Hollow Slayer's effect allows me to revive a Link Three or lower DARK monster from my grave. Come back, Kitty." The Link 2 monster raised for a second use. "For the third time, open the circuit of past and future!" Another void opened. "Summoning Conditions are at least two DARK monsters! I set Hellchain and the Link Two Time Tamer Kitty in the Link Markers! Link Summon! My dark soul, _Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer (ATK: 2300, Link-3)_!"

"Link Slayer gains the effects of all monsters it points at. Using this new power, I'm going to revive Time Timer Kitty from my graveyard!" the female monster raised from the ground with a yawn. "Open, the circuit of past and future!"

Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are at least two oGear monsters! I set Blue Plague and the Link Two Time Tamer Kitty in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _ChronoGear Timepiece Archer (ATK: 2100, Link-3)_!" The weird-looking archer gained mass and landed next to Link Slayer's left arrow.

"Thanks to Hollow Slayer and Link Slayer's combined efforts, all of my monsters are going to gain five hundred more attack points." The eyes of PhantomFire's two Phantomus monsters glowed.

 **Diabolic Phantomus the Hollow Slayer, ATK: 2300 + 500** → **2800**

 **Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer, ATK: 2300 + 500** → **2800**

 **ChronoGear Timepiece Archer, 2100 + 500** → **2600**

"I'm going to activate Timepiece Archer's effect: Once per turn, if it's linked, I can banish a random card from the opponent's hand face-down until the end of the next turn." Archer's robotic arm turned into a bow and it fired a purple arrow at the AI Duelist, erasing one of the cards in its hand.

"Next, Phantomus the Link Slayer will use the same effect." A bow made of purple energy appeared from the Link 3's disk and it fired a second arrow, banishing another card. "Then Phantomus the Hollow Slayer's additional effect activate. I negate Timepiece Archer's effect until the end of this turn and give them to Hollow Slayer. I use that power to banish another card from your hand!"

The AI duelist looked down at its hand. Three of the cards it was holding were already erased, leaving with only one remaining.

"Next I activate _Gift Exchange_." A spell card showing a family of goblins exanimating their presents appeared in front of PhantomFire. "We both banish a card from our deck face-down and during the End Phase of this turn, we must give our banished card to the opponent." A screen opened in front of both duelists, allowing them to choose which card they were going to banish. "Next, I set a card and during the End Phase of this turn, we must give our banished card to the opponent."

Both Duelists' Duel Disk glowed, analyzing the new cards, then added them to their user's hand.

"Now Timepiece Archer's effect that both of my Phantomus have inherited activates!" PhantomFire exclaimed. "When a card is added to your hand outside the Draw Phase, I banish a card in your hand face-down at random, then you take three hundred points of damage for every card banished by this effect!"

The last two cards in the AI duelist's hand vanished as the Link 3 duo summoned a sphere of dark time-space energy and threw it at the machine.

 **『** **AI Duelist #2 LP: 4000 - 1200** → **2800 – 1500** → **1300** **』**

"And at the end of this turn, the effect of Phantomus the Hollow Slayer ends, so Timepiece Archer gains back its abilities." The Link 3 ChronoGear raised its head and activated its bow.

"My turn… draw." The AI stated unemotionally, drawing a card.

 **『** **Turn 2 [AI Duelist #2] LP: 1300, Hand: 1** **』**

"During your Standby Phase, I activate my Trap!" PhantomFire declared, flipping his face-down card. " _The Gift of Greed_ forces you to draw two cards. Now Timepiece Archer and Phantomus the Link Slayer banish a card from your hand and inflict three hundred points of damage for each of your banished cards!" The two Link 3 monsters aimed their bows at the AI Duelist and fired two arrows each, one erasing a card in its hand, while the other hit it in the chest.

 **『** **AI Duelist #2 LP: 1300 - 1800** → **0 – 2100** → **0** **』**

 **『** **Winner: PhantomFire** **』**

"And that's it," PhantomFire muttered. Two FTKs in five minutes - he was an absolute beast.

* * *

"I will win." Playmaker responded to Picaro. "My turn, draw!"

 **『** **Turn 4 [Playmaker] LP: 3000, Hand: 2** **』**

The Cyberse duelist looked at the few cards in his hand and nodded, seeing a functional combo. "I'll start by Normal Summoning _Garbage Collector (Lv.2, ATK: 100)_." A blue robotic trash-can with a sad face on its front appeared before Playmaker. "Next I activate _Cynet Defrag_ to revive _Balancer Lord (Lv.4, DEF: 1200)_ and equip it with Cynet Defrag." The knight monster formed next to Garbage Collector.

"At this moment I'm going to activate my Trap Card – _**Synchro Stormfort**_!" A card showing a castle staying intact in the center of a storm with several Synchro Rings forming a protective barrier appeared on Picaro's field.

* * *

 **Synchro Stormfort (Trap) Continuous**

 **Activate this card only if you control a Synchro Monster. While you control a Synchro Monster, monsters you control are unaffected by the Monster Effects of opponent's monsters if their ATK is lower or equal to the ATK of your Synchro Monster with the highest ATK. During the Battle Phase: You can send this card to the GY, and if you do, your opponent must attack with the monster with the highest ATK on their field.**

* * *

"While Synchro Stormfort is active, and I control a Synchro monster, your monsters with attack lower than, or equal to, TurboGear Warrior's attack power, won't be able to affect my monsters with their abilities."

" _Eh?!"_ Ai's head dropped in disappointment. _"But then we will need a monster with more than twenty-five hundred attacks to use effects on his monsters. We don't have monsters with more than twenty-five hundred attack points in our deck!"_

"We don't need to." Playmaker commented. "I activate Garbage Collector's effect! By returning Balancer Lord to my deck, I can summon a monster with the same level, but a different name. Come out, _RAM Clouder (Lv.4, DEF: 0)_!" A white sheep monster appeared under Link Spider's Link Marker.

"With RAM Clouder you can release a monster to revive a Cyberse in your graveyard." Picaro realized. "But which one will you choose?"

"The choice is obvious!" Playmaker exclaimed and raised his hand. "I activate RAM Clouder's effect to release Link Spider and revive _Firewall Dragon (ATK: 2500, Link-4)_ from my graveyard!" The large white dragon appeared in the center zone with a loud roar.

"Now appear, the circuit that leads to the future!" A square appeared in front of Playmaker. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning condition is two Cyberse monsters. I set Garbage Collector and RAM Clouder in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Flame Administrator (ATK: 1200, Link-2)_!"

A red and yellow robot appeared at Firewall Dragon's right side, co-linking with the Link 4 monster.

" _I see!"_ Ai exclaimed cheerfully. _"Due to Flame Administrator's effect, all of our Link Monsters gain eight hundred more attack points!"_

 **Firewall Dragon, ATK: 2500 + 800** → **3300**

 **Flame Administrator, 1200 + 800** → **2000**

"Now Firewall Dragon is stronger than TurboGear Warrior!" Playmaker pointed out. "Firewall Dragon's effect activates! I return a monster to the hand for every monster co-linked with Firewall Dragon! Return to the hand, TurboGear Warrior! _Emergency Escape_!"

Firewall Dragon released another charge of electricity that hit TurboGear Warrior and shuffled it into the Extra Deck.

"Now I'm going to end this!" Playmaker declared triumphantly. "Battle! Fla-"

"Not so fast!" Picaro interrupted him. "At the start of your Battle Phase, I'm going to send Synchro Stormfort to the graveyard, forcing you to attack with your strongest monster first!"

" _Eh?"_ Ai tilted its head to the side, dumbfounded by that. _"Why would she force us to attack with Firewall Dragon first?"_

"We're going to find out." Playmaker said back. "Fine then. Firewall Dragon, attack TurboGear Track Marshal. Tempest Attack!" The dragon roared and fired a stream of red energy, destroying Picaro's monster, dealing a huge amount of damage in the process.

 **『** **Picaro LP: 3000 - 2600** → **400** **』**

"That's what I was waiting for!" Picaro yelled and raised his claw toward the sky. "My Skill now activates! _**Pain Retribution**_! When I take battle damage, I can Special Summon a TurboGear monster from my Extra Deck, as long as its attack is less than or equal to the damage I took!"

" _He took twenty-six hundred damage, which means…"_ Ai gulped. That wasn't good.

"Come forth, _TurboGear Warrior (Lv.6, ATK: 2500)_!" Picaro's ace monster appeared on the field once again, blocking Playmaker's monsters from attacking. "What will you do now, Playmaker? Will you attack, or will you end your turn."

"I'll end my turn, obviously." Playmaker sighed. Flame Administrator wasn't strong enough to take on Picaro's ace.

"Then it's my turn!" Picaro exclaimed. "Draw!"

 **『** **Turn 5 [Picaro] LP: 400, Hand: 2** **』**

"I Normal Summon _**TurboGear Slipscream**_!" A small green jet with yellow lightning-stripes on its wings and a red optic on its bottom flew over Picaro.

* * *

 **TurboGear Slipscream**

 **Level: 2/Attribute: WIND/Type: Machine/Tuner/Effect**

 **ATK: 100/DEF: 400**

 **Effect: If this card is used as a material for the Synchro or Link Summon of an "oGear" monster, you can use 1 "oGear" monster in your hand as material for that Summon. During the End Phase: If this card is in your GY because it was sent there by a card effect this turn: You can add 1 "TurboGear" card from your deck to the hand.**

* * *

"Allow me to show you my ultimate ace monster, Playmaker!" Picaro laughed maniacally and threw his arm forward. "I tune the Level Six TurboGear Warrior to the Level Two Slipscream!" The two monsters transformed into digital rings, while Picaro began to chant.

" _Storming Wind! The untapped wild power of the sky take form and become a machine of terror! Synchro Summon! **TurboGear Airstream Dragon**!_ "

A large bipedal robot dragon landed in Picaro's Extra Monster Zone. The creature's body was covered in white armor plating with red plates on its shoulders, knees, chest and the side of its neck. Its chest had a large hole carved in it and a green engine rotated inside, powering up the monster's body, while two red blades jutted out of its back with large jet engines located right below them. The beast had four arms, each having sharp blades jutting out of its forearms and three claws on its hand. Its legs had diamond-shaped black armor plates on the back of the ankles. The dragon's head had black armor plates covering its lower chin and forehead, while the rest was made from sharp red scales, a single green eye rested in the center of its forehead, while two smaller ones rested on each side of its lower jaw.

* * *

 **TurboGear Airstream Dragon**

 **Level: 8/Attribute: WIND/Type: Machine/Synchro/Effect**

 **ATK: 3000/DEF: 2600**

 **1 "oGear" Tuner monster + 1+ WIND monsters**

 **Effect: When this card is Synchro Summoned: If you have less LP than your opponent; negate the effects of all monsters they control, then halve their ATK. Your opponent takes the same battle and effect damage that you take. This card is unaffected by the effects of monsters whose original ATK is equal to or lower than this card's current ATK.**

* * *

"Airstream Dragon's effect activates!" Picaro threw his arm forward. "When this card is Synchro Summoned, I negate the effects of all monsters you control and halve their attack power!" Airstream Dragon's core began to rotate and fired an EMP that zapped Playmaker's monsters. The two Cyberse monsters leaned forward and the light in their eyes died down, leaving them unmoving.

 **Firewall Dragon, ATK: 3300 - 800** → **2500/2** → **1250**

 **Flame Administrator, 2000 - 800** → **1200/2** → **600**

" _Now our monsters' attack power is too low!"_ Ai grabbed its head.

"I attack Flame Administrator with Airstream Dragon! _**Storm Wing Slash**_!" The jet engines on Airstream Dragon's back began to work and the engine on its chest tripled the speed at which it rotated. Sparks of electricity shot through the blades on its back and projected a giant pair of green wings. The robotic dragon roared and charged forward, flying past Flame Administrator.

After a moment, a large green cut appeared across the red robot's body and it exploded, with the flames engulfing Playmaker. The Cyberse Duelist gritted his teeth, keeping his voice down, while he maneuvered his D-Board out of the flames.

 **『** **Playmaker LP: 3000 - 2400** → **600** **』**

" _Our Life Points are almost equal now!"_ Ai gulped.

"His attacks are brutal and fast." Playmaker observed.

"That's why I'm the wilder of the wind oGear," Picaro smirked. "Just like how your friend is the wielder of the water oGear for her innocent nature. I held back during our previous duel because I wanted to observe you, but I won't have mercy this time."

"I'm not going to lose." Playmaker stated determinedly. "To regain my past… to avenge the victims of your sick experiments… I'll win!"

"Do it then!" Picaro laughed at his opponent's determination. "You have zero cards in your hand, the only monster on your field is Firewall Dragon but its attack is halved and its effects are negated. Can you draw a miracle?"

"I can do more than that." Playmaker stated. "My turn, draw!"

 **『** **Turn 6 [Playmaker] LP: 600, Hand: 1** **』**

Playmaker looked at the card he drew… It was Datacorn, a weak monster with an effect that activated if Playmaker was able to Special Summon it…

" _It's not a good card,"_ Ai stated. _"But the wind of victory may yet blow our way!"_

"Indeed." Playmaker nodded and speeded forward, and shot past Picaro who did nothing to try and stop his opponent.

A powerful twist of data passed through the city and Playmaker charged toward it The Cyberse Duelist jumped off his D-Board and landed into the storm, pushing his hand into the data.

" _When our Life Points are a thousand or less, a random card from the Data Storm will be added to our Extra Deck!"_ Ai cheered.

"Skill activate! _Storm Access_!" Playmaker yelled, the yellow stripes across his suit glowing brightly. Shadows of monsters flew through the wind passing him until one of them resonated with the user and formed into his palm.

"Seize the Wind, Playmaker!" Ai called.

Playmaker grabbed the card and held it up. The shadow of a warrior appeared in front of him and pushed the Data Storm, dispersing it. The Cyberse Duelist fell down, landing on his D-Board. He placed the card into his Extra Deck: It was just the type of monster he needed.

"I activate Cynet Defrag's effect from my graveyard!" Playmaker called out. "By paying half of my Life Points, I'm able to revive a Level four or lower monster from my graveyard. Come back, Garbage Collector (Lv.2, ATK: 1900)!"

 **『** **Playmaker LP: 600/2** → **300** **』**

"I Normal Summon _Datacorn (Lv.1, ATK: 0)_ and then I activate Garbage Collector's effect!" the red lines across the trash can's body glowed. "I return Datacorn to my deck and Special Summon _Dotscaper (Lv.1, ATK: 0)_!" A small white and blue monster with large green eyes appeared in front of Playmaker.

"Appear, the circuit that leads to the future!" Playmaker called out, throwing his arm forward. A square appeared over his three monsters' heads. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are three monsters! I set Dotscaper, Garbage Collector and Firewall Dragon in the Link Markers!" The three monsters turned into energy and each flew into an arrow. "Link Summon! _Powercode Talker (ATK: 2300, Link-3)_!" A red Code Talker monster materialized inside the square and flew next to Playmaker.

"So that's the power you obtained?" Picaro wondered.

"Dotscaper's effect activates!" Playmaker continued. "When it's sent to the graveyard, I can revive it!" the monster appeared at Powercode Talker's bottom marker. "Next I activate Powercode Talker's effect! Once per turn, I can target a monster on your field and negate its effects! I choose Airstream Dragon! _Wire Restruction_!"

A black plate shot out of Powercode Talker's left arm and attached itself to his right, then it formed a blue energy hook, which it fired at Airstream Dragon, tying the beast. Picaro's ace monster roared and pushed against the hook, breaking free.

"Nice try, Playmaker," Picaro smirked. "Sadly, Airstream Dragon has the ability to be unaffected by monsters with less attack power than itself!"

" _What are we going to do then, Playmaker?"_ Ai asked.

"If we attack Airstream Dragon, both parties will suffer the damage resulting in a draw." Playmaker stated. "But if we don't attack, then Picaro will defeat us next turn."

"So, after all the talking about winning, the best you can do is get a draw, huh?" Picaro smirked.

Playmaker clenched his fist. "Battle! Powercode Talker attack Airstream Dragon! At this moment, I tribute Dotscaper to activate Powercode Talker's ability and double its attack power!"

 **Powercode Talker, ATK: 2300*2** → **4600**

"Power Termination Smash" Playmaker yelled, his monster throwing its fist toward the robotic dragon.

"Predictable!" Picaro laughed. "Did you really think I would let you get a tie?"

"What!?" Playmaker and Ai exclaimed in unison.

"That's right! I used Airstream to push you in the corner and force you to choose between surrendering or self-destruction!" Picaro revealed. "I discard _**TurboGear Ravening Engine**_ to activate its effect!"

A black engine with yellow stripes across it and six tailpipes located on its sides, three on each, appeared in front of Airstream Dragon and strapped itself to the dragon's core, using its energy to form a barrier around the Synchro monster.

* * *

 **TurboGear Ravening Engine**

 **Level: 1/Attribute: WIND/Type: Machine/Effect**

 **ATK: 0/DEF: 200**

 **Effect: During the Damage Step, when an "oGear" monster you control battles (Quick Effect): You can discard this card from your hand; that monster cannot be destroyed by that battle and all damage you would take is inflicted to your opponent instead.**

* * *

"Ravening Engine redirects all damage I would have taken to you instead!" Picaro laughed again.

Playmaker's mouth hung open. It was already too late to call off Powercode Talker's attack and the monster swung its fist, slamming it against the engine, causing it to explode. Picaro grinned behind his helmet as the light engulfed them.

But then, darkness overtook the light.

"What the?" Picaro gasped.

Before the damage could be calculated and Playmaker's Life Points could drop to 0, two spheres of dark purple energy hit both duelists, then exploded.

* * *

"How do you like this, Blue Angel?" Nulline asked. "Your tactics don't work against this deck!"

Blue Angel bit her lip. She had only Trickstar Lilybell on her field with a set card that would protect her for the turn, but what after that? Would she be able to draw a good card next turn?

"At the end of this turn, Light Stage's effect activates." Blue Angel said. "You must either activate your set card or send it to the graveyard."

"I'll activate it of course!" Nulline declared. "Continuous Trap activate! Humid Wind! When my Life Points are lower than yours, this card lets me gain five hundred more points!"

 **『** **Nulline LP: 1800 + 500** → **2300** **』**

' _She had a trap that could increase her Life Points…'_ Blue Angel thought. _'But why didn't she activate it earlier?'_

"Also my skill's effect and Bergmator's effect end during the end of this turn, which means that my monsters' attack returns to normal," Nulline stated.

 **Aromaseraphy Jasmine, ATK: 3200 - 1400** → **1800**

 **Aromage Bergamot, ATK: 3400 - 1000** → **2400, DEF: 2800 - 1000** → **1800**

"It's my turn now, so I draw!" Nulline declared.

 **『** **Turn 5 [Nulline] LP: 2300, Hand: 3** **』**

"I activate Humid Wind's effect." Nulline gestured toward her trap. "I can pay a thousand Life Points to add an Aromage card from my deck to the hand."

 **『** **Nulline LP: 2300 - 1000** → **1300** **』**

A card appeared from Nulline's deck to her hand and she showed it to Blue Angel. "I Normal Summon _Aromage Jasmine (Lv.2, ATK: 100)_!" The card that Nulline added appeared on her field. "Next, I activate Humid Wind's other effect to gain five hundred Life Points!"

 **『** **Nulline LP: 1300 + 500** → **1800** **』**

"When I gain Life Points Aromage Jasmine allows me to draw a card and Aromaseraphy Jasmine adds Aromage Rosemary to my hand!" Two new cards appeared in Nulline's hand and she pressed one of them. "I'll then activate _Pot of Acquisitiveness_ to return three of my banished monsters back into the deck and draw a card!"

Nulline looked at the four cards in her hand and smiled. She had all the pieces needed to make Blue Angel's life a living hell.

"I activate the Field Spell, _Aroma Garden_ and use its effect to gain five hundred Life Points!" Nulline raised her hands, accepting the new Life Points.

 **『** **Nulline LP: 1800 + 500** → **2300** **』**

"Due to Bergamot's effect, my monster will gain a thousand attack points until the end of this turn." Nulline pointed out. "And also, because of Aroma Garden, all of my monsters will gain five hundred attack and defense points!"

 **Aromaseraphy Jasmine, ATK: 1800 + 500** → **2300**

 **Aromage Bergamot, ATK: 2400 + 1000 + 500** → **3900, DEF: 1800 + 1000 + 500** → **3300**

 **Aromage Jasmine, ATK: 100 + 500** → **600, DEF: 1900 + 500** → **2400**

"Next, I use Aromage Jasmine's second effect to Normal Summon a second time. Come out, Aromage Rosemary!" A magician wearing a blue dress appeared beside the other Aromage monsters. "Next, I'll activate Aromaseraphy Jasmine's effect to release Aromage Jasmine and Special Summon _Aromaseraphy Angelica (Lv.1, DEF: 0)_ from my deck!"

"A Tuner monster?" Blue Angel noticed. "Don't tell me that you can…"

"Synchro Summon?" Nulline asked. "Why, of course, I can! Watch! I tune the Level Four Aromage Rosemary to the Level One Aromaseraphy Angelica!" The monsters turned into five rings which lined behind one another, forming a tunnel. "The kind soul looking over the warm garden. Become a fighting soul and join the fight! Synchro Summon! _Aromaseraphy Rosemary (Lv.5, ATK: 2000)_!"

"At this moment, I'm going to activate Lycoris' effect from my hand!" Blue Angel exclaimed. "I return Lilybell to my hand and Special Summon it on my field!" The red fairy appeared with 1200 defense points. "And since Lilybell was added to my hand by a card effect, I'll special summon her!" The little fairy reappeared with 2000 defense points.

"Good thinking, but a wall as pathetic as this won't be enough to stop me!" Nulline declared. "Rosemary's effect increases the attack of all my monsters by five hundred while my life points are higher than yours!"

 **Aromaseraphy Jasmine, ATK: 2300 + 500** → **2800**

 **Aromage Bergamot, ATK: 3900 + 500** → **4400, DEF: 3300 + 500** → **3800**

 **Aromaseraphy Rosemary, ATK: 2000 + 500*2** → **3000, DEF: 900 + 500*2** → **1900**

"It's over for you now!" Nulline declared. "While my Life Points are higher than yours, Bergamot gives all of my plan monsters the ability to inflict piercing battle damage. Battle! Bergamot attack Lycoris and end this duel!"

"I won't let it end this way!" Blue Angel shook her head. "I'll activate my Skill - Trickstar Trick! By discarding a Trickstar card from my hand, this ability forces you to draw until you hold the cards in your hand!"

Nulline grimaced in anger and drew a single card. Now, Lycoris' effect would activate…

"Lycoris' effect activates!" Blue Angel declared. "You take two hundred damage and due to Light Stage you take another two hundred points of damage!"

 **『** **Nulline LP: 2300 - 200** → **2100 – 200** → **1900** **』**

"Then I'll activate the effect of _Eco, Mystical Spirit of the Forest (Lv.4, ATK: 1700)_ to Special Summon it on my field, since I took damage!" A humanoid monster made out of wood appeared before Nulline. "Then, you take damage equal to the damage I took!"

 **『** **Blue Angel LP: 2100 - 200** → **1900** **』**

"Trickstar Mandrake's effect activates when she's discarded, Special Summoning herself on my field!" the Trickstar landed on Blue Angel's field with 1000 defense points. "And since our Life Points are now equal, the effects of your Aromage monsters end!"

 **Aromaseraphy Jasmine, ATK: 2800 - 500** → **2300**

 **Aromage Bergamot, ATK: 4400 - 500** → **3900, DEF: 3800 - 500** → **3300**

 **Aromaseraphy Rosemary, ATK: 3000 - 500** → **2500, DEF: 1900 - 500** → **1400**

"Damn you…" Nulline hissed. "But I'm not going to let this end the way you want! Bergamot, attack Lilybell!"

"I activate my trap card, _Trickstar Cascade_ to return Light Stage back in my hand and negate your attack!" A barrier formed in front of the Trickstars' blocking Nulline's attack.

"Damn you!" Nulline cursed. "Jasmine, Rosemary, Eco, attack Lilybell, Lycoris, and Mandrake!" The three plant monsters charged forward and cut through Blue Angel's Trickstars, leaving her field empty.

"During the end of this turn, you must banish a card from your hand for every Trickstar in my graveyard." Blue Angel pointed out.

Nulline looked at her hand, which faded away, leaving her empty-handed. Despite that, she hasn't lost yet. In fact, she had the advantage there.

"So what?" Nulline asked. "I don't need a hand in order to win! What about you? The only card in your hand is Light Stage. You might be able to search a Trickstar next turn, but will a single card be enough to turn this duel around?"

Blue Angel looked at her deck. If she didn't draw a good card next turn, it would be game over for her. Nulline had four monsters on her field, a trap which increased her Life Points and a Field Spell which did the same. There was only one monster that would be able to beat Nulline with a single strike, but Bella Madonna was a Link 4, she would need some very specific cards to summon her.

"Aaaaarrrrrrrgggggggghhhhhhhh!"

A scream suddenly tore through the sky and the two girls raised their heads. Playmaker and Picaro flew through the sky, slamming into the side of a building before collapsing on the street. The Charisma Duelist and Knight of Hanoi gasped.

"Darling!" Nulline cried out and turned around to check on Picaro – completely forgetting about her duel with the idol.

"Playmaker!" Blue Angel shouted and shot off to check the Cyberse Duelist's condition.

The girls jumped off their D-Boards and each one walked toward her teammate.

"Darling, are you hurt?"

"What happened, Playmaker?"

"Him…" Playmaker groaned and pointed behind the girls.

Blue Angel and Nulline turned around. A large D-Board with a throne levitated above the group and a shadowy figure jumped off it, landing in front of the girls. Nulline stumbled backward while Blue Angel remained unfazed if just a bit surprised to see that Playmaker was driven to this condition by a person she knew.

"What happened, Phantom?" Blue Angel asked her mentor.

"A lot of stuff," PhantomFire muttered and pushed the girl aside, so he could get to the two fallen duelists. "I got a headache from a rebellious brat's talk about revenge, shot in the back, two AIs ganged up on me, then I had to save that bastard's ass because he didn't listen to me!"

After saying the last part, PhantomFire kicked Playmaker in the stomach, causing the Cyberse Duelist to cough in pain. Blue Angel gasped in horror while Picaro just chuckled to the sight.

"Damn, you're going to finish him off instead of me, old man." Picaro joked, then turned toward Nulline. "Null, we're leaving."

"What?!" Nulline shouted. "Why?"

"We won't be able to take on PhantomFire, he's too strong for anyone." Picaro reasoned.

"And what makes you think that I'll let you get away?" PhantomFire glared at his protégé.

"Blue Angel." Two words. Those were enough to stop PhantomFire from doing anything. As long as Blue Angel was there, as long as someone he was trying to hide his true self from was there, the monster would remain hidden inside of him.

"Tch, go." PhantomFire looked away.

"You've gotten too soft, old man," Picaro commented before pressing the emergency button on the side of his claw, teleporting away with Nulline following shortly behind him.

"Why did you let Hanoi escape!?" Playmaker suddenly yelled, getting back on his feet.

"Because I choose so." PhantomFire crossed his arms. "But tell me, was it a good feeling to know that you would have lost your duel against Picaro if I didn't interrupt it?"

"Playmaker would have lost?" Blue Angel repeated, surprised by the news.

"I…" Playmaker wanted to retort, say something back, but nothing came to his mind. PhantomFire was right, he was going to lose that match.

" _Thanks for saving my life."_ Ai jumped out of the Duel Disk and looked at PhantomFire.

"Don't get emotional about it." PhantomFire crossed his arms. "I've been looking at you for quite some time Playmaker. Your duels, your interactions with others, I studied you to understand what drives you forward, what gives you strength. But in the end, I gave up because of three reasons."

"…" Playmaker looked back at the man.

"First, you're no one worth overseeing. You're just an edgy teen trying to play the anti-hero, a person too stupid to see the bigger before him. You're such a stupid child that I had to use Ghost Girl in order for you to gain the information about SOL Technology's Data Bank."

"You what?" Playmaker's eyes widened.

"Second, you're not a prodigy or a skilled duelist. All you have is sheer luck and a broken skill that allows you to deus ex-machine your way out of a tight spot." PhantomFire continued. "Your deck building skills are worse than a six years old, which is surprising since that was when you were kidnapped. Did the trauma of those bad days affect your brain's development as well?"

"How dare you…" Playmaker clenched his hands into fists.

"But third and most important, you're an egoistic brat! You're just a little child unable to give up on the past! You're just an empty shell with nothing more than rage and anger blinding your vision, causing you to throw yourself into traps and dangers like the biggest retard ever!"

"Shut up!" Playmaker finally snapped. "A brat? You don't know what we went through! The pain, the despair, it was something none of us could forget. That tragedy was imprinted into our hearts, forced us to spend every moment of our lives trapped in darkness and fear that one day we would find ourselves in the empty white room again!"

"And is that a reason for you to act like a complete idiot?" PhantomFire pushed Playmaker back. "I know what it's to be filled with rage, but unlike you, I don't allow it to tear me apart! If you intend to let rage and hatred guide you, then you'll never defeat Hanoi, because rage can be used as a weapon only by someone strong. And you? You're an unstable teen! All the power you obtained until now? It's just a bomb that's going to blow up in your face!"

"That's enough!" Playmaker declared and turned around. "I'm leaving."

"No, you'll duel me!" PhantomFire grabbed the Cyberse Duelist on the shoulder.

"And why would I do something like this?" Playmaker asked, looking over his shoulder.

"Because I've got the code for Hanoi's private server," PhantomFire stated.

"What?!" Playmaker turned around. "How?"

"I'm not a fool like you," PhantomFire replied and raised his left palm, summoning a cube filled with data inside of it. "This can only be gained from a high-level Knight of Hanoi and only if you know what you're doing. Since you, and your partner, are both idiots and this place is cleared from any remaining Knights of Hanoi, this is your only chance to gain it."

" _He's right,"_ Ai commented. _"I see Hanoi's fingerprints all over that program. It's legit."_

"And you'll give it to me if I win?" Playmaker asked. "Why are you withholding it from me?"

"Because you'll die if you go." PhantomFire retorted and absorbed the data into his wrist.

" _Rethink the idea, Playmaker,"_ Ai warned. _"Picaro was dangerous, but if even he's afraid of PhantomFire, then we won't have a chance!"_

"I won't lose." Playmaker declared.

"Listen to yourselves, you two!" Blue Angel interrupted. "We're on the same side, we should fight together, not between each other!"

"You're wrong," PhantomFire said. "Playmaker won't work with anyone. He's too prideful for that."

Playmaker, in turn, narrowed his eyes and held out his Duel Disk.

* * *

 **Pain Retribution : When the User takes battle damage, they can Special Summon 1 "TurboGear" Synchro or Link Monster whose ATK is less than or equal to, the damage they took, from the Extra Deck.**

* * *

 **I think that I'm having too much fun writing duels with Playmaker and Blue Angel's decks, but I've been playing Trickstars and Cyberse decks on YGOPro a lot, so maybe that was why. But now I really want to give Go a proper duel where he could show all of his amazing Gouki monsters, and in time... I think I'll do it.**

 **So, as it turns out, this is the last chapter happening during the Another incident and sadly it appears that the Another won't be curred in this timeline because Evan erased Baira and Faust before they could give the antidote.**

 **And is it just me, or despite being the protagonist of this story, Roxy doesn't duel all that much? 'Cause if you think so as well, then lucky she will be back with another duel soon and... What? It's going to be a Tag-Duel?!**

 **Thanks to** smyrie83 **for favoring this story and 'till next time!**

 **Diabolic Tracer out!**


	32. Chapter 32

Lost in the Twilight

"What's going on here?" Proxy jumped off her D-Board, landing next to Blaze Rose.

The two oGear duelists were standing on the rooftop of a building, watching Playmaker and PhantomFire who were about to duel. Proxy was lost – what happened in a few hours to cause her mentor and her partner to face against each other?

"I don't know, but it looks like a promising match-up." Blaze Rose answered.

Playmaker – the duelist that everyone in LINK VRAINS idolized and viewed as the strongest versus PhantomFire, a ghost from the past, a legend who plumbed to the bottom until his name became long forgotten. Blaze Rose felt bad for the Cyberse duelist. At first glance, it might seem like there were no stakes in this duel – since, without a Knight of Hanoi present, the loser wouldn't be turned into an Another victim. But the truth tended to stay hidden for those too ignorant to look for it. Playmaker was, unknowingly, placing his entire existence as a bet in this match.

"Shouldn't we interfere?" Proxy asked.

"No." Blaze Rose shook her head. She sat down at the edge of the building and smiled. "Let's enjoy ourselves. We might see something amazing happen during this duel."

Proxy sighed and placed her hands over her chest, hoping that the two duelists won't hurt each other or the server. She remembered well the chaos that ensued when Playmaker dueled Revolver, the hellish flames that scorched the ground and the fierce storm that tore through the virtual buildings. The girl tensed at the memories, but they only caused her to grip her chest harder and pray for both Playmaker and Phantomus.

Below them, PhantomFire and Playmaker stared at each other, both of their Duel Disks glowing, their eyes inspecting the other's posture. Blue Angel gulped at the sight, the two duelists were looking at each other like wild beasts about to tear each other apart.

"Playmaker, you keep calling yourself an Emissary of Revenge." PhantomFire pointed at his opponent. "I know that you believe there's no future for you beyond this madness and that deep inside you believe yourself to be something beyond a human – a creature so disfigured and corrupted that it got no place in society. But in this duel, I'll prove how wrong you're!"

"I'm not wrong." Playmaker stated. "You can have your beliefs, but don't try to force them on me. I told that to Akira, and I'll tell it to you as well, you don't know me, or what I went through, so you have no right to judge me!"

"Heh, don't you overestimate your importance for me?" PhantomFire asked with a smug smile on his face.

"What would that mean?" Playmaker questioned.

"It means that you're nothing more than a bug in front of me!" PhantomFire shouted. "I'm not here to question or judge you, I'm going to crush you using your own strength, I'll step on you like the worthless insect you are and show you how much of a human you're once you fall back into that pit of despair you barely crawled from ten years ago!"

Playmaker's blood ran cold at the sound of that threat. Did this man figure it out? Everyone else fought against Playmaker because they were either paid, looking for fame, or because they wanted to stop him from dirtying his hands. Even Akira who has looked through the fails about the Lost Incident didn't realize it – the reason why Playmaker had to keep winning, to keep moving forward without the memories of the words 'You Lost' there to remind him of the pain, screaming and starvation that broke his soul.

But, this man knew about? Playmaker gritted his teeth, anger, fear, anxiety all spacing in his chest. To lose a duel, to see the words 'You Lost' glow in front of his eyes, again, would be too much for him to bear.

"It's all or nothing for you in this duel, Playmaker," PhantomFire smirked. "Will you win, or will the rage burning in your eyes backstab you in the last moment?"

"Threats like aren't enough to erase my fire for revenge." Playmaker replied. "A duel is the only way to make you step aside."

"Indeed, it is." PhantomFire nodded. "Let's go!"

A Master Duel field formed in front of the two. Blue Angel stepped aside and PhantomFire's students looked intently from the rooftop.

"Duel!"

 **『** **Playmaker LP: 4000, Hand: 5 (VS) PhantomFire LP: 4000, Hand: 5** **』**

"Your style of dueling is filled with flaws, Playmaker," PhantomFire commented. "For starters, you don't know what hand advantage means and always burn through your hand for a single Link Monster. But I don't need to use your weaknesses as an advantage to win, so I'll let you have that precious draw."

" _What does that mean exactly?"_ Ai asked.

"It means that he'll take the first turn." Playmaker narrowed his eyes.

"Indeed it does." PhantomFire nodded and took two cards from his hand, placing them face down. "I'll set two Trap Cards and end my turn!"

" _EH?!"_ Ai exclaimed. " _He announced the type of cards he's setting? Does he even know how to duel?"_

"He's doing it deliberately." Playmaker replied. "This man… He's so sure in his victory that he's not afraid of announcing the type of cards he's playing. But I won't let that intimidate me. It's my turn, draw!"

 **『** **Turn 2 [Playmaker] LP: 4000, Hand: 6** **』**

"When there are no monsters on my field, I can Special Summon _Linkslayer (Lv.5, ATK: 2000)_ from my hand!" One of Playmaker's more famous Main Deck monsters appeared on the field, activating its energy claws. "Linkslayer's effect allows me at the cost of discarding up to two cards to destroy the same amount of spell or trap cards you control! I discard two cards to destroy both of your set cards!"

Linkslayer leaped in the air and swung its blades at PhantomFire's field, cutting through the set cards, which flipped face-up to reveal their identities before getting destroyed. Playmaker narrowed his eyes: _The Regulation of Tribe_ and _Metaverse_ , what was his opponent going for with these cards?

" _Ha! How's that?"_ Ai pointed a finger at Phantomus. _"Both of your set cards have been dealt with!"_

"Is that so?" PhantomFire smirked.

" _Huh?"_ Ai blinked in confusion by those words.

"The effect of _**ChronoDevil oGear Tamer Raccoonia**_ activates from my hand!" PhantomFire showed the card to his opponent and continued. "When Spell or Trap Cards I control are destroyed by an opponent's card effect, I can Special Summon her onto my field!"

A teenage girl with brown hair and eyes appeared in front of PhantomFire. The monster had fluffy dog-like ears and a bushy tail to go with the humanoid beast motive. She wore a short black dress with a light brown front and a caramel-colored shirt underneath. In addition to these clothes, she wore a bronze breastplate, hide boots and a pair of metal gloves.

* * *

 **ChronoDevil oGear Tamer Raccoonia**

 **Level: 6/Attribute: DARK/Type: Beast-Warrior/Effect**

 **ATK: 300/DEF: 2500**

 **Effect: If a Spell/Trap(s) you control leaves the field because of an opponent's effect, and is now in the GY: You can Special Summon this card from the hand, then you can Set the Spell/Trap(s) destroyed by this effect to your side of the field. Card(s) set by this effect can be activated the turn they were set.**

* * *

" _It got only three hundred attack points and he brought it in Attack Position?"_ Ai tilted its head to the side. _"Does he want us to attack?"_

"You won't have the chance for that." PhantomFire shook his finger at the Ignis. "When Raccoonia is summoned by her effect, I can set the cards you just destroyed on my side of the field!" The beast-warrior held out her arms summoning a sand clock in her palm. The clock turned upside down and immediately PhantomFire's set cards returned on the field. "In addition, I can activate the cards set by this effect on the same turn!"

"You knew that I would go after your set cards." Playmaker commented.

"That much should be obvious even for a complete idiot." PhantomFire sneered. "But the question now is, will you attack? Since you already know what my set cards are, you should also be able to realize what the result of such an attack would be."

"Um, what's he talking about?" Ai looked at its origin.

"The Regulation of Tribe's effect allows him to stop whichever type of monster he wishes from attacking." Playmaker commented.

" _All monsters in your deck are Cyberse."_ Ai realized. _"That punk! Anything goes for him, as long as he wins!"_

"It's a powerful card, indeed." Playmaker nodded. "But maintaining it comes at a big cost. I'll Normal Summon _Storm Cipher (Lv.4, ATK: 2400)_." A warrior-like monster made from blue energy and rocks appeared next to Playmaker's other monster. "Now battle! Storm Cipher attack his monster!"

"Very well then!" PhantomFire shouted back and pressed a button on his Duel Disk. "I'll respond in kind! Trap activate _The Regulation of Tribe_! When this card activates, I choose a monster type and all monsters of said type are rendered unable to attack while this card is face-up on the field! I choose Cyberse type!" Chains shoot out of PhantomFire's card and tied down Playmaker's monsters, rendering them unable to fight.

" _Ah, why did you have to go and activate his trap?!"_ Ai screamed.

"Because of its cost." Playmaker stated. "In order to keep his trap around, PhantomFire will have to tribute a monster on each of his Standby Phases, or else it will be destroyed."

" _I see!"_ Ai slammed its fist against its wrist. _"If he keeps paying for that trap, he'll quickly run out of monsters, and if he does, we'll be able to attack in no time!"_

"I'll set a card and end my turn." Playmaker finished and glared at his opponent.

"Then I'll use this moment to activate my second set card!" PhantomFire called out. "Through the effect of _Metaverse_ I can take a Field Spell from my deck and either add it to my hand or activate it directly! Of course, I choose to activate _Lair of Darkness_!" PhantomFire's card appeared in his palm and began to glow.

Black vines shot out of the ground and the windows of the buildings, with black flames erupting from the streets. Blue Angel, Proxy and Blaze Rose all stepped back, getting to a safer distance, while Ai trembled inside Playmaker's Duel Disk. The silhouettes of dark spirits floated through the darkness that surrounded PhantomFire and Playmaker.

"Lair of Darkness' effect turns the attribute all monsters on the field to DARK!" PhantomFire clenched his right hand into a fist. "Of course since your deck doesn't focus on any attribute, this won't be a problem for you, but I figured that it would be fitting to give the origin of the DARK Ignis a deck composed of only DARK monsters."

Playmaker narrowed his eyes and looked at his monsters. There was no change in Storm Cipher, who was already DARK, but the dark spirits flew toward Linkslayer and possessed it, giving the Cyberse monster a dark purple aura around it.

 **Linkslayer, Attribute: EARTH** → **DARK**

"Now it's my turn, I draw!"

 **『** **Turn 3 [PhantomFire] LP: 4000, Hand: 3** **』**

"And now the effect of The Regulation of Tribe activates!" Playmaker pointed out. "You must release a monster!"

"Indeed I do." PhantomFire chuckled before pointing at Linkslayer. "I choose to release Linkslayer for my trap's maintaining cost!"

"What!?" Playmaker gasped and turned toward his monster. Sure enough, Linkslayer's body was consumed by the dark spirits living in Lair of Darkness and its essence was sent to The Regulation of Tribe, getting absorbed by the trap.

" _H-he tribute our monster for his card,"_ Ai muttered, shocked by this turn of events.

"Did you expect that I'll let you enjoy being a part of this duel for free?" PhantomFire laughed at his opponent's face. It was just priceless. "Playmaker, before you stands a God among Gods, the ultimate duelist! Dueling is my kingdom, and you dared to step foot in it, so of course, you'll have to pay the debts! And with the power of Lair of Darkness, I'm able to use one of your monsters as a tribute during each of my turns."

" _That's unfair!"_ Ai protested.

"The fact that you were allowed to last for a turn is fair enough." PhantomFire retorted, confusing the Ignis. "But back to me, I'm going to activate _Allure of Darkness_! Through its effect, I draw two cards, then banish a DARK monster from my hand." PhantomFire observed his hand and nodded before getting rid of a card. "Next, I'm going to Normal Summon a favorite of mine, _**ChronoGear Time Tamer Wolfy**_!"

Time Tamer Wolfy was a wolf girl that had yellow eyes and short grey hair with wolf ears and a grey tail. Her outfit consisted of a large, mechanical in appearance hairclips on the sides of her head, short, sleeveless, cardinal red dress with silver buttons that reach a bit under her tights, grey shorts and red slip-on shoes with a silver clock gear tied around her left ankle. The girl's weapon was a whip with two clock arrows on the handle.

* * *

 **ChronoGear Time Tamer Wolfy**

 **Level: 4/Attribute: DARK/Type: Beast-Warrior/Tuner/Effect**

 **ATK: 1700/DEF: 400**

 **Effect: Cannot be used as Material for Fusion, Synchro or Xyz Summon, unless all other materials are DARK monsters. If this card is Normal or Special Summon you can target 1 banished "ChronoGear" monster; Special Summon it, but its ATK and DEF become 0 and for the rest of this turn it's treated as a Level 4 monster. If this card is Special Summoned by the effect of a "ChronoGear" card: You can target up to 2 "ChronoGear" Spell/Trap cards in your GY or banished; shuffle them into the deck.**

* * *

"Hey there!" the monster waved.

" _Um, his monster just talked, Playmaker."_ Ai pointed at the new Time Tamer.

"I activate Wolfy's effect!" Evan gestured toward his monster. "When she's summoned, I can retrieve one of my banished ChronoGear monsters as long as its attack and defense become zero, and its effect becomes four. So, come back, _**ChronoGear Time Veiler**_!"

Wolfy whipped the ground next to her and a black portal opened, after which a little girl with short red hair and large blue eyes jumped onto the field. The girl had two triangular metal objects on the sides of her head and was wearing a black bodysuit with light armor plates on top of it, covering most of her body. The only things that weren't protected by the armor were her arms, which had comically big hide gloves on them, and her feet, which were covered by her boots. The girl was hugging a large wand, which was two heads larger than her, with a clock on the top.

* * *

 **ChronoGear Time Veiler**

 **Level: 2/Attribute: DARK/Type: Psychic/Tuner/Effect**

 **ATK: 0/DEF: 900**

 **Effect: If this card is used as Material for the Fusion, Synchro, Xyz or Link Summon of a "Chrono" monster: You can draw 1 card. If this card is Special Summoned by the effect of a "ChronoGear" card: You can Special Summon 1 "ChronoGear Token" (Machine/DARK/Level 1/ATK 0/DEF 0).**

* * *

"Is it me, or does Phantomus use a lot of female monsters?" Proxy asked, sweating.

"Well, he's the one who created these cards in the first place." Blaze Rose shrugged. "I'm just surprised that he didn't put some weird fetish in there, but I wouldn't rather not think of the possibility for that to happen."

"Now, due to Wolfy's effect, Time Veiler will become a Level Four monster." PhantomFire clicked his fingers.

 **ChronoGear Time Veiler, ATK: 0** → **0, DEF: 900** → **0, Lv.2** → **4**

"Appear circuit of past and future!" The air between the two teams cracked and a black void opened up. The pseudo-black hole began to suck in PhantomFire's monsters. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two oGear monsters! I set ChronoDevil oGear Tamer Racconnia and ChronoGear Time Tamer Wolfy in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _ChronoGear Time Timer Kitty (ATK: 1700, Link-2)_!" PhantomFire's standard Link 2 monster appeared from the black hole with a wink.

"Next, Kitty's effect will revive Time Tamer Wolfy to my field!" The wolf girl rose again holding her whip with both hands. "Watch carefully now Playmaker, and engrave the sight of this legendary monster into your eyes! I overlay Level Four Wolfy and Veiler! With these two monsters, I build the Overlay Network!"

The two cards appeared in front of PhantomFire and he pressed them together, creating a bolt of purple lightning that he threw into the sky. A purple 'X' made of data with a crimson right inside of it appeared behind PhantomFire and his two monsters turned into data that entered the two small holes on the sides of the ring.

"It's an Xyz Summon!" Ai gasped.

Purple flowed out of the 'X' circuit in four beams past PhantomFire creating a galaxy-like portal in front of him. Black lightning shot out of the duelist's Duel Disk and he threw his arms forward.

" _Formed from pitch-black darkness, to fight those foolish enough to oppose it with its treacherous fangs!_ " As PhantomFire chanted a black energy core formed inside the portal and a frightening creature began to materialize. " _Now, descend! Xyz Summon! Appear! Rank Four! Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon (RANK: 4, ATK: 2500)!_ "

The pitch black dragon flew out of the portal and landed in the center Monster Zone, roaring.

" _AAAHHH!"_ Ai screamed and hid into Playmaker's Duel Disk. _"That's one scary looking dragon!"_

"That's one of the better monsters within my collection," PhantomFire noted. "Of course its effects are nowhere near as good as its brothers', but believe me when I tell you that it's still one beast you shouldn't underestimate. And since I used Time Veiler as material to summon it, I get to draw a card." PhatnomFire looked at the cards in his hand and then back at Playmaker. "Dark Rebellion, activate your effect!"

The black dragon's Overlay Units flew into its claws and shattered. Its wings opened up and purple electricity began to charge inside of them after which the beast fired the lightning at Storm Cypher, locking Playmaker's beatstick in a paralyzed state.

"By using two of Dark Rebellion's Xyz Materials, I'm able to permanently cut the attack points of one monster you control by half, and then give those points to Dark Rebellion itself. _Treasure Discharge_!"

 **Storm Cypher, ATK: 2400/2** → **1200**

 **Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon, ATK: 2500 + 1200** → **3700**

"Can you survive this turn?" PhantomFire asked. "Dark Rebellion, attack Storm Cypher! _Lightning Disobey of Rebellion_!" The pitch black dragon roared and charged forward, slashing at the Cyberse monster with its chin blade, cutting it in half.

"I activate Rescue Interlacer's effect!" Playmaker countered. "By discarding this card, I negate all the damage I would take from this attack."

"But now there are no longer any monsters to protect your Life Points!" PhantomFire pointed out. "This means that Time Tamer Kitty can attack you directly, and when Kitty attacks, she gains half the attack points of one monster that she points at!"

"His Link Monster points at Dark Rebellion…" Ai began to sweat, nervously. "And since the dragon got a buff, the Link's attack will be…"

 **ChronoGear Time Tamer Kitty, ATK: 1700 + 1850** → **3550**

Time Tamer Kitty jumped on Dark Rebellion's back and aimed her rifle at Playmaker. The Cyberse Duelist gritted his teeth and the Link Monster fired, with the force of the impact knocking Playmaker a few dozen meters back.

 **『** **Playmaker LP: 4000 - 3550** → **450** **』**

"Playmaker!" Blue Angel and Proxy gasped.

"Rgh!" Playmaker groaned, forcing himself to stand back up.

"If this was a Speed Duel, you might have been able to use your skill," PhantomFire commented. "But then again, if that was the case you wouldn't have had this extra card to save yourself from losing!"

"Evan's dueling is really frightening to watch, isn't it?" Blaze Rose commented, catching Proxy's attention. "Due to his trap, Playmaker is unable to attack, due to his Field Spell, Playmaker will lose any monster he summons at the start of the next turn, leaving him open to attacks. Even if the card he had set was a powerful trap, due to Kitty's effect all Trap Cards are going to be sealed away during the Battle Phase."

Proxy gulped and looked back at the duel. She had never seen Playmaker getting pushed back against the wall so badly. Was it possible for him to even break PhantomFire's combo? She wasn't sure, but then again, she was still new to the game, so there was much that she didn't know yet.

"At the end of the battle, Kitty's attack returns to normal," PhantomFire stated, his Link Monster jumped off Dark Rebellion and her attack returned to 1700. "Also, at the End Phase of this turn, the effect of Lair of Darkness activates, and I gain a _Torment Token_ for every monster tribute during this turn." A black flame with green eyes appeared on PhantomFire's field wielding 1000 defense points.

" _So his Field Spell not only steals our monsters but also gives him free ones as well?!"_ Ai crossed its arms, angrily. _"That's completely unacceptable."_

"But we have an effect as well." Playmaker reminded his partner. "Rescue Interlacer's effect will Special Summon it on our field during the End Phase of this turn!" A female monster in white and red armor, with wheels in place of feet, appeared before Playmaker.

"You're a resistant one," PhantomFire commented. "But if you don't break my combo by next turn, you're going to lose."

"It's my turn!" Playmaker stated and placed his hand on the top of his deck. The Cyberse Duelist bit his lip, just like how PhantomFire said, he had already burned through his entire hand and his only hope was to draw a good card. "DRAW!"

 **『** **Turn 4 [Playmaker] LP: 450, Hand: 1** **』**

Playmaker looked at the card he got and mentally sighed in relief that it was a good card. "I Summon _ROM Cloudia (Lv.4, ATK: 1800)_!" A black sheep appeared on Playmaker's field. "When ROM Cloudia is Summoned, I can target a Cyberse monster in my graveyard and add it to my hand, I add Latency and its effect Special Summons it on my field!" A red robot carrying an hourglass appeared next to Playmaker's other monsters.

"Appear, the circuit that leads to the future!" Playmaker threw an arm toward the sky, summoning the square. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are two Effect Monsters! I set Latency and ROM Cloudia in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Code Talker (ATK: 1300, Link-2)_!" The small Code Talker appeared in Playmaker's Extra Monster Zone, pointing down at Rescue Interlacer.

"Because Latency was used as Link Material after it was summoned by its own effect, I get to draw a card!" Playmaker declared, taking another card from his deck. "Also, because Code Talker points toward a monster, it gains five hundred extra attack points!"

 **Code Talker, ATK: 1300 + 500** → **1800**

"I activate _Cyberse Cache_!" Playmaker showed the card to his opponent. "When there's a Cyberse monster whose attack power is different from its original attack, I draw two new cards."

"Two new cards, huh?" PhantomFire narrowed his eyes. "Even though your hand and field were empty on the last turn… Your ability to draw the right card at the right moment is astonishing. Almost… like you use some sort of hack to get the right cards."

"That's the power I obtained by myself!" Playmaker argued. "There're no hacks or cheats!"

"Then prove it to me," PhantomFire smirked. "Show me what the Lost Incident taught you!"

"You…" Playmaker's face turned severe, and the veins on his forehead could be seen about to burst from the anger he was feeling. "I open the circuit of the future for a second time!"

Another square formed in front of Playmaker. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are two or more Effect Monsters! I set Rescue Interlacer and the Link Two Code Talker in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Decode Talker (ATK: 2300, Link-3)_!" Playmaker's ace, the DARK Code Talker flew through the square and landed in front of its master with its broadsword placed in front of it.

"Next, I activate _Cybersal Cyclone_! This card's ability allows me to destroy your Link Two, Time Tamer Kitty by banishing a Link Monster with the same Link Rating from my graveyard!" Code Talker's spirit appeared in front of Playmaker and turned into a Cyclone that collided with PhantomFire's monster, destroying it. "Also, since I banished a Cyberse monster for the effect of Cybersal Cyclone, I can destroy a card in your Spell or Trap Zone!"

"So you did have a counter against it," PhantomFire smirked, his The Regulation of Tribe disappearing from the field.

"With this, you can no longer stop my attacks." At Playmaker's words, Decode Talker readied its blade. "Battle! Decode Talker attack Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon!"

"What!?' Everyone but PhantomFire yelled in unison.

Decode Talker raised its blade and swung it down at Dark Rebellion, who swung its head upward, blocking Decode Talker's sword with its chin blade. The dragon pushed the warrior back and charged at it.

"I activate my Trap, _Cynet Refresh_!" Playmaker activated his set card. "When a Cyberse monster attacks, this card destroys all monsters in the Main Monster Zones!"

Decode Talker jumped backward, avoiding Dark Rebellion's counterattack, then swung its broadsword once more, unleashing a slash of dark energy that cut through both Dark Rebellion and the Torment Token, leaving PhantomFire's field empty.

"Now you got no more monsters to protect you!" Playmaker shouted. "Decode Talker, change your target and attack PhantomFire directly! Decode End!"

The Cyberse Link Monster raised its blade and jumped into the sky, slamming its weapon onto PhantomFire. The ChronoGear Duelist screamed, his body was flung back by the impact, slamming into the building behind him.

 **『** **PhantomFire LP: 4000 - 2300** → **1700** **』**

"Even PhantomFire was…" Blue Angel covered her mouth in shock.

PhantomFire stepped out of the hole that Decode Talker's attack caused. A large red slash was present on his chest, but the duelist ignored it as he watched Playmaker Talker with a grin on his face. After all the insulting and bad-mouthing, Playmaker was finally starting to give in to his rage.

"Tell me, isn't Decode Talker the first monster you obtained with your skill?" PhantomFire asked.

"…" Playmaker ignored his opponent's question and took a card from his hand. "I set a card, turn end."

"Playmaker, this monster, all the monsters you obtained from the Data Storm, they are what gave you the strength that drove you to win your duels! It wasn't your 'brilliant' dueling, nor your cheat-like luck when drawing! It was them! These monsters are the very manifestations of your rage – and I'm going to crush all of them, one at a time! My turn, draw!"

 **『** **Turn 5 [PhantomFire] LP: 1700, Hand: 4** **』**

"I activate ChronoGear Emergency Launch to Special Summon _ChronoGear Berfomet (Lv.4, DEF: 1800)_ from my deck!" the cybernetic zombie raised on PhantomFire's field. "Next Berfomet's effect allows me to add _ChronoGear Hellchain_ from my deck to the hand, and I'll summon it." The demonic creature covered by a torn cloak and chains joined Berfomet on the field. "And through Hellchain's effect, I'm going to revive Time Veiler from my graveyard."

"Now open, the circuit of past and future!" The space over PhantomFire's head tore open, and a black hole replaced it. "Arrowheads confirmed! The Summoning conditions are two or more Chrono monsters! I set Berfomet, Hellchain and Time Veiler in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _ChronoGear Gatling Wheel (ATK: 2400, Link-3)_!" the bulky warrior carrying a machinegun appeared in the right Extra Monster Zone.

"When Time Veiler's is used to summon a Chrono monster, I can draw a card," PhantomFire stated, adding another card to his hand. "Let's battle now, Playmaker! Gatling Wheel, attack Decode Talker!" The monster aimed its machine gun at Playmaker's ace.

"I activate my trap, _Break & Reverse_!" Playmaker quickly countered before his monster got gunned down. "I destroy Decode Talker to Special Summon a monster with fewer attack points from my Graveyard. Come, _ROM Cloudia (Lv.4, DEF: 0)_!" The warrior burst into particles and a black sheep took its place.

"So you would rather destroy your own ace than suffer damage?" PhantomFire spat. "Fine then! I'll destroy ROM Cloudia instead!" Gatling Wheel aimed its machinegun at ROM Cloudia and fired, tearing multiple gun holes through the sheep, before it burst into pixels.

"When ROM Cloudia is destroyed, its effect activates!" Playmaker stated. "I Special Summon _Lady Debugger (Lv.4, DEF: 1400)_ from my Deck!" A humanoid lady bug monster appeared on Playmaker's field. "When Lady Debugger is Summoned, her effect adds a Level Three or lower Cyberse monster from my deck to the hand. I add _Micro Coder_!"

"So you do have searchers after all." PhantomFire put a hand on his hips. "But let me guess, you run one copy of it only, right? Oh well, even if you ran multiple copies it wouldn't have changed a thing, so maybe it doesn't matter so much. I'll set three cards and end my turn."

" _Three set cards?"_ Ai commented.

"Is he finally making his move?" Playmaker wondered out loud. "It's my turn. I draw!"

 **『** **Turn 6 [Playmaker] LP: 450, Hand: 2** **』**

"I Normal Summon _Draconnet (Lv.3, ATK: 1400)_." a blue dragon-like monster appeared on Playmaker's field. "When Draconnet is Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon Bitron (Lv.2, DEF: 2000) from my Deck!" The little white bot flew happily around Playmaker.

"Appear now, the circuit that leads to the future!" Playmaker threw his arm forward. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are three monsters! I set Draconnet, Lady Debugger and Micro Coder in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Powercode Talker (ATK: 2300, Link-3)_!" The red Code Talker flew out of the square and landed in front of Playmaker with a loud groan.

"When Micro Coder is used as Link Material from my hand, I can add a Cynet Spell or Trap from my deck to the hand." A card popped out of Playmaker's Duel Disk and he took it. "I activate _Cynet Universe_! Through its effect, all Link Monsters I control gain three hundred attack points!"

 **Powercode Talker, ATK: 2300 + 300** → **2600**

"Battle!" Playmaker shouted. "Powercode Talker attack Gatling Wheel!" Powercode Talker fired its hook, grabbing onto PhantomFire's monster, then pulled itself toward it. "Now I activate Powercode Talker's effect to release Bitron and double its original attack points!"

 **Powercode Talker, ATK: 2600** → **4600**

Powercode Talker's body burst into flames and the monster swung its fist at Gatling Wheel, tearing the ChronoGear's upper body off its legs.

"Then I'll activate my trap! Defense Draw!" One of PhantomFire's set cards turned face-up and a barrier emerged around him, protecting him from the shockwave. "This card negates all damage I would have taken, and lets me draw a card!"

" _Argh!"_ Ai yelled, grabbing its head. _"We were so close to ending this match!"_

"You've gotten careless." PhantomFire chuckled. "Not that you haven't been an airhead until now, but if you summoned Encode Talker instead of Powercode, you wouldn't have had to sacrifice your last monster to land an attack on me. Of course, that might not matter to you all that much since my Field Spell will grant you a Token during the End Phase, but you could have done better than that."

"That's my way of dueling!" Playmaker stated. "I move to my Main Phase Two and activate Cynet Universe's effect to shuffle Dragonnet back into my deck." The Cyberse Duelist shuffled his card back and looked at the field.

Most of his other monsters were more useful in the graveyard, so he would have good targets left in case he drew something that could revive, or a card such as Recoded Alive to banish Decode and summon a new Code Talker from his Extra Deck. That was the correct move, he was sure about it.

"Once again, you made a mistake, Playmaker," PhantomFire commented.

"What?" Playmaker blinked in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"About this! I activate my trap, _The Deep Grave_!" the second one of PhantomFire's set cards turned face-up. "This card's effect allows me to target a monster in either player's graveyard and revive it on my field during the next turn! I choose _your_ Decode Talker!"

" _Our what!?"_ Ai yelled.

"You choose to keep Decode in the graveyard hoping to revive it or target it with a card effect." PhantomFire read through Playmaker's choice. "It was a logical move to make, I won't blame you about that, but it was still a mistake that's going to cost you greatly. Now, during the end of this turn, a _Torment Token_ will show up on your field. Now it's my turn, draw!"

 **『** **Turn 7 [PhantomFire] LP: 1700, Hand: 3** **』**

"And on this turn's Standby Phase, my new friend is going to rise and say hello." PhantomFire grinned, a black portal opened under his feet and Playmaker's ace rose from it.

" _That bastard won't stop stealing our monsters..."_ Ai growled angrily at the sight of his Decode Talker fighting for the enemy.

"How is it, Playmaker?" PhantomFire ran a hand through his hair and turned toward his new Cyberse monster. "First your childhood was stolen away by a group of people whose names you don't know, now your monsters are being stolen in front of your eyes. How does it feel? To be in the same shoes you were into ten years ago? Do you hate me as much as you hate the Knights of Hanoi? Or more than that?"

"Enough!" Proxy yelled, grabbing her head. She looked at Blaze Rose and began to cry. "Why? Why's he mocking Playmaker like that? Doesn't he understand the pain that Playmaker went through to come so far? Even if this is a duel, he doesn't have to be so heartless about it!"

Blaze Rose looked at the girl and then back to the duel. She wasn't going to try and argue with or against what Proxy was saying – the girl was too affectionate toward Playmaker, which blinded her vision the same way his anger blinded him.

"But I must say," PhantomFire continued. "I've always been jealous that such a fine monster fell in your hands instead of mine. Of course, there's nothing stopping from adding it to my collection once I beat you, but you'll need in order to defeat the Knights of Hanoi, so I must control myself. How about I grab it after those bugs are beaten and you no longer need it?"

"…" Playmaker remained silent. He knew that his opponent was trying to force him into giving up on his rational thoughts.

" _Of course not!"_ Ai protested. _"Decode Talker is our monster! We pulled it out of the Data Storm!"_

"Hmm, I think that I'll take Playmaker's silence as approval," PhantomFire smirked. "But back to the duel, my newly acquired Decode Talker points toward your Powercode Talker, so its effect activates. _Power Integration_!"

 **Decode Talker, ATK: 2300 + 500** → **2800**

"Now let's battle! Decode Talker, attack Powercode Talker" PhantomFire ordered to his monster, which swung its blade, cutting the red Code Talker in half.

 **『** **Playmaker LP: 450 - 200** → **250** **』**

"Since Powercode Talker is now dead, _my_ Decode Talker loses its buff." Decode Talker lowered its sword as its attack points dropped down to 2300. "Now I'll set two more cards and end my turn!"

" _What're we going to do, Playmaker?"_ Ai asked. _"We had luck until now, but it's going to run out soon!"_

' _I have to end it this turn._ ' Playmaker thought to himself. ' _He uses a deck made to counter mine. If I let this duel keep going any longer, he'll overpower me._ '

"It's my turn, I draw!"

 **『** **Turn 8 [Playmaker] LP: 250, Hand: 1** **』**

"I Normal Summon _RAM Clouder (Lv.4, ATK: 1800)_!" The white sheep monster appeared in front of Playmaker. "I activate RAM Clouder's effect to release the _Torment Token_ and Special Summon _Powercode Talker (ATK: 2300, Link-3)_!" the red Code Talker rose once again. "Next, I activate Powercode Talker's effect to negate Decode Talker's effects until the end of this turn! _Wire Restruction_!"

"Tch," PhantomFire grumped. Now he couldn't use Decode Talker's effect to tribute monsters in the Extra Monster Zone.

"Appear! The circuit that leads to the future!" Playmaker shouted, summoning a square in front of himself. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are two or more monsters! I set RAM Clouder and the Link Three, Powercode Talker in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Firewall Dragon (ATK: 2500, Link-4)_!" Playmaker's dragon flew in front of him and roared.

"Even though he summoned the monster in front of Decode Talker's Link Arrow because its effects are negated, it won't gain an additional attack." Blue Angel commented.

"I use Cynet Universe's effect to return Powercode Talker into my Extra Deck!" First, Playmaker had to make sure that he won't repeat the same mistake he did on his last turn. "And due to Cynet Universe's effect, Firewall Dragon gains three hundred more attack points." Second, buff his ace monster.

 **Firewall Dragon, ATK: 2500 + 300** → **2800**

"I now activate Firewall Dragon's effect! For every co-linked monster, I can return a monster from our field or graveyard to the hand! I choose Decode Talker! _Emergency Escape_!" Third, he would return the monster that was stolen from him.

The dragon unleashed a bolt of blue lightning from its head that zapped Decode Talker. The Cyberse warrior groaned in pain and tried to fight against the effect, but to no use as its body began to fade away.

"Don't think that I'll allow this to happen!" PhantomFire yelled. "I activate my trap, _Interdimensional Matter Transporter_! Through its effect, I banish Decode Talker until the end of this turn!"

Decode Talker's eyes glowed as its body fixed itself and a portal opened behind it. The warrior leaped through it and disappeared before Firewall Dragon could catch it.

" _How annoying!"_ Ai rubbed its chin. _"He would rather banish it than give it back to us. But since Decode is gone, there's nothing protecting his Life Points."_

"Battle!" Playmaker threw his arm forward. "Firewall Dragon, attack him and end this duel! _Tempest Attack_!" The dragon's body turned from blue to red and it fired a red beam that washed through PhantomFire, ending the duel.

Or so it should have.

"Trap open!" PhantomFire activated another trap. " _Half or Nothing_! Due to this card's effect, you must make a choice, either end the Battle Phase, or halve your monster's attack points until the end of this battle!"

" _Come on!"_ Ai complained. _"And we were so close to ending it!"_

"Well, what will you choose, Playmaker?" PhantomFire asked. "Halve the damage or no damage at all?"

"The choice is obvious!" Playmaker said. "I choose to halve Firewall Dragon's attack! Go! Attack him!"

 **Firewall Dragon, ATK: 2800/2** → **1400**

"Aaaaarrrrrgggggghhhhhhh!" PhantomFire screamed as the energy hit him in the chest, launching him through the building that Decode Talker slammed him into previously.

 **『** **PhantomFire LP: 1700 - 1400** → **300** **』**

"They are now on almost equal footing." Blaze Rose commented surprised. "I'm impressed, even though Evan's just playing with him, Playmaker's managing to pack in some damage."

"Playing with him?" Proxy repeated. "What do you mean?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Blaze Rose turned toward the younger duelist and smirked. "PhantomFire is using a deck filled with trash cards to give Playmaker a fighting chance. He wasn't to defeat him on even grounding and not through some of his more… infamous strategies."

"A deck filled with trash cards…" Proxy looked back at the duel. She could hardly believe what Blaze Rose was telling her. From the side it looked like both of them were giving their best, but if only Playmaker had to push himself to his limits, then…

"Heh, being below a thousand Life Points…" PhantomFire stepped out of the crater that Firewall Dragon's attack caused and rubbed his neck. "It's been a while since I allowed anyone to drop my Life Points so much." The duelist looked down at his hands – they were trembling, his heart was racing with adrenaline. Previous duels were nothing like this, just sitting on his throne watching as his opponent struggled to survive the first turn. "Playmaker… do you know what's the biggest lie you ever told yourself?"

Playmaker didn't respond. He didn't want to think about it, about the stuff that PhantomFire was telling him to think about.

"The worst lie any person could tell themselves is… THAT THEIR PAST MAKES THEM WHO THEY ARE!" PhantomFire shouted loudly.

"What?" Playmaker blinked.

"If you let your past control you, then you're a failure of a human!" PhantomFire continued. "You think that a tragic backstory will make you instantly a hero or a villain, that it would excuse you being a dick to everyone you meet? There's only one truth! Humans don't make their destiny, they are born with it! Whenever you will be a hero or a villain, forgive or punish, forget or hunt down, that's something coded within our very DNA, something none of us can change! You're not Playmaker because you're trying to avenge the victims of the Lost Incident, that tragic event was just a push that caused you to accept your destiny!"

"Are you saying that the incident was meaningless?" Playmaker asked. "How dare you… HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT THE THINGS I, EVERYONE, WENT THROUGH WAS NOTHING MORE THAN SOMETHING WHICH HAPPENED!"

"I'm not going to apologize to you," PhantomFire stated. "During the end of this turn, Lair of Darkness will give you another _Torment Token_ and Decode Talker will return on my field." The Link 3 monster reappeared on PhantomFire's field and landed in his middle Monster Zone.

"This fight ends now! I draw!" PhantomFire declared, drawing.

 **『** **Turn 9 [PhantomFire] LP: 300, Hand: 1** **』**

"I… won't be needing this," PhantomFire stated, dropping the card he drew on the ground. "This duel is already over, I simply needed you to end your turn to make it official."

"What!?" Playmaker shouted.

"Let me show you instead of telling you. I activate my last set card." PhantomFire gestured toward his last card. "Quick-Play Spell, _Stand-In_. I release one monster on the field to Special Summon one monster from your graveyard with the same original type and attribute as the one I tribute. Of course, thanks to Lair of Darkness, I've got a larger variety to choose from."

"No…" Playmaker whispered. The Cyberse Duelist turned toward Firewall Dragon. The Link 4 roared and its body began to slowly disappear, turning into pieces of data that faded away.

"Now come serve your new master, Firewall Dragon (ATK: 2500, Link-4)!" A tower of black flames rose behind PhantomFire and Firewall Dragon flew through, roaring as it landed beside Decode Talker.

" _F-Firewall Dragon too…"_ Ai gulped.

"This can't be…" Playmaker took a step back. "I'm… going to lose?"

Impossible! After all, he went through, after all the new strength he obtained, was all of that for nothing? His field had a single token to protect his life, his hand was empty and there was nothing in his Graveyard which could protect him. It was his absolute lose.

"Firewall Dragon, Decode Talker…" PhantomFire paused for a moment – was it alright to do that? But the Duelist shook his head, pushing away those thoughts. "Destroy Playmaker! _Tempest Attack_! _Decode End_!"

The two monsters flew forward and Decode Talker raised its sword ready to strike when it suddenly pulled back and Firewall Dragon fired its laser beam, obliterating the _Torment Token_. Afterward, the Link 4 pulled back and Decode Talker moved in, slashing Playmaker across the chest.

 **『** **Playmaker LP: 250 - 2300** → **0** **』**

 **『** **Winner: PhantomFire** **』**

"It can't be…" Blue Angel's eyes widened.

"…Playmaker lost." Proxy fell on her knees, tears running down her cheeks.

Playmaker collapsed on the ground. His breathing became deeper and his eyes widened.

'You Lost' - that was a message that caused him to scream and wake up sweating for ten years. It was a message he tried to suppress into the deeps of his mind for so long, but now it was back. That cursed message was haunting him again. Even as Playmaker he couldn't escape it, his own mast, his biggest fears, and nightmares were back to haunt him.

"How is it?" PhantomFire stepped forward and looked down at the failed duelist. "Now everyone can know, Playmaker's dueling doesn't win."

"…" Playmaker didn't respond. He fought to win and obtain his revenge, but what was the point now that he lost? What was the point in fighting anymore? There was no longer a future for him, the last path he had to take was brutally torn down by PhantomFire.

"I told you, didn't I?" PhantomFire asked. "If you let rage blind you, it'll end up backstabbing you. You're nothing special, just another human. You're a human like Blue Angel over there! Like Proxy! Like the other five victims of the incident! But you won't allow that thought to enter your brain, you won't allow people to get close to you because you fear that they'll betray you. How many friends do you? How many? None!"

PhantomFire kicked the fallen duelist in the stomach, making him cough in pain. "Do you know how much I care about you? I care as much as I care about Blue Angel, but you don't deserve it! As long as you remain this way, people around you will keep suffering, they will keep dying, and you will watch helplessly, void of any empathy."

"You…" Playmaker managed to say. "Don't understand… a thing…"

"You have PTSD." PhantomFire stepped back. "I already know that. I'm not expecting you to make friends, I don't WANT you to become friendly toward others. All I want from you is to open your eyes and see the world for what it truly is. I want you to see the bigger picture, damn it!"

Playmaker slammed his fist against the ground. How could he? How could he see the world when he was trapped inside a pitch black abyss?

"Dark Ignis." PhantomFire continued. "Playmaker's lock on you has been removed. You can escape if you want."

" _I…"_ Ai looked between PhantomFire and Playmaker. _"I won't leave Playmaker."_

"Ai…" Playmaker's eyes widened.

" _I know that you don't trust me, that despite everything we went through you don't think of me as a partner, but…"_ Ai paused for a moment, thinking carefully its next words. _"I see you as my partner. I know, you probably think I'm just saying this because I need someone to protect me from Hanoi, but that's true! The bond I feel with you is special, so even if you lost, if I'm able to leave, I would rather stand here and fight beside you!"_

"You already know that the Ignis were based after the victims of the Lost Incident," PhantomFire spoke up. "Did you truly not notice that Ai's the same as you ten years ago. The past you lost was always with you, sitting right there on your wrist, but you never realized it."

"Ai…" Playmaker repeated, a sad smile appearing on his face. Then he collapsed.

" _Playmaker!"_ Ai shook the duelist, but to no avail. _"What's wrong? Playmaker?"_

"He collapsed from the shock of losing." PhantomFire sighed and walked forward, grabbing his Duel Disk.

" _Hey!"_ Ai protested. _"What are you doing to my partner?"_

"Logging him out manually," PhantomFire replied pressing a button on Playmaker's Duel Disk. The Cyberse Duelist's body began to glow and then disappeared.

"You were awful." Blue Angel commented. "Hurting him like that…"

"I know, I know." PhantomFire sighed, then raised his Duel Disk. "Proxy, can you hear me?"

"Y-yes!" A trembling voice replied from the other side on the line.

"I want you to log out?"

"Why?"

"Playmaker," PhantomFire replied simply, before giving a more clear answer. "Playmaker didn't lose just against me, he lost against his own trauma. This lost opened an old wound of his and made it deeper. What I want from you is to be there for him and help him bond with Ai, understood?"

"Yes!" The voice on the other line replied before hanging up.

PhantomFire dropped his arm and looked at the fake digital sky. Blue Angel stood behind him, watching her mentor, pondering what he thought about. She didn't see the grin on PhantomFire's face.

This was all a game of chest, and Playmaker was finally moved to the square PhantomFire wanted him on. One more piece and they would reach the checkmate.

* * *

 **Welp, that was a lot of chapters that I wrote in the last week, but I feel that it's time for me to stop and sit back. At this point, I'm probably going to reach the final of the Tower of Hanoi soon, which isn't too bad, but I want to do as little from Season 2 as possible until Season 3 (if such a thing happens) airs. I don't want to end up shooting myself in the foot like I did when introducing Aqua only for the anime to state, literally after that chapter, that she was kidnapped during the Tower Arc.**

 **But that aside. Let's talk a bit about the chapter itself.** **Usually, when Playmaker loses that happens in a finale of some sort, but not this time because Playmaker's lost and acceptance of his weakness is more important for Evan now, that if it happened after Hanoi was defeated. The duel between Playmaker and PhantomFire was something I have been thinking about since somewhere October last year. I never really figured out what I wanted to have in it, which Monsters/Spell/Trap Cards I wanted each duelist to use, but I'm happy with the way I made this because the duel wasn't supposed to be about two duelists fighting each other, but about Playmaker getting betrayed by his own rage and lost to himself.**

 **Plus let's be honest if PhantomFire went serious Playmaker would lose in 11 different ways on just turn one, so... Yeah. I'm happy how it turned out.**

 **THANKS TO** SPRGMR27 **FOR FOLLOWING/FAVORITING THIS STORY! YOU CAN FIGURE OUT WHY THIS IS IN ALLCAPS, AND IT'S NOT BECAUSE OF THE USERNAME!**

 **I don't usually do Question of the Chapter and other fancy things like this, I figured out that I might give it a try this once, so my question for you, dear readers, is: "** **Do you agree with PhantomFire about people being born good or evil with the** **individual situations that they face only serving to showcase their true identity, or do you think that there's something else that causes people to turn good/evil?"**

 **Pretty philosophical, huh?**

 **Oh well, I'm interested to hear your opinion on the matter.**

 **Until next time! Diabolic Tracer out!**


	33. Chapter 33

Requiem of the Lost

"I know that it's been just a day since I called you, but did you get any information about _that_ person?"

Takuma Kita, also known as the Charisma Duelist Rocketeer, or the Knight of Hanoi Picaro was sitting in a small café in the center of Den City. It was a quiet place without many visitors, which made it a good place to sit down and enjoy a hot coffee in peace. Or this case, to share vital, illegally obtained information of a person's personal data without getting overheard by a civilian, or worse, by a police officer. His partner was Hiroki Yukimuro, a scientist associated with the Lost Incident and a genius Knight of Hanoi know going under the username MetalX.

"You gave me very limited information to work with, but luckily for you, there aren't many people around with Western names, so I was able to find her medical file within a few hours. Sereny Blanc."

Hiroki put a folder with documents and pictures on the table. After making sure that no one was watching them, Takuma pulled the folder and opened it. Inside of it were copies of all the documents that Hikori was able to get his hands onto, including a picture of the girl. She was young, maybe eleven or twelve years old with short blond hair and two red locks on the front. Yes, some of her features were similar to those of Roxy, but Takuma could make a clear distinction between the two.

"According to the files, Sereny Blanc died a year and a half ago from overdosing with sleeping pills and painkillers," Hiroki said, his voice filled with grieve for the young girl's tragic end. "Her body was cremated at the request of her adoptive family. And before you ask, no, I haven't searched where her grave is."

"Her adoptive father was Evan Greyson." Takuma read. "That's the part of the report that I don't like."

"Listen, I know that you have problems with the man, and I respect you enough not to ask about it but are you suggesting that he tried to murder her?" Hikori crossed his arms. "I don't know what happened, but read the medical records, she died in the hospital. Official reports say that she had an eighty percent chance to survive. If he was trying to murder her, then he wouldn't rush her to the hospital."

"He went out of his way to adopt her, he wanted to make her his property 'officially'." Takuma bit his lower lip. His hearth was raging – Evan had bigger expectations and hopes for Sereny that for any of his later pupils. "A man like him would never raise a hand against something that belongs to him. So no, I don't think that he's involved in her death. What I can't understand is why he wanted her body to be cremated. I know that it's standard for Japanese funerals, but Evan has never followed Japanese traditions during the time I spent under his care. There was something he wanted to hide…"

"Whatever you say." Hiroki rolled his eyes. "But turn to page five. Sereny has been a patient at Den Hospital around five months before her death. I found both medical and police records from that time. She had escaped from her foster home with some other girl named Miuko Koizumi. The reports state that the two were involved in a driving accident that took her friend's life."

"So your suggestion is that the depression of losing her only friend drove the girl to commit suicide?" Takuma rubbed his temper. Talking about tragedies during his coffee break wasn't pleasant, but he had to get to the bottom of this, if not to just make sure that Roxy won't end up the same as this girl.

"I'm not suggesting anything." Hiroki shook his head. "This is a case you wanted to get involved with, not I. If the answers I found aren't enough for you, feel free to continue researching it on your own. I still have to finish the virus and Kogami has already finished the Tower of Hanoi. I don't have time to look into this case anymore, you understand that, right?"

"I'm thankful to you for managing to take time from your more important project to find all of this." Takuma smile wholeheartedly. "Kogami will send Revolver to personally overview the progress of the tower, so I won't be needed there for the time being. If you want, I can help you program the virus."

"You could help me with the antivirus program." Hiroki stood up and turned around to leave. "I know I can trust on you, stay safe, friend."

"Sure." Takuma nodded. He kept his eyes on the scientist until the man left the café, then turned back to the folder before him.

There was more to what happened with Sereny, his gut feeling told him that. Even if she was dead, Evan wouldn't want the body of his 'adoptive daughter' – words that almost made Takuma vomit in disgust – to get burn to a crisp.

"Damn it!" Takuma leaned back into his chair and grabbed his hair in anger. "Even if I managed to escape you, I still can't stop thinking about what you're doing, old man! To be involved with you is like a never-ending nightmare. I made so much, so why are you still here to laugh at me!"

He wanted to scream, to trash around, to yell until his lungs burst. He had grown paranoid of the name Evan Greyson, so much that he was starting to look for an ulterior motive behind everything that his former teacher said or did. It just wasn't fair. Why, despite all the hard work, despite all of the training and power that he accumulated, that demonic figure was still standing in his path, haunting his dreams. Was Takuma slowly succumbing to insanity? Was that the reason why he couldn't stop thinking about the Greyson? Maybe it would be best to visit a therapist, but Takuma was against that idea. All the damage that this time demon has caused would be healed once he opened the door to the new world.

Yeah, that thought calmed Takuma down. The mysterious another world, hidden deep inside the network, a place where humans can start anew. It was his father's dream to find that place, now it was his. There were no illnesses in the virtual network, no mortality, no starvation. It would be a utopia, a place where people would all live together in harmony, without having to worry about where they would sleep, what they would eat. There would be no greed, people would no longer have to commit crimes, nor will be given the chance to.

Humans were genuinely cruel, selfish and evil creatures. But it wasn't their fault, nature itself created them to be this way. And Takuma wasn't an exception from this, he knew that deep inside of him lived a monster, one which was made stronger by Takuma's individuality. All of them were this way. They were all beasts empowered by their individuality, so if Takuma wanted to raise humanity to the next stage of evolution, he would have to get rid of that.

He would figure out something when the time came, but first, he would need to take control of the Tower of Hanoi. That power devastating weapon that Revolver wanted to use against the Ignis, was the perfect way to destroy the gate. A move which Evan would be unable to predict. Since in order to open the gate be built, Takuma would need the data of all six oGear decks, the Greyson would be expecting a head-on war. Fortunately, Takuma wasn't the kind of fool to fall for such tricks. Even the best defense would be nothing before a superweapon meant to destroy the entire digital world.

"Checkmate, old man." Takuma placed the money for his coffee on the table, took the folder and the café. This time he would win for sure.

* * *

 **Roxy's POV**

Things were never supposed to happen the way they did. This was all a horrible mistake that I should have tried to prevent. I should have yelled, cried. I should have done something back then! Because I don't know what I should do now. After Evan, excuse me, PhantomFire defeated Playmaker, the latter's trauma from the Lost Incident must have come back full force. I didn't truly understand him, I never will, but after all, Playmaker did for me, I wanted to be there for him when he needed me. The only problem was, what should I do? How could someone like me, a girl who had a happy life, a family and friends, be able to sit down in front of someone who was so hurt and calm him down? There was no way! I wouldn't be able to do it!

Despite that, I was running toward the hotdog truck. I just couldn't leave Playmaker alone. Even if my presence wouldn't help him, I wanted to show him that he wasn't alone, that there were people who wanted to help him, stand beside him in these hard moments. Of course, I was ready to be shut out cold – but I wouldn't blame him if he did that. If I went through the things that he did, at the same age as him, I would have likely given up on humanity and creating bonds with humans as well. But even if he was willing to let me get close, I was the one who got him involved with PhantomFire in the first place. It was my fault that all of this happened!

Actually, now I remember something Evan, sorry, PhantomFire told me before I left running to see Playmaker. He wanted me to help Playmaker bond with Ai. Was it because he understood Playmaker's pain? Yeah, if you about it, all of Playmaker's pain came from the people who kidnapped and tortured him, but Artificial Intelligences such as Ai had nothing to do with it. Even if Yusaku wouldn't open to me, he could open up to Ai. Yes, that would be the safer route to take! Ai and Yusaku were partners, they fought side to side in every duel, and the bond between them was much stronger than the bond between me and Yusaku. Instead of trying to get close, I should try to get them closer to each other, make Yukasu see that he had a friend whom he could trust. Yes! Plan formulated!

Soon after, I reached the van. It was closed as usually when Playmaker was on in VRAINS. I walked to the backdoor and knocked twice, a signal of a sort with which I informed both Yusaku and Kusanagi who I was. I heard some talking on the other side followed by footsteps, then Kusanagi opened the door and greeted me with his usual polite smile. But I didn't have the force to smile back at him. Not when I could see Yusaku sitting behind him, his jacket off and the blue tie was untied. He looked so pitiful, his eyes were staring at the ground like a broken doll. Kusanagi noticed where I was looking and his forced smile dropped as well.

"How is he?" I asked. Yes, a stupid question, I know, but if you haven't noticed I wasn't the best at starting conversations. Less so with sensitive topics, such as this one.

"Frankly, he's taking it better than I expected." I would have thought that this was a joke, but the serious expression on Kusanagi's face told me that he was dead serious about it. "I just… I don't know what to do anymore. That bastard… why did he have to interfere? Why now?"

Ok, Kusanagi was pissed off. I wouldn't blame him when PhantomFire made fun of Playmaker's condition and said that the Lost Incident didn't matter, he partially insulted Kusanagi's little brother as well. And I just couldn't recognize my mentor anymore. When I first met Evan, he stroke me like that nice older brother figure who came to my aid when I was in danger and spent every moment he had teaching me things, some of which was questionable, but he was nice, so I listened despite that. But now, he was just trash talking a depressed and traumatized student. Was that supposed to be heroic? Good? Or did he just not care about anyone else? Maybe it was later, maybe that was why Vermilya and Takuma tried to break away from him. Maybe all the good things he did and say to me were just lies to keep me close.

No! I shouldn't be thinking about things like that! He understood that the thing he did with Playmaker was wrong, so he sent me to try and minimize the damage. He was just the type that loved roughly. Yeah, he said it himself, he cared about Playmaker, he wanted to help him overcome the trauma and maybe that was the way to do it, by forcing him to face his fear of losing. Yusaku was trying to avoid losing because it reminded him of the trauma, but now he was no longer trapped in that room, no one was going to hurt him for losing. He had to see that he was free from the dark abyss and hope was still within reach.

"Hey." I waved at Yusaku and sat down on the other chair, never taking my eyes off him.

"Hey," though he did reply, his voice sounded broke, like it came out of an empty shell rather than a human.

" _We came to see you as soon as we could."_ Aqua showed up from my Duel Disk. That was good timing. _"How do you feel, Playmaker?"_

"How should I feel?" Yusaku placed his head in his palms. "My entire life was leading me toward a single purpose, but now that it's gone… I don't know what I should be feeling. Maybe I should break down, start crying and trembling, but I just don't see the point in doing that."

He didn't see the point in being devastated… Yusaku. Could you even be salvaged? I won't go and call you a robot, no, you've shown your emotions many times, your anger, your care, I have seen so much from you. And it hurt me to see you like this. I don't want you to fall on the ground and start crying or yelling, an emotional outburst is not something I advocate for, but do you even remember how to showcase your emotions anymore? Or did the trauma took that away from you too? Why aren't you pissed off that Evan stole your only purpose in life? Devastated? You just took all of that it, not sure how to react.

"You're right. There's no point in that." I agreed with him, even so little. "But the Knights of Hanoi are still at large, you can't rest now!"

"What's the point in fighting anymore?" Yusaku looked up at me. "I lost, I'm not strong enough. The only thing I had left is now gone, there's no point in anything anymore."

"What are you saying!?" I shouted back. Yes, I know that I was here to help him out, but listening to him talking like he was a loser made me angry! "Wasn't you fight for revenge? To avenge those who were hurt by the Lost Incident? You began a hard fight against an entire army! Did you expect it to go with only victories? Of course, you were going to lose, everyone loses sometimes!"

"I'm not everyone!" Yusaku yelled, slamming his fist against his knee. "I put all the emotions of my last ten years in dueling, all of my strength and determination. Only for all of it to be crushed so easily."

Well, I had to agree about it the easy part. What stings worst that to lose was to lose against someone who wasn't even trying to duel you.

"What're you going to do then?" I asked him. "Are you now going to just sit here and watch as the Knights of Hanoi destroy LINK VRAINS! Will you just wait for them to knock on your door and ask you to hang over Ai?"

" _Wait, what!?"_ Ai jumped out of Yusaku's Duel Disk. _"Can the Knights of Hanoi do that?"_

" _Ugh,"_ Aqua facepalmed. _"Think about it, Ai. They're doing this to destroy us, if there's no one to stand up against them, they will succeed."_

" _Can't we ask them for a timeout until Playmaker sorts his problems?"_ Ai asked. I couldn't tell if he was trying to be funny or was seriously thinking that the Knights of Hanoi would stop their advance because Playmaker was in a bad mood.

"Yusaku," I continued. "Will you really leave the fight? Would you be able to shoulder the guilt of giving up? Would you be able to live with yourself knowing that you left all other victims of the Lost Incident to fall into an even deeper abyss?"

"…" He didn't respond.

"This. This is bigger than us!" Why wouldn't he understand it! This wasn't about him anymore, nor was it about me. "You're not the only victim of Hanoi, you weren't the only person they hurt, but you're the only person who could fight back! You had something that none of the other victims had! The courage to stand up against your fear! Why're you backing down, when you finally came face to face with it?"

His fear was to lose. To him, dueling was like breathing and a loss was equal to losing the ability to breathe. He was stubbornly trying to keep his eyes closed to the truth that losing wouldn't hurt him anymore. He wanted to believe that every duel he had was the same as in the Lost Incident that everything was bet on that single duel. It was the only way he knew how to continue his life.

"If I'm too weak, then PhantomFire will defeat the Knights of Hanoi, right?" Yusaku asked back.

"Could you say that to your younger self?" It was a low hit, I know, but maybe that would make him realize the weight of the situation.

"What're you talking about?"

"You heard me. Could you face your younger self and tell them that you gave up fighting the Knights of Hanoi because someone else could? If that was the case, why didn't you give the mantle to someone else before?"

"…" No answer again. No. He didn't have a response this time around!

"If not for those victimized by Hanoi, if not for those who fought beside you, then, please, do it for Ai." I pointed at the Ignis. "And do it because he's a part of you. A part which would always be there for you when you need it, even if you don't like it. Because if the Knights of Hanoi win, you'll really lose your past."

" _She's right, Playmaker!"_ Ai waved his arms. _"I'll always be with you! Don't let the Knights of Hanoi take me, please! Think of your friendship for a moment!"_

"Please, leave," Yusaku muttered.

So that was how he would play it, huh? Fine then. I wouldn't stay here and anger him, after all that happened he did deserve a break to rethink everything. Without much more to say, I stood up and walked out. I was most sad about him, having fought beside Playmaker for so long to save his brother, only to fail at the finishing line. But no amount of speaking from me could change Yusaku's mind. I wasn't one affected by this incident, I wasn't even a part of this world when it happened.

" _Ah!"_

Aqua and Ai gasped at the same time. I looked back and saw that Yusaku had frozen for a moment as well. Did something happen without me realizing it?

" _Yusaku, you felt that too?"_ Ai turned toward, well, Yusaku.

"W-what're you talking about?" Kusanagi asked, and I nodded in agreement, we didn't feel anything.

" _There was some strange feeling in the network right now,"_ Aqua informed us.

" _And Yusaku must have been able to sense it due to his Link Sense."_ Ai rubbed his chin. Link Sense? What was that supposed to- You know what? I don't even care anymore.

" _We should check LINK VRAINS."_ Aqua insisted.

I glanced at Yusaku again. He looked tempted for a moment but shook his head. Ah, why did he have to be so stubborn at the worst time?

"I'll go check it out!" I stated and raised my Duel Disk. "Kusanagi, would you please connect to my Duel Disk, so you can keep an eye on our progress? It might… be helpful for you and Ai."

"Right away!" He nodded and walked toward the computers.

"I'll help make the connection from the Duel Disk," Aqua informed me. "You should run home quickly!"

"Right!" I nodded.

"You have come back quickly." Avice looked at me from the couch.

"I don't have time to explain right now, but I think that there might be an emergency at LINK VRAINS!" I shouted, looking around for a place to lie down while I log in.

" _I felt it again!"_ Aqua showed up from my Duel Disk. _"Whatever it is, it's growing stronger with each moment!"_

"So now you're the one who's going to replace Playmaker at being the Ignis wielding hero of VRAINS?" I glared at Avice for the comment. That joke was very badly timed. "S-sorry about that. Let's go to our rooms and log in from there. I'll be your cover for this mission, ok?"

"Yeah." I nodded. Avice was Evan's equal in term of strength, to have her cover me would make this much, much, much, much easier.

I ran into my room and locked the door (out of habit) before jumping onto my bed. Taking out my deck, I placed it back into the Duel Disk and logged in, my consciousness quickly fading away and the familiar view of my room slowly getting replaced by an unknown area in LINK VRAINS. It was a city, again, but it was darker like it was night time.

"Did we accidentally logged into the American server?" I asked.

"That's just how the place looks right now." I nearly jumped out of my skin as Silver Star appeared behind me and wrapped her arms around my back.

"That's not the time to fool around!" I shouted back. Uh, why was I blushing so much from being hugged?

" _I advise to process cautiously,"_ Aqua suggested. _"I can feel something dangerous hiding within LINK VRAINS. The wave is even stronger inside the servers."_

"Don't worry, we already have a guide to lead us." Silver Star stepped away with a smug grin and gestured toward the air. A swarm of fireflies flew over her and into the distance.

"Whoah! Did you make those?" Did Silver Star really make hundreds of small drones to help us out? She's so cool.

"Nope, but I know who did." Oh. Well, she wasn't so cool anymore, but still pretty cool. "Let's follow them!"

Before I could ask her how she planned to do that, I already got my answer. Silver Star jumped off the building we were onto and landed on her D-Board, flying away. Apparently, we were going to follow the swarm on air, which wasn't that bad of an idea. It would be faster too. I jumped on my D-Board and followed after Silver Star. Hopefully whatever Aqua could feel wouldn't cause too much trouble.

* * *

 **3** **rd** **POV**

" _How is it going?"_ Ai asked.

"Still not much," Kusanagi replied, before shooting a glance back at Yusaku. "I set the LINK VRAINS Searching System so that it won't miss even the tiniest anomaly. I'm not sure how useful it would be for Roxy from here, but we have to do something to help out, right?"

" _Whoa!"_ Ai gasped. _"I felt it again. It's almost like a pulse!"_

"Something showed up!" Kusanagi informed as a picture appeared on the computer screen with the word 'Caution!' underneath it. "What? LINK VRAINS' infrastructure program has been altered."

" _That's bad!"_ Ai exclaimed. _"Aqua's not all that familiar with LINK VRAINS as it is. She would get in trouble if the infrastructure around her begins to suddenly change!"_

"You're the one who would get in trouble if such a thing occurs." Kusanagi retorted.

" _Mean!"_

Yusaku ignored them and kept looking at the screen. Why was his Link Sense responding to the danger inside LINK VRAINS? Was that a sign? The Cyberse Duelist clenched his fist, for the first time ever, unsure on what he should do. He was very intelligent and sharp, a person who rarely made mistakes and always was quick to make a choice, but now it was different. He didn't know what changed, but he was no longer able to make decisions the same way as before.

* * *

 **Proxy's POV**

I and Silver Star rode our D-Boards through the city, following the swarm of fireflies. Despite that they kept disappearing behind buildings, we were able to keep up with them fairly easily. Whoever designed them must not have been expecting that someone would follow these… things.

" _They appear to be stopping,"_ Aqua informed me.

And indeed, the fireflies were slowing down, until they completely stopped. Me and Silver Star jumped off our D-Boards and landed a few feet away from them before looking around. There was nothing here. Great, the fireflies led us in the wrong direction.

"Hey!" Or maybe not…

He turned to the voice that called out. It was a duelist that I have seen before, a girl that PhantomFire worked with when we entered the lower levels. I think her username was Ghost Girl. Yes, right. It was definitely Ghost Girl!

"You sure catch up quickly with your drones." Silver Star said.

"That's not a very nice greeting." Ghost Girl responded. She leaped off the building she was standing on and landed between the two of us.

" _Is she an ally?"_ Aqua popped out to ask. Uh, why did she have to show herself every time someone she hasn't seen before popped up? It made the whole 'keep your Ignis a secret' thing a lot harder when said Ignis didn't cooperate.

"I see that your group has grown since we last met." Ghost Girl stated and, though she was wearing a mask, I could tell that she was smiling. "You don't happen to be selling this Ignis, do you?"

"Sorry, she's not for sale," I replied with a smile on my own.

"I figured so much." Ghost Girl shrugged. "I take it that the two of you're here because you also got the tip that something's happening in LINK VRAINS? Something big most likely, since Silver Star is here?"

"You and PhantomFire have a really big reputation in LINK VRAINS, don't you?" I sweated. It was surprising that they were so well known by hackers and bounty hunters for their skills, yet no one else in LINK VRAINS knew about their existence.

"We're here because my friend's Ignis detected something dangerous." Silver Star pointed out. "Feel free to join us if you please."

"And what about the fireflies?" I asked, pointing at the little things that were all around us.

"Those are programs that I used to guide me toward treasures." Ghost Girl shrugged. "They look around and tell me about interesting items."

" _Is it okay to take her with us?"_ Aqua asked.

"Don't worry, I don't bite." Ghost Girl winked. She stepped forward and pressed a button on her Duel Disk, opening a portal in the ground. "See ya on the other side!"

Saying that she waved at us and jumped through the portal. Now that there were three of us, our chances would be better, right? But maybe I shouldn't be so quick to trust Ghost Girl. We jumped through the portal and, surprise, surprise, we landed in some sewers. Not the smelly and dirty kind, but the out-of place-for-a-virtual-reality-based-around-dueling type of sewers.

"So, does anyone here have an explanation on why VRAINS needs its own sewers?" I asked my companions.

"It's for unnecessary data." Ghost Girl informed me.

"This is where all the dog memes go." Silver Star stated.

"I already know that you're messing around with me," I told her, proudly.

"Which means that you would have believed it if it was said by someone you trust more." Silver Star shot back.

"The path's separating from here." Ghost Girl informed us. There were two tunnels to go into from here on, but which do we choose?

"No need to say it." I already knew how this would go. "We'll split into two, right? Who's with who?"

"I'll go the right way." Ghost Girl suggested. "You two should be more used to work together, so you can go the left way, ok?"

"Thanks!" I waved at her.

The woman waved back at me and jumped on bits of ground that floated over the other data, landing on the other side of the sewer. She turned back and waved cheerfully at us one more time before running off.

"She found out something, didn't she?" I asked Silver Star.

"Definitely." Silver Star nodded. "But it's alright. If something happens to her, we'll know that this path is dangerous."

So, Silver Star wasn't worried about Ghost Girl's life at all? I looked down at Aqua, she seemed worried as well. But we couldn't really go after Ghost Girl, could we? I mean, it wouldn't be fair, since she knew the danger and that we were trustful allies, despite that choose to try and trick us into going the wrong way. It was her own will to go there alone.

"So, how did your visit go?" Silver Star crossed her arms and looked at me. "Did you find Playmaker this time, or was he away again?"

"I found him this time." I nodded. "We talked, well, I talked. But no matter what I said, he just didn't want to listen. I understand that he went through a lot and I'm not judging him, but doesn't he realize that LINK VRAINS needs Playmaker now more than ever? That this place is more dangerous than it was ever before?"

"Maybe he doesn't want to admit to himself that LINK VRAINS still needs him. But talking about danger, it seems we got a guest on our own." Silver Star commented. Wait, what?

Silver Star turned around and kicked me in the stomach. My mouth opened but no sound came out of it. That kick, if it was in real life I would be suffering some serious internal injury because of it. The force of Silver Star's kick sent me back several feet and my body collapsed from the pain. Gritting my teeth, I glared at Silver Star.

"And now…" I heard her say and a giant claw came out of the data, swinging at her. If it was me there, that attack would have torn me into pieces before I could feel what's happening, but Silver Star was able to easily avoid the claws and jumped backward, creating some distance between herself and the thing that attacked her. Talking about it, the thing that attacked was huge, like a giant. Its body was made from data and it was ugly, like, really ugly.

" _What's this!?"_ Aqua gasped.

"If I'm to guess, someone most likely threw their Tamagotchi in the toilet." Silver Star replied, and I glared at her.

"We. Are. Not. Amused."

And neither was the beast. The creature looked back and forth between me and Silver Star, puzzled what to do. Was it… unable to choose who it had to chase? So that was why Silver Star kicked me in this direction instead of pulling me with herself – she figured out that the creature was sent to deal with both of us. I would have still preferred if she used a more gentle approach to move me aside.

The creature roared and its body began to slowly expand to the sides. Wait, no. It wasn't expanding, it was tearing itself in half. I managed to stand back up and activate my Duel Disk while the giant's body got torn apart and two smaller, but identical in appearance monsters took its place.

"Divide and conquer, huh?" Silver Star narrowed her eyes. "How about no?"

She raised her arm and fired a red cable that attached itself to the ceiling, then pulled herself upward. After getting over the creatures, she deactivated that energy cable and fired another one in front of me, pulling herself back down. She landed right in front of me and turned around, activating her own Duel Disk. The creatures looked at us and roared, creating two blue cubes of data that attached themselves to the back of their left wrists. Were we seriously going to solve that with a duel?

"Whoever sent these things here, sure has a good taste." I heard Silver Star comment. She turned toward me and winked. "How about it? Mind teaming up with me on this one?"

" _That would be a good chance to test out the improved BrioGear cards I made for you."_ Aqua turned toward me. _"Let's go, Proxy! With our power combined, the wind of victory will blow our enemies away!"_

"No fart jokes!" I yelled at Silver Star before she had the chance to drop another childish joke.

"How distasteful." She clicked her tongue. Wait, I was the distasteful one here? "But ok, serious time!"

"Duel!" We shouted in unison.

* * *

Meanwhile, in another part of the sewers, Ghost Girl was still following her little helpers. They lead her a long way and she was already reaching the processing plant. It was surprising to her for more than a single reason. First, who would be hiding a treasure or important data inside the processing plant of all places, and second, why was there a barrier around the place? Restricted areas in VRAINS were very few, and out of all the places the cyber hunter knew in VRAINS, she least expected to find a restricted area around the sewers.

 _"That's an interesting place that you found, isn't it?"_ a voice asked.

"Eh?" Ghost Girl turned around.

A ring of pink data appeared before the cyber hunter and a life form began to materialize inside of it. First materialized two small feet, then a white dress and next, a pink AI with the appearance of a little girl with her hair tied into two pigtails appeared in front of Ghost Girl. The new Life-Form smiled and bowed politely to the older individual.

 _"It's nice to meet you, miss. My name is O.N.I, short from Overseeing Network Intelligence."_ The AI introduced itself. _"I'm a program created by Evan Greyson and currently act as his eyes and ears within LINK VRAINS, while he's busy with other work."_

"And just when I thought I saw the craziest thing this family had." Ghost Girl rolled her eyes.

 _"Did you say something, miss?"_

"N-no!" Ghost Girl shook her head. "Anyway, if Evan sent you, then you must be here just to observe, right? You won't get in my way?"

 _"Of course, not._ " O.N.I smiled. _"I was sent to get a recording of what's disrupting the servers, nothing more than that. Plus, I still don't have any combat abilities or a deck, so there's not much I can do even if I was sent to eliminate you."_

"I guess," Ghost Girl didn't like the idea of having people watch her while she worked, but it couldn't be helped. "There's a barrier, so stay back until I get rid of it."

The AI nodded and took a step back. Ghost Girl's guts were telling her that whatever she was looking for was too dangerous to mess with it, but she stubbornly ignored those warnings. Even though both Greysons were here, she couldn't turn around and run, not while there was a treasure to discover. Taking out her special knife, the cyber hunter cut through the barrier, effectively tearing it apart. After doing that, she gestured for O.N.I to follow her.

The two walked inside the restricted area. It was the core of LINK VRAINS' reprocessing system, but what appeared before them was nothing like her expectations for a core. Yes, the thing was spherical for the most part, but it was black with pink tentacles coming out of its surface. Data from all parts of LINK VRAINS was being absorbed inside its body. Ghost Girl narrowed her eyes. That thing, it wasn't supposed to be there.

 _"This is bad._ " O.N.I held out its arm and scanned the large body. _"The amount of energy within the sphere is too high. I suggest we leave."_

"I still need to gather data about it." Ghost Girl replied and stepped forward. Clicking her fingers, the cyber hunter sent all of her drones toward the black sphere for a more informative scan.

 _"As you wish."_ O.N.I sighed.

The pink AI walked out of the plant and turned back to Ghost Girl. O.N.I put its hands behind its back and waited for the treasure hunter to finish her work. Sadly, unlike O.N.I who was programmed to be able to detect movement within the server, Ghost Girl had no way to know that a highly dangerous individual was approaching her position. It was the most feared person in LINK VRAINS at the moment, the leader of Hanoi himself, Revolver.

It wasn't long until Ghost Girl's fireflies felt the Knight of Hanoi's presence and flew out to check it out. Confused, Ghost Girl used her grappling hook to follow them, ignorant about the danger she was getting herself into. As that happened, a gate fell down, blocking O.N.I from following. The AI narrowed its eyes and kept watching as Revolver stepped out of the hallway that Ghost Girl was in front of.

" _Transmission: Revolver has appeared."_ The AI stated emotionlessly. The voice on the other end of the transmission said something and O.N.I nodded. _"Starting recording, file's title: Ghost Girl's Last Hour."_


	34. Chapter 34

New Power – The Lords of Elements

"What are these things?" Kusanagi asked.

He, Ai and Yusaku, were watching a recording sent to them through Aqua. It showed Proxy and Silver Star facing off against two giants made from data.

" _I'm not sure, but they look frightening."_ Ai gulped. _"Maybe SOL Technology created them."_

"Do you think that SOL has the resources to create AIs like these?" Kusanagi asked.

" _I'm not sure."_ Ai shrugged. _"In fact, I'm not sure if we could even call these things AIs, they don't look very civilized."_

"I feel so powerless right now," Kusanagi admitted. "I'm the guy behind the computer, I've never been able to be of help on the field and though I haven't worried about it before, now…"

" _You're worried because its Proxy there fighting these things and not Playmaker, right?"_ Ai asked.

Yusaku narrowed his eyes. He focused on the picture on the screen and ignored everything else that Ai and Kusanagi asked after.

* * *

 **『** **Silver Star & Proxy LP: 4000, Hand: 5 (VS) Data Giant 1 & Data Giant 2 LP: 4000, Hand: 5** **』**

"I'm going to take the first turn!" Silver Star took two cards from her hand and flipped them over. "I activate the effect of _AstroGear Zweite Klinge_ from my hand! When there are no monsters on my field, I can Special Summon it along with another AstroGear monster in my hand. Come forth, Zwite Klinge and _AstroGear Malnehmen_!"

The strange knight-like monster and a small disk-shaped drone appeared before her. Nice! I have seen Malnehmen before and its effect would allow Silver Star to summon many more copies of it directly from her deck!

"Since AstroGear Malnehmen was Special Summoned, I can summon two more copies of it from my deck!" Just as I predicted, two more drones appeared, almost completely filling all of our Main Monster Zones. "Appear, the circuit of the universe!" A large golden halo with eight smaller rings linked to it appeared on the ceiling.

"Arrowhead confirmed! Summoning requirement is a Level Two or lower LIGHT monster! I set AstroGear Zweite Klinge in the Link Marker!" The tiny warrior-like monster turned into a whirlwind and flew inside the ring attached to the bottom center of the halo. "Link Summon! Come forth, _AstroGear Link Bergsteiger (ATK: 400, Link-1)_!" A white humanoid made from triangles flew through the halo and landed on the Right Extra Monster Zone.

"And for a second time. Appear, the circuit of the universe!" Silver Star clicked her fingers, summoning a second halo. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two oGear monsters! I set two Malnehmen in the Link Markers!" the two rings on the sides of the halo glowed as Silver Star's monsters became one with them. "Link Summon! The holy machine of destruction! _AstroGear Das Unknown (ATK: 1800, Link-2)_!

"But I'm not done!" Silver Start winked and gestured toward her Link 1 monster. "I activate Bergsteiger's effect! Once per turn, I can banish an AstroGear monster from my graveyard to summon another oGear from my graveyard. I banish one Malnehmen to Special Summon _AstroGear Zweite Klinge (Lv. 2, DEF: 200)_. Due to Malnehmen's effect, I draw a card whenever it's banished. Now, appear for the third time, the circuit of the universe!"

She was Link Spamming just the same as Playmaker, but her plays felt more wholesome than his.

"Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two monsters with a thousand or less attack power! I set my last Malnehmen and Link Bergsteiger in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _**AstroGear Steigender Kämpfer**_!"

A humanoid warrior monster appeared out of Silver Star's circuit. The monster had short blond hair and was wearing a white and black demon mask that covered its face, while two pointy ears jutted from the sides of its head. It had a muscular build and its outfit consisted of a sleeveless white bodysuit with black legs and shoulders, with multiple yellow lines running across it. But the worst part of it was its arms. Instead of normal human arms, the monster had four bulky cables coming out of its shoulders and connecting to a metal right which generated two blades of yellow energy.

* * *

 **AstroGear Steigender Kämpfer**

 **Attribute: LIGHT/Type: Warrior/Link/Effect**

 **Link Marker: Bottom, Left**

 **ATK: 1700/Link-2**

 **2 monsters with 1000 or less ATK, except Tokens**

 **Effect: If this card is pointing toward a Link Monster, this card gains ATK equal to that monster's Link Rating x300. If this Link Summoned card is sent to the GY: You can Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower "oGear" monster from your GY.**

* * *

" _That's a strange play."_ Aqua crossed her arms. _"Why did you summon Steigender Kämpfer at Unknown's left zone instead of the right?"_

"Heh, my dueling is about much more than brute force." Silver Star ran a hand through her hair and smiled. "Proxy, Aqua, watch as I make the step toward dueling's next stage of evolution! When a Link Monster I control points toward a Spell or Trap Zone, I can activate this card in that zone! The Continuous Spell – _**Elemental Lords of Gear**_!"

The card showed six hooded individuals standing in a circle around a large construct made of gears. Each of the individuals was wearing a different hood, with the one in the center having a dark purple, then going clockwise the rest were green, brown, yellow, red, blue. The background behind them showed a white hall with large statues of warriors placed at the sides of the pathway.

* * *

 **Elemental Lords of Gear (Spell) Continuous**

 **You can only activate this card in a Spell & Trap Zone a Link Monster points to. Once per turn: If you would Link Summon an "oGear" Link Monster, you can use 1 Link Monster that points at this card as the entire material to Special Summon 1 Link Monster that has the same attribute, but with 1 Link Rating higher than the monster you use as material. Link Monsters that point at this card cannot be destroyed by your opponent's card effects.**

* * *

" _A spell that can be activated only next to a Link Monster's arrow…"_ Aqua muttered. _"For a card to have such requirements, it must have a strong effect."_

"Indeed, that's the evolution of oGear as a collective." Silver Star stated and threw her arms into the sky. "Now tremble before the power of the Elemental Lords of Gear! With their blessing, I'm able to evolve my Link Monsters! Appear, the circuit millennia!"

Silver Star threw her arm into the sky and a bolt of yellow electricity slipped past her fingers. Space itself began to tremble and it got torn apart as Silver Star's circuit appeared. But this time, it was completely different, instead of a halo, three golden clock gears appeared in the air. Gears grinded, bolts of electricity danced across the edges of the new 'circuit' and a yellow portal appeared inside the gears, creating a tunnel.

" _Cruel light, unchain the mortal body binding my monster and open the gates to heaven through a pure sacrifice!_ " Silver Star began to chant as AstroGear Steigender Kämpfer turned into a beam of light and flew into the portal. " _ **Link-Up**_! _Spread your wings of purification, the angel sitting on the throne of creation itself! Exotic Sola the Link Seraph (ATK: 2300, Link-3)!_ "

" _A Link-Up?"_ Aqua blinked while I started with wide eyes. This was the first time I hear of a card that allows you to evolve your Link Monsters. _"I have never heard of a card like this before. You, humans, are truly unique creatures, managing to create a card such as this!"_

"No joke about it, even I didn't see that coming," I stated. Now, I wasn't very skilled duelist or an expert at card designing, but a card that could allow me to evolve my monsters for free, as long as they point toward it sounded like a sweet and pretty powerful card to have.

"Heh, so much is nothing for my intelligence." Silver Star praised herself. "But now AstroGear Steigender Kämpfer's additional effect activates! Since it was sent to the graveyard, I can revive one of my Malnehmen." She revived the drone again, which meant another Link Summon! "Appear for the final time, the circuit of the universe!"

Another holy halo opened over our heads, as another AstroGear monster was on its way to join Silver Star's formation.

"Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two LIGHT monsters! I set Malnehmen and Zweite Klinge in the Link Markers! Link Summon! I call forth, _AstroGear Unterstützender Assistant (ATK: 1200, Link-2)_!" a female monster with the appearance of a secretary appeared at Sola's left Link Arrow.

"What do you think?" Silver Star asked. "Due to Assitant's effect, I can negate the destruction of a monster once per turn, thanks to Exotic Sola my other monsters can't be destroyed by battle, effect, or be targeted by an effect, also all non-LIGHT monsters in the same column as Assitant and Unknown will have their attack halved and their effects negated."

So that was why she wanted to place Elemental Lords of the Gears in the middle zone because Sola would be located there as well! Thanks to Sola's effect, any monster the opponent summons in either Extra Monster Zone would have its effects negated and its attack power cut in half. Sadly, that included my monsters as well, but I was sure that Aqua would figure a way around that.

"And before I forget, Unknown's effect increases that attack points of all my LIGHT monsters by five hundred points!" The large drone's body glowed, surrounding the rest of Silver Star's monsters.

 **AstroGear Unterstützender Assistant, ATK: 1200 + 500** → **1700**

 **AstroGear Das Unknown, ATK: 1800 + 500** → **2300**

 **Exotic Sola the Link Seraph, ATK: 2300 + 500** → **2800**

"I set a card and end my turn." Silver Star finished.

One of the creatures raised its arm and five cards appeared in front of it, after which a sixth one joined. These things weren't the most talkative bunch, or maybe they just didn't have the ability to talk. I didn't know, but their presence was sending a chill down my spine, something about these creatures was familiar, I just couldn't put my finger on it.

 **『** **Turn 2 [Data Giant 1] LP: 4000 Hand: 6** **』**

The creature pressed one of the cards in its hand and suddenly a warrior wearing yellow and blue armor with a pair of glowing swords in its hands appeared in the center monster zone. I looked up information about it through my Duel Disk: _Mekk-Knight Blue Sky (Lv.5, DEF: 2500)_ and a novel of an effect that I didn't have enough time to read right now.

"And of course they use a LIGHT based deck as well." I heard Silver Star sigh. Right, her deck didn't affect monsters with the same attribute as her AstroGears.

Once the warrior appeared on the field, the giant that summoned it gained two more monsters in its hand. Most likely due to Mekk-Knight Blue Sky's effect. Afterward, the monster duelist played a spell card called World Legacy's Memory which summoned another monster, but this time directly from the deck. The new monster had a silver body with blue crystals and an arc over its head. Its name was: _Mekk-Knight Indigo Eclipse (Lv. 8, DEF: 2400)_ and its effect allowed the player to move a Mekk-Knight to another zone.

Blue Sky stepped to the left, freeing the middle zone, and immediately a large, bulky knight in white and red armor appeared in its place wielding an ax. The new monster's name was _Mekk-Knight Red Moon (Lv.7, DEF: 2600)_ and by overlaying its effects with the other Mekk-Knights I noticed that all of them had the ability to be Special Summoned from the hand if the opponent controlled two or more cards in the same column. Then each of them had its personal effect, with Blue Sky's allowing it to search a number of Mekk-Knight monsters, up to the number of cards that Silver Star controlled in the same column. Since Sola and the Spell were in the same column. That meant the giant got to search two cards! Yep, I was starting to understand things now!

Afterward, the Giant activated a Field Spell called _World Legacy Scars_ , whose effect rose the ATK and DEF of all Mekk-Knights by 300 and also allowed him to discard a Mekk-Knight to draw a new card. Also, did I say that Red Moon's effect allowed it to banish a Mekk-Knight from the grave in order to destroy a monster? 'Cause when the Giant discarded Mekk-Knight Green Horizon, it immediately banished it to try and destroy Sola.

"Did you really think that I would fall for such an obvious trick?" Silver Star asked before pointing at her Assistant. "While Sola points at Elemental Lords of Gear, she can't be destroyed by your card effects!" A digital barrier formed around the monster and blocked Red Moon's effect.

" _A solid defense."_ Aqua crossed her arms. _"Thanks to her three Link Monsters, your friend was able to build an impenetrable wall. Well, almost impenetrable."_

The Giant threw its arms in the air and a normal Link Square appeared over it. All three of its Mekk-Knights flew into the bottom arrows and a giant, weirdly beautiful abomination of a monster flew through the square. Its name was _Mekk-Knight Spectrum Supreme (ATK: 3000, Link-3)_ and let's just say that it was a very powerful monster to face.

 **Mekk-Knight Spectrum Supreme, ATK: 3000 + 300** → **3300**

" _A Cyberse monster?"_ Aqua looked at the giant Link 3 in confusion. _"Who created this thing and gave it this card?"_

"If they use Cyberse cards, we should be extra careful." I heard Silver Star warm me. "These things are not native to LINK VRAINS."

"Yeah." I nodded in agreement.

After getting rid of its Mekk-Knights, the Giant summoned a new one with white, black and orange armor carrying two shields in the left zone, under Spectrum Supreme. Its name was _Mekk-Knight Orange Sunset (Lv.6, DEF: 3000 + 300_ → _3300)_ and its appearance meant more trouble for us. The giant then gestured toward Exotic Sola one more time and his Link Monster flew over her, firing a rainbow ray at Silver Star's ace.

"I activate Assistant's effect to negate Sola's destruction!" Silver Star's Link 2 threw her digital book in front of Sola, blocking the ray.

 **『** **Silver Star & Proxy LP: 4000 – 500 **→ **3500** **』**

"You stopped the attack from destroying your monster!" I gasped.

Silver Star's field was seriously impenetrable with all of her cards protecting each other. Watching the Giant trying to destroy her monsters was like watching someone trying to destroy a caste with their bare hands.

" _So that's the point of the AstroGear deck?"_ Aqua pondered.

"Huh?" I looked at Aqua. "The point of her deck? Could you please try to explain it a bit better? I don't think that I'm understanding what you're trying to say."

" _I'm talking about how her deck plays."_ Aqua turned toward me. _"Just like how your BrioGear deck discarding to activate effect symbolizes the rain that gives life to the world, Silver Star's AstroGear deck symbolizes eternal life. Divinity."_

"I… don't understand what you're saying, but I'm going to roll with it." I sweated.

The Giant gestured toward Spectrum Supreme activate its effect, which allowed the Link Monster to send a Mekk-Knight in the same column as itself to Special Summon a Mekk-Knight monster from the Deck. Orange Sunset disappeared and in its place appeared a white and yellow knight with wings instead of arms. Its name was _Mekk-Knight Yellow Star (Lv.7, DEF: 2800 + 300_ → _3100)_ and its effect allowed it to banish a Mekk-Knight from the graveyard to destroy a Spell/Trap Card in the same column as itself.

"Tch, tricky bastard." Silver Star cursed. "He's aiming to get rid of my set card."

"Huh?" I looked at the field, and indeed, Yellow Star was located in the most right zone, along with Silver Star's set card!

The Giant held out its arm and a Mekk-Knight Blue Sky appeared in it before shattering. The remains of the card flew into Yellow Star's wings, which then fired an array of lasers, all of which cut Silver Star's card into pieces, destroying it. Before it disappeared, I got a glimpse of the card that Silver Star was saving for later.

* * *

 **AstroGear Hinter der Sense (Trap) Continuous**

 **If you control an "AstroGear" monster, you can target 1 "oGear" monster in your GY or banished zone; Special Summon it. (Quick Effect): Target 1 "oGear" monster in your GY or banished zone: Shuffle this banished card into the Deck; Special Summon it. You can only use 1 effect of "AstroGear Hinter der Sense" per turn, and only once that turn.**

* * *

A face-down card materialized in front of the Giant and a text appeared on the screen of my Duel Disk, informing me that it was my turn. I didn't want to screw up Silver Star's field, so I thought carefully about the move which I was about to make. Using the Extra Monster Zone was a big no-no, while Exotic Sola's effect was affecting that column.

The only other zone I had to Link Summon to was next to Unknown's right Link Arrow, so I'm not going to be summoning Serene – that was for sure.

" _Don't worry so much about it."_ Firera popped out of my Duel Disk. _"I'm a Duel Monster and Aqua's personal tactician, follow my guide and we will score a flawless victory!"_ That did make me feel a little better… _"Now go, take your turn and draw a card!"_

"There's no need to say that." I at least knew how to play the game, even if it wasn't my strong suit. "Draw!"

 **『** **Turn 3 [Proxy] LP: 3500 Hand: 6** **』**

"This is a good card that I drew, right?" I asked Firera and she nodded in agreement. "Good, I know which combo to deploy right now! First, I activate the card that I just drew - _BrioGear Ark of Silence_!"

The sewers flashed for a moment to show that my Field Spell was activated. Now every time that I discarded a card, my monsters would grow a little stronger, while also giving my Field Spell new effects to apply.

"Now I discard a monster from my hand to Special Summon _**BrioGear Sailflying**_!" A humanoid monster with aqua blue skin, spiky crimson hair and glassy pink eyes appeared on the field. A weird think about these new Cyberse BrioGear monsters was that all of them were humans or humanoid with cute appearances. And Sailflying wasn't an exception. She wore a short bluish-white dress which reached just below her private regions and had long fins attached to the back of her arms and legs.

* * *

 **BrioGear Sailflying**

 **Level: 3/Attribute: WATER/Type: Cyberse/Effect**

 **ATK: 200/DEF: 1400**

 **Effect: You can discard 1 other WATER monster; Special Summon this card from your hand. If a WATER monster(s) is Special Summoned from your GY: you can Special Summon this card (from your GY), but banish it when it leaves the field.**

* * *

"Then I Normal Summon _BrioGear Wave Crusade (Lv.4, ATK: 1700)_." My warrior joined up, by appearing in the most left monster zone. "And because I discarded a card for Sailflying's effect, BrioGear Ark of Silence will gain a Life Counter, while the attack and defense of all my monster raise by two hundred points."

 **BrioGear Sailflying, ATK: 200 + 200** → **400, DEF: 1400 + 200** → **1600**

 **BrioGear Wave Crusade, ATK: 1700 + 200** → **1900, DEF: 100 + 300** → **400**

"Come forth, the circuit of life!" A white circular mirror frame formed in place of the square. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two BrioGear monsters! I set BrioGear Saiflying and BrioGear Wave Crusader in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Link Two, _BrioGear Enhance Mermail (ATK: 1700 + 200_ → _1900, Link-2)_!"

It was then, that the Giant raised its arm and its set card activate. It was a Continuous Trap called _World Legacy's Secret_ and it had two effects, the first allowed the Giant to Special Summon a Level Five or higher monster from their graveyard – which the AI used to call back _Mekk-Knight Indigo Eclipse (Lv. 8, DEF: 2400 + 300_ → _2700)_ and a second effect which stopped all monsters in the same column as a Mekk-Knight from activating its effect. Since the Mekk-Knights were in the same zones as Assistant, Unknown and Enhance Mermail, only Sola Exotic had the ability to user her effects right now!

" _That's a bad turn of events,"_ Firera admitted. _"But it's nothing we can't push through."_

"You must prioritize targets." Silver Star stated.

"Prioritize, what now?" I raised an eyebrow. "Can't you speak in English?"

"Dear Ra…" She shook her head. "Take a careful look at the field. The way our and their cards are placed. Be smart, attack the cards that are most important for your opponent and protect the ones most important for us. Keep the pressure and protect your advantage."

"I…see…" The Giant used powerful monsters, but their weakness was that the effects each one had could only affect a single column at once. Due to World Legacy's Secret three of our monsters were no longer able to activate their effects, but due to Exotic Sola two of their monster zones were lost as well.

There was a large difference in the way you had to play when dueling with a teammate. We had to utilize the cards left behind by our teammates! I had to use the three Link Monsters that Silver Star summoned, but which monsters should I target? The Mekk-Knights in the main monster zones or the big boss monster? Since Spectrum Supreme's presence in the Extra Monster Zone blocked Assistant from activating her effect to protect monsters from destruction, I should destroy it first!

"Firera, any idea how to destroy Spectrum Supreme in one turn?" I asked the Duel Spirit.

" _That was what I was thinking about."_ Firera shook her head. _"How about this? Use the effect of the monster you discarded with Sailflying?"_

" _That monster negates attacks."_ Aqua showed up. _"I think she should save it for when it's seriously needed."_

" _Sorry to say that, but this is a flawed way of thinking."_ Firera pouted. _"The card works only if a WATER monster is battling and its effect is meant to be used offensively, despite it negating an attack. I suggest you use it right now."_

Which one should I be listening to right now? I had to carefully time this. If I listened to Aqua and kept my monster's effect in reserve, next turn all three Mekk-Knights would attack us and if I use the effect then, my monster's effect will funiculate for only one turn. I had to do as Firera told me!

"Battle! Enhance Mermaid attack Spectrum Supreme!" My Link Monster smiled and flew forward, throwing a bubble of water toward Spectrum Supreme. "Now I activate the effect of _**BrioGear Cluster Crab**_ from my graveyard! I banish it to negate the attack!" The bubble burst in midair, leaving my monster and Spectrum Supreme to stare at each other.

* * *

 **BrioGear Cluster Crab**

 **Level: 2/Attribute: WATER/Type: Cyberse/Effect**

 **ATK: 1200/DEF: 0**

 **Effect: You can Special Summon this card (from your hand) to a Zone an "oGear" Link Monster points to in face-up Defense Position. When a WATER monster you control attacks or is attacked, you can banish this card from your GY: Negate that attack, then the opponent monster's ATK becomes equal to your monster's original ATK until the end of its turn, and it's unaffected by other card effects, except its own.**

* * *

" _And now, because the battle was negated through Cluster Crab's effect, your monster's attack becomes the same as Enhance Mermaid's original attack power until the end of this turn!"_ Firera crossed her arms triumphantly.

 **Mekk-Knight Spectrum Supreme, ATK: 3300** → **1700**

"Clever move!" Silver Star smiled. "Because Spectrum Supreme wasn't linked to a monster it had protection from card effects and because of the trap, most of our monsters on the field were rendered useless. But since Cluster Crab's effect activates from the graveyard and it doesn't target, you were able to weaken their monster!"

"And now I'm going to score some damage!" I threw my arm forward. "Battle! Exotic Sola the Link Seraph attack Spectrum Supreme! _**Photon Pulse**_!"

The golden bolts attached to Sola's dress shot out and positioned themselves in a straight line before the monster. Sola fired a bolt of lightning that moved through the golden bolts and came out of the other side as a large beam of light that washed through Spectrum Supreme, melting the Link Monster away.

 **『** **Giant 1 & Giant 2 LP: 4000 – 1100 **→ **2900** **』**

"With this, I end my turn!" I finished. There wasn't anything more I could do with the cards that were currently on my field and in my hand.

The second Giant stepped forward and six cards materialized in its arm. What sort of deck would this one use? Whatever it was, I had to stay on guard. As long as these Mekk-Knights were on the field, our monsters would be unable to break through and deal real damage to our opponents.

 **『** **Turn 4 [Data Giant 2] LP: 2900 Hand: 6** **』**

The giant pressed a card in their hand and it appeared on the field. The name was World Legacy Survival and its effect allowed the Giant look at the top cards of its deck, add one Krawler or World Legacy card to its hand, then send the remaining ones to the graveyard. Several cards appeared in front of the Giant and it pressed a trap, adding it to its hand while the rest were sent to the grave.

"Self-milling." I heard Silver Star muttered under her breath.

" _Remain focused."_ Firera reminded me. _"Your friend might need support, and you won't be able to deliver if you're not reading carefully your opponent's cards."_

"Sorry." I apologized. I'll try to do better from here on!

The creature pressed another card in their hand and some red insect-like creature with six wings and a red eye in the center of its head appeared on the field. The monster was _Krawler Receptor (Lv.2, ATK: 900)_ and there was no way I would read all of the words written on its effect. After the insect materialized, the creature activated another Spell Card called _Worm Bait_. Two worms with empty eye sockets and mouths covered in blood appeared on the Giant's field. It then gestured at the ceiling and a Link Square opened up.

The two worms flew through and another insect-like monster called _Krawler Neurogos (ATK: 1900, Link-2)_ appeared on the right Extra Monster Zone. Luckily, because the monster didn't have the LIGHT attribute, it was affected by Exotic Sola's effect, losing its effects and half of its attack points!

 **Krawler Neurogos, ATK: 1900/2** → **950**

The Giant then pointed at the two Mekk-Knight monsters that its partner left behind. First, it used the effect of Mekk-Knight Indigo Eclipse to move Mekk-Knight Yellow Star in the middle zone, then used Yellow Star's effect to banish Spectrum Supreme and destroy a Spell/Trap Card in the same column as itself.

" _If this effect goes through, you're going to lose Elemental Lords of Gear._ " Aqua popped out of the Duel Disk.

" _This is the most important and vulnerable card we have out,"_ Firera stated. _"Proxy, use Assisstant's effect to protect the Spell Card from destruction!"_

"Right away sir!" I nodded and pressed on Assistant's card. "I activate AstroGear Unterstützender Assistant's effect! Once per turn, I can target a face-up card on the field and negate its first destruction during that turn!" The Link 2 threw her digital book in front of Elemental Lords of Gear and stopped Yellow Star's lasers from touching it.

The Giant paused for a moment, taking a few moments to understand what happened. It then pointed at us and Mekk-Knight Indigo Eclipse turned from Defense to Attack Position, carrying 2700 attack points! It then threw the arc attached to its back, cutting through my Enhance Mermaid, destroying her.

 **『** **Silver Star & Proxy LP: 3500 – 800 **→ **2700** **』**

"They couldn't destroy my Spell, so they went for your unprotected monster." Silver Star said. "You're doing well prioritizing your targets!"

"Thanks!" It wasn't actually as hard when I thought about what I wanted and didn't want to allow my opponent from doing. And as much as it hurt me to get rid of my own monster, I had to protect Silver Star's cards!

The Giant set one card facedown and it was back to Silver Star once more. She looked at me and gave me a wink before drawing.

 **『** **Turn 5 [Silver Star] LP: 2700 Hand: 3** **』**

"I think that this was enough fooling around." Silver Star stated. "It's time to end this! I activate AstroGear Link Bergsteiger's effect from my Graveyard! I banish it to send an oGear card from my deck to the grave. I send _AstroGear Auslöser Tiger_ , then I activate its effect! If it's in the graveyard, I can banish another AstroGear to revive it! I choose to banish Malnehmen!" The white armored beast leaped through a black portal and landed on the field with a roar.

"Due to Malnehmen's effect I get to draw a card and AstroGear Auslöser Tiger's effect lets me banish a card on the field when its Special Summoned! I choose to banish Yellow Star!" The beast opened its jaw and fired a beam that pierced through the knight's body and disintegrated it.

"And due to Unknown's effect, AstroGear Auslöser Tiger is going to gain five hundred extra attack and defense points!" A yellow aura surrounded the beast as its points gained a boost.

 **AstroGear Auslöser Tiger, ATK: 2400 + 500** → **2900, DEF: 1600 + 500** → **2100**

"Let's battle now!" Silver Star ordered. "Auslöser Tiger, attack Krawler Neurogos!" The mecha-beast leaped forward and landed on top of the insect, smashing its head without a problem.

 **『** **Giant 1 & Giant 2 LP: 2900 – 1950 **→ **950** **』**

But that wasn't it. Instead of disappearing, the remains of the Krawler moved in and began to rebuild themselves into two smaller forms, but before I could see what these creatures looked like, they were placed face-down on the field.

"So, when a Link Krawler gets destroyed the Main Deck ones can be revived from the graveyard?" Silver Star raised an eyebrow. "Like that matters! Now, Exotic Sola attack Krawler Receptor and end this! _Photon Pulse_!"

We won!

Or so I wanted to think. But instead, the Giant's set card flipped face-up. It was another Continuous Trap – _World Legacy's Puppet_ , and this time, by shuffling Krawler Neurogos back into the deck, the card allowed them to set Krawler Receptor face-down! That, of course, didn't stop Silver Star's attack from going through, annihilating the insect, but because it was face-down, the opponent wasn't going to take any damage!

"Tch, its flip effects are going to now activate." Silver Star muttered.

"Flip Effect?" I scratched the back of my head. "Um, what was that again?"

" _It's an effect that activates only when the monster is flipped,"_ Aqua informed me. _"And yes, if the monster gets destroyed, the effect still resolves. In Receptor's case, its Flip Effect allowed the user to search a new Krawler card from the deck."_

" _But it's not over,"_ Firera warned me. _"When a Krawler is destroyed, two new ones are summoned directly from the deck!"_

"I'm not done yet!" Silver Star clenched her fist. "Assistant, attack the face-down card at your column!" Assistant threw her digital book at the face-down card and it exploded, destroying the monsters, while simultaneously negating its effects with Exotic Sola's effect, so its Flip Effect wouldn't activate

"The monster that you just destroyed was called _Krawler Glial_." Firera informed her. _"And when Glial is Flipped, it summons another Krawler straight from the grave or hand. Good work negating its effect."_

"And now Unknown will destroy the face-down in its own column!" Silver Star's other Link Monster flew over the Giant's set card and dropped a plasma bomb, blowing up the set card.

" _The card you destroyed was Krawler Dendrite."_ Aqua informed Silver Star. _"Because it was destroyed, the monster's effect can activate from the graveyard, summoning two more Krawlers from the field face-down."_

"No matter how many I destroy, they will just duplicate and come back." Silver Star said annoyed and took two cards from her hand. "I set two cards, turn end!"

As she finished, Silver Star gave me a nod. She had gotten rid of most Mekk-Knights for me and reduced the opponent's Life Points to below a thousand, all that I had to do was finish it on my next turn. I couldn't fail and disappoint both her and the two AIs living inside my Duel Disk. The first Giant then held out its arm again and four cards materialized in it. Another round of Mekk-Knight was coming up…

 **『** **Turn 6 [Data Giant 1] LP: 950 Hand: 4** **』**

The giant held out its arm and one of the set monsters on his field flipped face-up. Its name was _Krawler Spine (Lv.2, ATK: 300)_ and upon its flipping, the creature fired a red laser beam at AstroGear Auslöser Tiger. Silver Star's monster roared and exploded, sending flying debris in all sides. Apparently, Spine's effect was to destroy a monster when it got flipped, but why didn't Silver Star use Assistant's effect to negate it?

Just as I was wondering that; another face-down monster turned face-up. This time its name was _Krawler Axon (Lv.2, ATK: 500)_ and its effect was to destroy a Spell or Trap Card. Aha, so that's why Silver Star saved her monster's effect.

"I activate Assistant's effect to negate Elemental Lords of Gear's destruction." Silver Star clicked her fingers and Assistant's digital book flew in front of the Spell, protecting it from the insect.

The giant threw its arms up and a square opened above its head. Mekk-Knight Indigo Eclipse and Krawler Spine turned into whirlwinds that flew into the bottom arrows of the Link Square. Out of the circuit appeared a mecha-like monster with flame swords attached to its wrists. Its name was _Mekk-Knight of the Morning Star (ATK: 2000 + 300_ → _2300, Link-2)_. After that monster appeared on the field, the Giant Summoned _Mekk-Knight Green Horizond (Lv. 6, ATK: 2100 + 300_ → _2400)_ and a second Link Square appeared.

" _It seems that your enemy is starting to go all out."_ Aqua pointed out.

No joke. Green Horizond and Axon were the monsters that flew into the arrows this time and the second copy of _Mekk-Knight of the Morning Star (ATK: 2000 + 300_ → _2300, Link-2)_ appeared behind the first. And just when I thought that they were planning to attack with these monsters, the Gaint raised its arm forward. The data in the pool next to us began to raise and it turned into a mini typhoon. I recognize that program, it was,

" _They can use Storm Access!?"_ Firera yelled.

The Giant roared and pushed its claws into the data, pulling a card out of it. The Data Monster summoned its third square and sent both of its Link Monsters into it. This time, four of the Square's arrows were lighted up and a new monster came out. A human warrior clad in glowing blue armor with a large broadsword in its right arm. Its name was _Mekk-Knight Crusadia Astram (ATK: 3000, Link-4)_ and its type was Cyberse as well!?

" _Another Cyberse monster!"_ Firera pointed at their new ace.

" _And both of them are part of the deck as well."_ Aqua narrowed her eyes. _"That's not a random Link Monster these creatures found, it was made for them!"_

"You can think about this later." Silver Star interrupted them. "Because of the Field Spell, his monster will gain three hundred extra attack points."

 **Mekk-Knight Crusadia Astram, ATK: 3000 + 300** → **3300**

The creature pressed a card in their palm and it appeared on the field as a Continous Spell – _World Legacy Key_ , and according to its effect, the Giant could bring out any of its banished Mekk-Knight monsters, which included…

The ground began to tremble and the walls around us cracked, with the data in the pool becoming unstable. A moment later, a monster wearing a tattered cloak raised from the data. Its body was made from the weapons of all the Mekk-Knights we fought so far. Its name was _Mekk-Knight Spectrum Supreme (ATK: 3000 + 300_ → _3300, Link-3)_ , the now ex-boss of the Mekk-Knight archetype.

"I really hate when they get the big guns out." Silver Star sighed.

" _Be careful!"_ Aqua cried out.

"Raaawwwwrrrrrrhhhhh!" The skin that made the Giant's face tore apart and it roared at us. Or was that more of a scream that a roar? I couldn't tell!

The data that made up our enemies turned red, and they completely lost it starting to tear off the skin of their faces. One of them smashed the ground, cracking it, while the other tore a hole into the wall with its bare fist. My body instinctively took a step back as those AIs, no, those animals continued to tear apart the place.

"Maybe now is the time to run," I suggested.

"Sounds like a good idea." Silver Star nodded.

But the creatures heard us. They glared at us with their eyeless, torn faces and the first giant slammed its fist into the ground. Like it was some order, Astram swung its blade at Sola Exotic and unleashed a wave of blue energy that tore through the ground.

" _Astram's effect allows it to gain the same attack points as the monster it battles!"_ Firera shouted. _"If you take this attack, it's over!"_

"Because Spectrum is in the same column as my set card, I'll have to use the other one." Silver Star muttered. "Trap Open! _**Barrier of Gears**_! This card halves all the damage I would take from battles involving a LIGHT monster!"

* * *

 **Barrier of Gears (Trap) Continuous**

 **While you control an "oGear" monster(s), all damage you take from battles involving a monster with the same attribute as the "oGear" monster(s) you control is halved. During the damage step: You can banish this face-up card you control and 1 "oGear" card from your GY: You take no battle damage from this battle.**

* * *

Though Silver Star activated her trap to reduce the damage, her card wouldn't deal with the monster itself. Astram's attack reached Sola Exotic and cut the monster in half.

 **Mekk-Knight Crusadia Astram, ATK: 3300 + 2800** → **6100**

 **『** **Silver Star & Proxy LP: 2700 – 1650 **→ **1050** **』**

I screamed, my body was flung back from the power of the attack, crashing into the ground. I felt like a bolt of electricity surged out of my chest. This feeling, it was so painful, but it was so different from being pierced, cut, or crushed. It was as if my heart suddenly stopped beating!

" _Get up!"_ I heard Aqua shout at me.

I turned my head to the side and saw Silver Star there, fallen do on her knees while panting. Our eyes met for a moment and the edges of her mouth raised into a smile. How? How could she still be able to smile despite the dire situation we were in?

"There things, they're something else." She told me between her pants. "To be able to use Skills during duel… they'll be so much fun to beat!"

"How can you say that?" How could she be so calm? "They still got another thirty-three thousand attack points monster to attack us with, and you're smiling?"

"Heh, what're you expecting me to do?" she looked at me. "Tell me Proxy, what use would be to let despair and fear control you?"

" _Another attack is coming!"_ Firera warned us.

We turned toward the Giant. The monster gestured toward one of the Trap Cards on its field - World Legacy's Puppet. The card glowed and the monster set in the same column as Unknown flipped face-up, transforming into a giant golden insect with a red core and some black matter coming out of its body. _Deus X-Krawler (Lv.9, ATK: 2000)_ … that must be the Krawler archetype's true ace.

The insect glared at our monsters and scanned them with its red core. Instantly, Assistant and Unknown dropped on the ground, the glowing lights across their bodies dying down.

 **AstroGear Unterstützender Assistant, ATK: 1700 - 500** → **1200**

 **AstroGear Das Unknown, ATK: 2300 - 500** → **1800**

" _Dexu X-Krawler's ability negates the effects of all monsters we control when it's flipped face-up."_ Aqua pointed out.

"That means Das Unknown's boost was canceled out." Silver Star narrowed her eyes. "Just great."

"Raaaawwwwrrrgggghhhh!" The Giant roared and Spectrum Supreme flew over us, unleashing a rainbow-colored beam of energy at Unterstützender Assistant.

"I activate Barrier of Gears' second effect!" Silver Star threw her arm forward. "I banish both it and AstroGear Hinter der Sense from my graveyard to negate the damage from this battle!" Assistant moved in front of us and threw her digital book in front of us, creating a barrier to protect us while Silver Star's monster vanished.

"Raaaawwwwrrrgggghhhh!" The Giant roared again and Deus-X Krawler fired a beam out of its core, cutting Das Unknown in half. The Link 2 exploded and its remains flew at us, burning our avatars. It hurt, but it was nowhere near the last amount of damage that I was forced to take.

 **『** **Silver Star & Proxy LP: 1050 – 200 **→ **850** **』**

" _And we're still alive!"_ Fifera jumped out of my Duel Disk. _"All thanks to my strategic thinking!"_

"I don't think that Silver Star agrees with that." I looked over my partner. I believe it goes without saying that she carried me through the duel.

The monster roared once more and set the two cards in its hand. Well… Crap.

" _It's our turn now."_ Firera cracked her knuckles (should an AI be able to do that!?). _"Let's go, draw!"_ I obeyed, drawing.

 **『** **Turn 7 [Proxy] LP: 850 Hand: 3** **』**

"Now, unleashed the horror of the oGear series!" Firera ordered. "Activate AstroGear Auslöser Tiger's effect!"

"I activate AstroGear Auslöser Tiger's effect!" I shouted. "I banish the last Malnehmen in our graveyard to Special Summon it!" The white mecha-beast raised before me with a loud cry. "Then, I banish a card you control! I choose Mekk-Knight Spectrum Supreme!"

This way, I would remove the effect of World Legacy's Key that negated Silver Star's Trap Card.

Sadly, I was wrong. Immediately after I declared my move, the Giant activated its Counter Trap – _**Link Regroup**_. The card showed Gaia Saber the Lightning Shadow dodging a harmful effect by jumping to the side, and I already knew what the effect was by the artwork alone.

* * *

 **Link Regroup (Trap) Counter**

 **When a Link Monster you control would leave the field because of an opponent's card effect: You can move that monster to a different Main Monster Zone; negate that card's effect, and if you do, destroy it.**

* * *

Mekk-Knight Spectrum Supreme moved to the center Monster Zone, avoiding AstroGear Auslöser Tiger's effect, then fired a rainbow ray that incinerated our monster. Also, I believe that since it was a Counter Trap, Malnehmen's effect missed timing or something: I wasn't all that well informed about how things such as timing worked in this game.

" _What a disappointment."_ Firera shook their head. _"This won't be a challenge at all with the new Cyberse Update we made for your deck. Now, Summon BrioGear Drifting Bichir!"_

"I summon _**BrioGear Drifting Bichir**_!" A young woman with blonde hair and aqua blue eyes appeared on my field. She was wearing a long swamp-green dress with a series of around 18 small fins covering her back from the top to the bottom in a straight line. She also had golden gear-shaped accessories across her body, with two bracelets attached to her arms and legs, and a collar of the same color and shape wrapped around her neck. "And now I activate Drifting Bichir's effect! When it's summoned, I can target a WATER monster in my graveyard and Special Summon it with its effects negated and its attack points halved! Come back, _BrioGear Enhance Mermaid (ATK: 1700_ → _850, Link-2)_!"

* * *

 **BrioGear Drifting Bichir**

 **Level: 1/Attribute: WATER/Type: Cyberse/Tuner/Effect**

 **ATK: 0/DEF: 0**

 **Effect: When this card is Normal or Special Summoned, you can target 1 WATER monster in your GY: Special Summon that target in Attack Position with its effects negated and its original ATK halved. Sent that monster to the GY if this card leaves the field. If this card is discarded for the effect of a "BrioGear" card: You can draw 1 card.**

* * *

"Rrrrraaaahhhhhhh!" The second Giant roared, and the first one pointed at World Legacy's Puppet. The card glowed and their last set monster turned face-up. It was another Spine and this time it fired its beam at Bichir, blowing it up, while also sending Enhance Mermaid back to the grave.

"It failed!" I yelped. Even that play was countered…

" _At the contrary, it worked just like I hoped it would,"_ Firera stated and pointed at the center monster zone. _"Use the effect of BrioGear Crimson Stargirl!"_

"Right." I nodded, no pressure. Firera wasn't worried, so I shouldn't worry either. "I discard _**BrioGear Crimson Stargirl**_ to activate her effect! Since a BrioGear on my field left the field, I can discard this card to revive it! Come back once more, _BrioGear Enhance Mermaid (ATK: 1700, Link-2)_!"

A female monster with pink skin, crimson hair and dark blue eyes appeared on my field. She was wearing a sharp triangular red had over on her head and red dress with long shelves that split to the sides at the ends. Her legs were covered by black tights, which began red around the end and split to the sides, leaving her bare food. She winked and threw her arms to the side, summoning a black portal underneath herself. A stream of water shot out, washing Crimson Stargirl away as Enhance Mermaid came out of the water and landed on my field.

* * *

 **BrioGear Crimson Stargirl**

 **Level: 2/Attribute: WATER/Type: Cyberse/Effect**

 **ATK: 400/DEF: 800**

 **Effect: If a "BrioGear" monster(s) is sent from the field to the GY because of an opponent's card effect: You can discard this card; Special Summon as many monsters that were sent to the GY by that effect as possible. During damage calculation, if your "BrioGear" monster battles an opponent's monster while this card is in your GY (Quick Effect): You can banish this card from your GY, return a number of WATER Link Monsters from your GY to the Extra Deck to reduce the damage you would have taken from that battle equal to the total number of monsters returned x1000.**

* * *

" _And since another card was discarded, BrioGear Ark of Silence will gain a Life Counter."_ Aqua joined in. _"Now your monster will be stronger, Proxy!"_

 **BrioGear Enhance Mermaid, ATK: 1700 + 400** → **2100**

"Also, since a monster was revived from my graveyard, the effect of BrioGear Sailflying can now be activated." Firera pointed at another zone. "Summon it there."

"Am I just an extension for you?" I asked, but I wouldn't have a place to argue if we were going to win with her combo. "When a WATER monster is revived from my graveyard, I can also revive B _rioGear Sailflying (Lv. 3, DEF: 1400)_ , but it's going to be banished when it leaves the field!"

"Raarrrrr!" The Giant roared and activate its final set card – The Continuous Trap, _World Legacy Whispers_ , which increased the attack and defense of a Level 5 or higher monster by 1000, while also negating the effects of all Spell Cards in the same column as a Mekk-Knight. Deus-X Krawler roared as its ATK was increased and red electricity shot out of Elemental Lords of Gears, surrounding my card.

 **Deus-X Krawler, ATK: 2000 + 1000** → **3000, DEF: 3000 + 1000** → **4000**

" _Tch, they looked down the card knowing that I'll try to use it."_ Firera shook her head.

"But you're not done yet, right?" Silver Star crossed her arm.

" _Indeed, I'm not."_ Firera nodded and looked up at me. _"Tell me Proxy, do you know what you must do now?"_

"Um, no?" I had only one card left in my hand. I'm not sure how much of a difference it would make.

" _You didn't even try to think about it, did you?"_ Aqua sounded… disappointed. _"Please, focus."_

"No, it's alright." Firera raised her hand. _"She'll learn eventually, for now, we must win. Proxy, use the effect of the last card in your hand – BrioGear Amphibiana! By discarding it while you have three or more BrioGear cards in your graveyard, you can destroy a single Spell/Trap Card on the field! Target World Legacy Whispers!"_

"Ah, right!" If I destroyed the trap, then Elemental Lords of Gears' effect would be able to activate. "Ok, let's do this! I discard _**BrioGear Amphibiana**_ to destroy your trap!" A female monster with light blue skin, dark blue glassy eyes, and short white hair appeared in front of me.

She was wearing a long blue dress with white swipes, resembling lightning streaks. It was segmented into three, skirt-like parts, around its chest, abdomen, and knees. Below the dress, she was wearing white tights and there were six tendrils coming out of her back. The monster looked back at me and smiled before firing a charge of electricity out of her tendrils, destroying the annoying trap card, before fading away as well.

* * *

 **BrioGear Amphibiana**

 **Level: 3/Attribute: WATER/Type: Cyberse/Effect**

 **ATK: 1200/DEF: 500**

 **Effect: If you have 3 or more "BrioGear" monsters in your GY: You can discard this card; destroy 1 Spell/Trap Card your opponent controls. If a Set card you control is destroyed, you can target 1 Link Monster in your GY: Return this card to the bottom of your deck, and if you do, Special Summon that target with its effects negated.**

* * *

" _With this, our field spell is going to gain its third counter."_ Firera noted.

" _But more importantly that than, you can now use the symbol of the bond between us at its full capability!"_ Aqua turned toward me and put her hands on her chest. _"Please, Proxy, you know what you must do."_

"The new power that you made for me." I realized what Aqua was talking about. "I plead before the Elemental Lords of Gear to grand me their power! With their blessing, I'm able to evolve my Link Monsters! Appear, the spinning circuit of bonds!"

I threw my arm into the sky, the same way that Silver Star did and a bolt of blue electricity slipped past my fingers. Space itself began to tremble and it got torn apart as my new circuit appeared. Three aqua blue clock gears appeared in the air. Gears grinded, bolts of electricity danced across the edges of the new 'circuit' and a deep blue portal appeared inside the gears, creating a tunnel.

" _Rising tides, unchain the mortal body binding my monster and open the gates of the great ocean through an abysmal sacrifice!"_ Enhance Mermaid turned into pure energy and flew through the tunnel. _"Link-Up! Aim careful your bow of justice, the huntress overseeing the balance of the world!_ _ **Storm Serene the BrioGear Ranger**_ _!"_

A bolt of blue lightning fell from the gear-shaped portal and landed in front of me, transforming into a monster. My new Serene appeared in white armor. She had a dragon-shaped helmet without a mouth, two blue orbs glowed behind it and its back stretched out the sides and upward, covering her long blue hair that flowed freely out of the helmet. The rest of her armor was slimmer and for fitting with small shoulder plates and the gauntlets no longer resembling claws. A blue clock gear was attached to the middle of her back with two large dark blue blades jutting from its sides. Each of these blades had eight long aqua blue blades hanging from them in a way that formed two wings.

* * *

 **Storm Serene the BrioGear Ranger**

 **Attribute: WATER/Type: Cyberse/Link/Effect**

 **Link Marker: Bottom Left, Top, Bottom Right**

 **ATK: 2300/Link-3**

 **2+ WATER Effect Monsters**

 **Effect: If this card is Link Summoned: Your opponent must shuffle cards from their field into their deck, up to the total Link Rating of Link Monster(s) used as materials for this card's summon. When this card inflicts damage to your opponent, you can destroy 1 monster this card points to: Inflict half that monster's ATK to your opponent as damage, and if you do, this card can attack again.**

* * *

"A new Serene!?" Silver Star gasped.

"This is the symbol of my affliction with the Cyberse World!" I stated. "Let's go Serene! When my monster is Link Summoned, you must shuffle cards from your field to the deck, equal to the total Link Rating of Link Monsters used as materials for Storm Serene's debut! _**Torrential Tune**_!"

Since Enhance Mermaid was Link 2. Serene raised her head and hummed a soft tune that forced the Giant to return World Legacy's Secrets, and World Legacy Key back into their deck. No more bothersome effects to disturb my plays.

" _Since BrioGear Ark of Silence has three Life Counters, our monster gains six hundred attack points!_ " Firera pointed out.

 **Storm Serene the BrioGear Ranger, ATK: 2300 + 600** → **2900**

 **BrioGear Sailflying, ATK: 200 + 600** → **800**

"It's still weaker than their monsters." I bit my lips. Damn, if only I had two hundred more attack points…

"Use my Trap!" Silver Star called out. "Its effect is no longer locked down, you can activate it!"

"Thanks!" I pressed the card on my Duel Disk for more info: It was just what I needed to win! "I activate my Continuous Trap, _**AstroGear Paradiesisch Erfindung**_! Through this card's effect, I target a Link Monster on my field, and until the end of this turn, all monsters with higher Link Rating will have its effects negated!"

* * *

 **AstroGear Paradiesisch Erfindung (Trap) Continuous**

 **Activate this card by targeting 1 Link Monster you control; negate the effects of all monsters with Link Rating higher than that target until the end of this turn. All "oGear" Link Monsters on the field gain 400 ATK while this card is face-up on the field.**

* * *

Mekk-Knight Crusadia Astram dropped down on one knee, a yellow aura restraining its body. Now its effect could no longer steal my monsters' attack points and as a bonus, Storm Serene gained some extra attack power!

 **Storm Serene the BrioGear Ranger, ATK: 2900 + 400** → **3300**

"Now AstroGear Hinter der Sense's effect activate!" Silver Star stepped in. "By shuffling this banished card into the deck, we can revive a Link Monster from the graveyard. Come back, _BrioGear Enhance Mermaid (ATK: 1700, Link-2)_!"

" _And due to BrioGear Ark of Silence having three Life Counters, she gains six hundred more attack points!_ " Firera stated as a matter-of-factly.

 **BrioGear Enhance Mermaid, ATK: 1700 + 600** → **2300**

"I'll now activate Enhance Mermaid's effect! By halving the attack points of Sailflying, I can give the lost attack points to Storm Serene!" My Link 2 raised her hands to gesture at both of my monsters. Sailfying flew over to Serene and tapped her on the shoulder, smiling.

 **BrioGear Sailflying, ATK: 800/2** → **400**

 **Storm Serene the BrioGear Ranger, ATK: 3300 + 400** → **3700**

"Time to battle!" I threw my fist forward. "Storm Serene the BrioGear Ranger, attack Mekk-Knight Crusadia Astram!" The gear that held Serene's wings split open and a handle came out. She grabbed the gear and detached the wings from her back, holding them in front of herself. The blades that made her feathers, closed, giving her wings the form of a bow and a string of blue energy connected the two ends.

" _ **Lamenting Arrow**_!" A blue energy arrowed appeared in Serene's bow as she let go of the string and the projectile pierced right through Mekk-Knight Crusadia Astram's chest, destroying him.

 **『** **Giant 1 & Giant 2 LP: 950 - 400 **→ **550** **』**

"And now Storm Serene's effect activates!" I made a finger pistol and aimed it between the two Giant monsters. "When Storm Serene destroys a monster by battle, I can destroy a monster that's next to her arrow and inflict half of its attack power as damage to you! Be gone, Deus X-Krawler! _**Soul Blast of Deus X**_!"

A second arrow appeared in Serene's bow and she fired it through Deus X-Krawler's core, blowing up the monster.

 **『** **Giant 1 & Giant 2 LP: 550 - 1500 **→ **0** **』**

 **『** **Winner: Silver Star & Proxy** **』**

The Giants' bodies turned black and they collapsed on the ground, unmoving. I can't believe it. I won! I beat them! I feel so powerful!

"It seems that you've been growing much faster with the Ignis by your side." Silver Star commented and threw something at me. I caught it, of course.

"Elemental Lords of Gear? Why're you giving the card to me?" Not that I was ungrateful, but it was surprising for me that Silver Star would give me one of her most powerful cards.

"It's a prototype." Silver Star stated. "I put it in my deck for a test run, but it seems that your deck would be able to make good use of that card as well. Take it as a gift for your growth as a duelist."

"Thank you!" I would be sure to treasure this card, the same way I treasure everything that Aqua and Firera made for me.

" _Can we move on?"_ Aqua asked. _"I don't like this place."_

" _We should check those creatures first."_ Firera pointed at our fallen enemies. _"Cyberse Monsters and the ability to use the same Skill program as an Ignis, those things aren't something that SOL could create."_

 **Beep!**

What the…?

 **Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!**

"They're going to blow up!" Silver Star yelled, pulling me by the arm.

I followed after her, but then there was a loud explosion behind us and something hit me from behind with the force of a train. I gasped, falling face-first on the shaking ground. What was happening? There was so much noise and moving, I caught a glimpse of Silver Star lying next to me before everything began to turn darker. Before I realized what was happening, something fell on top of me and everything turned black.

* * *

"Roxy!" Kusanagi shouted, slamming his fist against the table.

" _Oh no!"_ Ai screeched and began to quickly look at the screens before them. _"We lost signal with them, what's going on?"_

"I don't know. Something disrupted the signal and I can't get it back online!" Kusanagi couldn't believe that this was happening. First Yusaku, now Roxy too.

" _I can't get a signal from Aqua either."_ Ai gulped. _"Something bad must have happened! I knew it, I knew that it would be dangerous to go there!"_

Kusanagi closed his eyes, thinking about Roxy, about the mission. He had devoted his life to avenging his brother, but he has always been too weak to do it on his own. He felt so useless right now. He and Playmaker were supposed to be a team, to help each other out, but he was unable to do anything except watch as his most trusted friend was toyed with and defeated by PhantomFire. He was the one who first accepted Roxy to join their team and who talked Yusaku into it, only for everything to go downhill.

Why did hope forsake him? To lose all of his allies like this, what crimes was he atoning for? Playmaker, Roxy, he was about to lose all of them and none of the hacking skills that he learned through years of researching could change that. His goal to stop the Knights of Hanoi and tell the truth to his brother was so close, yet so far away.

"Yusaku."

The teen, who was staring at the screens, turned his eyes to glance at his partner.

"I know you said that it's over, but one last time." Kusanagi turned toward the Cyberse Duelist. "Please, be Playmaker for one last time!"

If he would give up on this quest for vengeance, if he would forsake Jin and everyone else who was hurt by the Hanoi Project, Kusanagi won't try to stop him. He didn't have the right to push Yusaku back into that nightmare he was trying to escape. But Roxy, she was innocent. It was them that pulled her into this, they didn't have the right to forsake her.

"I…" Yusaku paused for a moment, then shook his head. "I'm sorry, Kusanagi."

"Sorry?!" Kusanagi snapped. "You'll just leave and abandon everyone because of a single lost?!"

"It's not just a lost…" Yusaku gritted his teeth. Out of all the people in the world, Kusanagi should understand the best what it meant for him to lose.

"I know that it's far more than a loss!" Kusanagi yelled. "But do you even listen what you're saying? Can you really walk away, leaving Roxy there? Can you let these nightmares of the past get in the way of doing what's right?"

" _No, he can't,"_ Ai commented.

"Shut up." Yusaku glared at the Ignis, but the AI remained unfazed by the boy's threatening look. "You don't know anything about me!"

" _I do."_ Ai corrected him. _"In fact, I know more about you than you might think. You and I, we're one and the same. Yes, I know that this might sound like an insult to you, the great Playmaker, being compared to a useless AI such as myself, but when I was born, there was one thing from you that I inherited. It's your sense of justice."_

"You don't know what I've gone through." Yusaku retorted.

" _You're right."_ Ai agreed. _"I'll never relate to your pain, but I want you to hear me out. My life in the Cyberse World was all fooling around and getting on the others' nerves. None of them liked me, and I can't say that I'm very fond of the other Ignis either, but when Hanoi attacked us and imprisoned everyone else, I stepped in to save them. I risked my life for them, and do you know why I did it?"_

"I don't care." Yusaku grabbed his bag and jacket. He wouldn't listen anymore!

" _It's because something in me told me that I had to!"_ Ai shouted. _"It was something uncharacteristic for me, a feeling that turned all of my cowardliness into braveness! A feeling powerful enough to overwrite the programming of an Ignis – it was your sense to protect others, Playmaker!"_

"…" Yusaku reached to open the door of the truck, but his hand stopped once it grabbed the handle.

" _Despite how irrational, how foolish and dangerous for you and your mission it was, you never turned your back to those who needed help, did you?"_ Ai kept going. _"What caused this, huh? Was it just to stroke your own ego as Playmaker, was it for the publicity? No, you did it because it was the right thing to do because deep inside your heart, there was still a piece of your past big enough to pull you toward those too weak to fight for themselves!"_

"…"

Yusaku dropped his jacket and bag on the ground. With one swift movement, the Cyberse Duelist grabbed the Duel Disk and opened the door at the back of the van, slamming it behind himself.

"I can't believe it," Kusanagi muttered under his breath and turned back to the screens with a smile. "Maybe Ai really is the past that Yusaku was fighting so hard to obtain."

* * *

" _Final Vulnerable Code_!"

"Hyyyyyyyaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!"

O.N.I stared unfazed as Ghost Girl was flung off her D-Board and slammed in the wall before falling on the ground in front of the AI. The Artificial Intellect's duty was to record and report to her master what was happening, Ghost Girl's safety wasn't a priority.

 **『** **Ghost Girl LP: 2500 - 2500** → **0** **』**

 **『** **Winner: Revolver** **』**

" _It appears that your opponent's deck has been drastically altered after their fight with Playmaker."_ O.N.I stated.

"Y-you figured that out now?" Ghost Girl turned toward the AI. "It's over for me, isn't it? But importantly for that, make sure that Evan gains this. This is the most incredible treasure I've acquired."

The screen of Ghost Girl's Duel Disk glowed and a single firefly flew out of it, landing on O.N.I's palm. The AI absorbed all of the data and looked back at the human, nodding.

"Take this data out of here as fast as you can." Ghost Girl warned her. "Let the rest know, that something is happening in LINK VRAINS."

"All of the data has been sent over to our base." O.N.I stated. "Thanks for the help."

"Heh, getting important data for you really is the only thing I'm good for, isn't it?" Ghost Girl chuckled. Her body slowly turning into red data as it began to fade away. "You recorded the Duel, right?"

"Indeed, now master will know about the terrifying card." O.N.I. nodded.

Ghost Girl smiled behind her mask and closed her eyes. In just a few moments, all of her senses were cut off and the remaining of her avatar was confused by the dark core, leaving no trace of the treasure hunter.

"To think that an AI of all things wouldn't show up here." Revolver commented, jumping off his D-Board. "You appear too advanced to be made by SOL."

" _You don't truly care, do you?"_ O.N.I took a step back. _"What did you do with the human?"_

"She became the foundation to save the world from your kind." Revolver replied. "She won't come back."

"The Tower of Hanoi, is that what you call it?" O.N.I titled her head to the side.

"You…" Revolver's empty yellow eyes narrowed. Now it was his turn to be cautious. "How do you know that name?"

" _I know it because my master installed that information inside of me."_ O.N.I stated. _"You should know, a user going by the username PhantomFire. Or maybe, you should do your research better next time, Mr. Kogami."_

Revolver clenched his fist. How could a stupid AI know his true identity?

Tendrils emerged from the core behind the Knight of Hanoi and shot out upward, breaking through the walls, tearing the processing center apart. Angered, but not having time to deal with the AI, Revolver jumped off the ledge and onto his D-Board.

O.N.I closed its eyes. _"I did as you ordered."_ The AI transmitted. _"Picaro'll no longer be an obstacle in your plan, master."_

* * *

" _That must be the right place!"_ Ai exclaimed.

Playmaker nodded. The Cyberse Duelist ran through the sewers, following the Ignis' instructions. He only stopped, once he came across a large pile of debris blocking his path. Pausing for a moment, Playmaker looked around the place, there were traces of something cutting through and slamming the ground.\, the walls and the remains of the ceiling had cracks all over them.

" _Wah!"_ Ai screeched, catching Playmaker's attention. _"That's the place, Playmaker. That's where Aqua and Roxy's signal disappeared!"_

"If that's the place then…" Playmaker's expression hardened.

The Cyberse Duelist walked over the pile of debris and began to pull off the pieces, throwing them into the poll of data. Not letting his partner do all the work, Ai turned into its monster form and began to eat away through the debris, throwing away the pieces that were too big to fit in its mouth. Piece after piece, eventually a hand appeared from underneath all the debris – unmoving.

Trying to hold back any negative thoughts, Playmaker continued to remove the debris, digging out two bodies. Both belonging to girls. Even though LINK VRAINS didn't allow for damage to affect an avatar's appearance, their outfits were torn and their bodies were covered in bruises. But why was neither of them reacting? Playmaker felt his heart sinking at the sight of Proxy, lying motionless in the debris. Reaching out with trembling arms, the Cyberse Duelist wrapped them around his sidekick, pulling her into a hug.

He was too late.

He allowed his own hurt ego to get in the way of his rational thought and because of that Proxy paid the price. It was his duty to go to possible dangerous places, he had the experience to deal with it, but he declined to do it, forcing the girl to walk into her own demise.

It was his fault!

 _ **Cough!**_

Eyes open wide, Playmaker looked at Proxy. The girl coughed a few more times and slowly opened her eyes, to look at him. Playmaker prepared himself mentally for what was to come, the insults, the anger, and the crying.

But instead, he was met with a warm smile.

"What took you… so long?" Proxy tried to saying something teasing, despite how much she was hurting.

"I'm sorry." Playmaker looked away. He couldn't bear watching her smile at him like this; he didn't deserve such warm words.

"It's… not a problem." Proxy replied. "You… came… that's… what matters."

"My head…" Silver Star groaned, standing back up. "Why weren't we logged out from the damage?"

" _It must be this place that messed up with the system."_ Aqua popped out of Proxy's Duel Disk.

" _You're alive!"_ Ai shouted and leaped off Playmaker's Duel Disk with open arms.

Only for the WATER Ignis to quickly return back into the Duel Disk, causing the DARK Ignis to miss his target and fall face-first on the ground.

" _No hugging,"_ Aqua stated. _"You took too long to come."_

" _I'm sorry!"_ Ai fell on his knees. _"But it took me time to make my stubborn partner to agree!"_

" _Ha, excuses!"_ Firera joined in, crossing her arms.

" _I'm being honest!"_

Proxy chuckled at the AIs behavior and turned back to Playmaker. She didn't expect him to come and save her. His behavior was puzzling her, who forced him to log back into LINK VRAINS?

"What made you change your mind, Playmaker?" She finally asked, unable to hold back her curiosity.

"A realization." Playmaker stated. He looked down at his sidekick and smiled a bit. "I realized that there was more to why I became Playmaker than revenge. Now I've got a new goal before me, to stop the Knights of Hanoi, so that no one else would be hurt by their actions ever again."

"Then, let's work together to achieve your goal, Playmaker!" Proxy held out her arm.

"Yeah…" Playmaker nodded and took his sidekick's hand. "Let's do it, together."

" _I see that everyone else has come here as well."_

O.N.I jumped through a crack in the ceiling and landed next to the group.

" _Another AI?"_ Firera raised an eyebrow, while Ai flew over to Playmaker and landed inside his Duel Disk.

"Is that an enemy?" Playmaker asked.

"An ally." Silver Star corrected, steepening between O.N.I and the rest. "Her name is O.N.I, she's our new AI helper."

"What about Masou?" Proxy asked. "Wasn't he a helper AI as well?"

"Masou was destroyed when the Knights of Hanoi attacked our server." Silver Star shrugged. "He didn't tell you because we didn't want to make you or Blaze Rose worry about it."

"That sounds like a piece of important information to hide!" Proxy protested.

" _I'm sorry for interrupting you, but it's best to log out right now."_ O.N.I interjected. _"The Knights of Hanoi have activated a dangerous device inside the processing center. Ghost Girl was defeated by Revolver himself when she tried to get more information about it."_

"Revolver is here!?" Playmaker gritted his teeth.

" _He already left."_ O.N.I shook its head. _"I suggest you do the same if you don't plan to follow Ghost Girl's demise."_

The three duelists looked at each other and nodded before pressing the log out button on their Duel Disks, disappearing.

* * *

"So, it's finally here?" Evan asked from his office.

The DARK Duelist watched on his computer screen as the buildings in LINK VRAINS began to fall apart, and the entire city server got destroyed. Afterward, a beam of light shot out of the ground and into the sky with purple tendrils wrapping themselves around it.

It was Hanoi's ultimate plan, a device which would put an end of the world the way humanity knew it.

Evan closed the window and looked out of the window, smiling.

"It took you a while to get that Tower running, didn't it?" Evan spoke to no one in particular. "Checkmate. I win."

* * *

 **I know that posting two chapters at once is breaking my style but I felt that putting these two together was the best decision, so Ta-da! Now, I know that people would probably critique me for giving Playmaker's trauma back only to deal with it two chapters later, but really... He seems to be mature enough to be able to deal with his problems. The only thing that truly held him back from moving on was his quest for revenge, a plot-point that I feel was dropped all to suddenly during the Tower of Hanoi Arc. So instead of the Revolver nonsense, I believe that having Ai, the past that was "stolen" from him give Yusaku a reality check was a better choice.**

 **Anyway, with this, we're officially going to the Tower of Hanoi Arc, with which, we'll end this first season of Destiny Gears. What's going to happen, you might wonder? Well, fear not, as I've got Chapter Previews for most of the arc.**

 **Chapter** **35:** **Court of Betrayal**

 **Summary:** The ominous Tower of Hanoi appears above a devastated LINK VRAINS and begins to convert the remaining users into data. In this moment of crisis, Playmaker, the Gear Duelists, and the Charisma Duelists all join forces against the Knights of Hanoi. With their secrets compromised, Revolver began to dwell into PhantomFire's data and finds a link between him and Picaro. Determined to destroy anything standing before his father's plan, the leader of Hanoi comes face to face with Picaro and a duel ensues.

 **Chapter** **36:** **Puppets' Last Dance**

 **Summary:** Going through the ruins of LINK VRAINS, Proxy and Blaze Rose are first to come across one of Hanoi's last activate members – MetalX. Using the new tactics and capabilities of his updated Six Samurai deck, the warrior drives both of his opponents into a corner. At the same time, Blue Angel comes across an old acquaintance. Determined to end all of their differences once and for all, Nulline launch a merciless assault on the idol.

 **Chapter** **37:** **Darkness Spawning Through Ages**

 **Summary:** Interested in the mysterious duelist that took down ten of Hanoi's strongest members, Specter appears in front of PhantomFire holding one of his allies as a hostage. Meanwhile, in order to save LINK VRAINS from destruction, Playmaker heads to the Tower of Hanoi, however standing in his way is the last of Picaro's teammates – Heliac. Using a strategy similar to that of Specter, the young Knight of Hanoi uses Proxy as a shield. Unable to attack, Playmaker and PhantomFire are slowly driven into a corner by their opponents, but then a sinister laugh echoes through the air…

 **Chapter** **38:** **The Seventh Bullet**

 **Summary:** The Tower of Hanoi is getting closer to completion, gradually absorbing everything in LINK VRAINS. Having been freed, Proxy joins PhantomFire as the two infiltrate the demonic fortress. In there, they find Dr. Kogami's final secret weapon meant to ensure Tower of Hanoi's success, which is…

 **Chapter** **39:** **Hero and Sidekick's Hope**

 **Summary:** Having overcome and the last defense standing between her and the Tower's control center, Proxy makes her way toward it, but Revolver appears to stop her. With no choice but to fight, Proxy and Playmaker join forces against Revolver, who, having accepted the last gift left behind by his father, is now more powerful than ever!

 **This Arc will go up to chapter 41, but I'm not going to post previews for the last two parts, for obvious reasons. I can say is, except something that you've never witnessed in a VRAINS fanfic. Or maybe you have, I'm not familiar with EVERY fanfiction that was written on the internet.**

 **Thanks to** Zaconator and Zackis **,** **and** SoulMatter **for favoriting this story.**

 **Thanks to everyone else for reading this story and** **'Till next time!**

 **Diabolic Tracer out!**


	35. Chapter 35

Court of Betrayal

" _Is that Hanoi's endgame?"_ Aqua asked.

Currently, I, Avice, Vermilya, and Evan were in the garage on the first floor of the Greysons' house, watching as a massive tower with a purple core was converting everything within LINK VRAINS into data, including the users that were desperately trying to run away from it. I couldn't stand it, so I turned toward another screen that was currently being used for a live chat with Kusanagi and Yusaku. Even they were staring at the thing that happened in LINK VRAINS with terror in their eyes. It was awful and the part that made it worse from the Another Incident was that this time, users couldn't escape from it!

"The Knights of Hanoi finally went and took control over LINK VRAINS, didn't they?" Evan said. He and Avice were the only people among us that remained unfazed by the horrific scene.

"Did you expect that to happen?" Kusanagi asked.

"I expected it to happen a lot sooner." What!? I glared at Evan. "I told SOL multiple times that they should update their defenses, but they didn't want to hear about it, so it was to be expected from a hacker group such as Hanoi to take control of the platform."

"Isn't there anything we can do to stop it?" Yusaku asked. "If you expected this to happen, you must have prepared some form of defense against it."

"The Knights of Hanoi are better programmers than you think." So what? We had to just watch as LINK VRAINS and everyone inside disappeared? "Your only way to end this is by facing the enemy head-on, Playmaker." Evan stepped forward and placed a black flash drive into the computer. "Here's all of the data that my scout AI and Ghost Girl have been able to gather before this tower appeared. If you're able to scan it, then we might have a fighting chance."

" _Alright, I and Kusanagi will do our best!"_ Ai appeared on the screen and waved at us.

" _I and Firera won't just stay back and let the Dark Ignis do all of the work."_ Aqua popped out of my Duel Disk with Firera following suit.

"I'll help out as well." Avice joined in. "There needs to be a person to watch things on this end while the rest of you're in LINK VRAINS, right?"

Everyone was working together to stop Hanoi's plan. I was only disappointed in myself for not being able to help out more than what I was doing, but our roles would be important as well. Playmaker, PhantomFire, Blaze Rose and I, we would be the last group of users able to fight against Revolver and the Knights of Hanoi. In the past, if I have heard a superhero movie with this kind of summary, I would have laughed at how silly it sounded, but now I realized that the things shown on the screen were more relatable than what I thought. Maybe not in the literal sense of the word, but now I realize what it's what to be fighting for something you believe in, to have people who believe in your abilities and whom you want to protect from harm.

"So, any last minute additions you want to give us before we jump into the eye of the storm?" Vermilya looked back at Evan.

"I haven't made any new oGear cards for anyone in this room," Evan stated, putting on his Duel Disk. "You'll have to count on the cards you have from before. The Knights of Hanoi now have Picaro on their side and he knows all about us, so be extra careful when you run into a Knight of Hanoi, understood?"

"Right!" I and Vermilya nodded. Picaro was going to be our biggest problem going into VRAINS, wouldn't he? Hopefully, I wouldn't have to face off against him, but if it came down to it, I would do everything I can in order to stop Hanoi's plan from succeeding!

" _The analysis is finished!"_ Ai exclaimed. That was definitely a fast analyst, but with two Ignis on our side, it wasn't a surprise to hear that Ai and Aqua did a fast job. We all looked at the new information and… I didn't understand anything but judging by everyone else's surprised expressions, it wasn't anything good!

"So that's why it's called the Tower of Hanoi," Evan commented, crossing his arms.

"Tower of Hanoi?" Kusanagi blinked. "Like the Hanoi game?"

"Legends say that when the Hanoi's game ends, the world will be destroyed," Yusaku commented. Wow, that was quite the legend to base a game around.

"If my memories on the subject are good, then these rings around the tower must be substituted for discs." Avice clicked a few buttons, opening a blueprint of the giant structure. "And what do you know, the pillar expands from the underground erasing system that we visited."

" _Worse than that, the top is connected to LINK VRAINS network,"_ Kusanagi added. "The pillar's lighted portion is the erasing system's core. Since appearing in LINK VRAINS, this core has continued to absorb the surrounding data."

" _That's a huge amount of data!"_ Ai cried out.

" _And that's bad news."_ Firera crossed her arms, um, claws. _"It's not slowing down either. From the look of it, Hanoi's plan must be to release high-density data to external networks."_

"Um, and that's bad because?" I scratched the back of my head. "They will release data, not erase it, right?"

"It's bad because systems can't withstand such a high-density data." Evan looked at the screen, but his hands clenched into fists. "Programs connected to the networks will begin to vanish, power plants will shut down, all the important hospital equipment will be rendered useless, instantly killing any patient who needs them in order to live. Even transportation will be affected, planes will fall from the sky and traffic will become a bloody nightmare. All of the technology that humanity once used to survive would be rendered useless."

That sounded like a nightmare. Planes falling from the sky, people screaming and running with upside down vehicles and bodies covering the streets. Only an insane person would go so far to destroy six defenseless AIs!

" _But we're safe as long as we don't connect to the net."_ Ai pointed out.

" _I wouldn't believe that."_ Aqua shook her head. _"If they're willing to go so far in order to destroy us, I'm sure that they have a plan for that possibility as well."_

"The high-density data will take down major devices in a chain reaction," Kusanagi informed us. "The resulting pulse will be magnified and transmitted."

"The tower will act as a makeshift EMP weapon." Avice leaned back in the chair. "In other words, even if a device isn't connected to the network, it's still going to be affected by it."

"How long do we have before the Tower's activation?" I asked.

"With this shape, it'll create six rings, one per hour," Kusanagi explained.

"Then there's no time to waste," Vermilya stated. "I'm unable to contact any of the users in my friend list, including Shining Ruby. This means that they must have already been turned into data."

"Then we don't have any time to waste," Evan said and looked at the live chat. "Playmaker, are you ready to team up with us for this one?"

"Despite what happened, I can't let Hanoi do as they please," Yusaku stated before nodding. "Working together is the only way we have a chance against all of Hanoi's remaining members."

"The team-up of the century only here, in Den City!" Avice joked from her position. "Ok, boys and girls, me and Kusanagi will control the things from here and send you updates about the status of the Tower of Hanoi. Make sure to get there in one piece, everyone."

"Right!" Everyone nodded. We all held out or Duel Disks and placed our decks inside of them. "Into the VRAINS!"

* * *

 **3** **rd** **POV**

Inside the dark room of Hanoi's base, Revolver had already assembled the remaining Knights for their last mission. Picaro, MetalX, Nulline, and Heliac were waiting for their orders and Specter had just returned after he was ordered to take out the trash called Kitamura.

This was the final line for all of them and every person in that room knew about it. By a coincidence or not, destiny gathered these duelists to stand side by side as their names went down the history as the ones who caused the destruction of the network. Or that was how Revolver was seeing the situation. But in reality, he was surrounded by hungry wolves, who waited for a chance to backstab him, with his only defense being Specter, his ever so royal servant, and friend.

"Today is the last time we'll see each other." Revolver began, looking over the remaining Knights of Hanoi. "I know that each one of you joined this group for one reason or another. I'm not going to question your goals, nor will I try and stop you if you want to quit now. After all, it's too late for anyone of you to really make a difference."

Specter remained next to Revolver silently, watching the remaining members. Picaro turned toward the rest of his team and all of them nodded before everyone turned toward Revolver.

"We joined to ensure humanity's future," Picaro said. "This hasn't changed now. I can promise to you that all of us, will fight to the end for humanity's sake."

"I see…" Revolver muttered, looking away. "Playmaker and his comrades are soon going to enter LINK VRAINS, I want all of you to go out there and slow them down as much as possible."

"Your order will be followed." Picaro bowed with his allies following him.

It was part of their plan. MetalX, Nulline, and Heliac would go outside, fight against the enemy and get Revolver's attention off Picaro, who would use the chance to take over the Tower of Hanoi and free his friends if they suffered defeat by the hands of Playmaker and PhantomFire's team. It was a plan that they had carefully tried to shape into motion for the last months, hiding in the shadows so that no one would listen to their plans.

Revolver waved them off with his hand and the four knights bowed one final time before they left the main room. Heliac and Nulline walked down the barely lit corridor without saying a word. They knew that Kogami and Revolver have installed cameras to watch the Knights and ensure that no one was leaking information. But that system did have a few blind spots, and once they came near it, MetalX and Picaro slowed down. The Samurai duelist pulled out a small chip and pressed it against Picaro's black claw.

It was their perfected and fully customized version of the Another Virus, one that would need a differently coded cure to be deactivated. Picaro looked at his claws, long, sharp, with them he would be able to take down the remaining Knights without the need to get close.

"Use this to eliminate Specter and Revolver while they aren't watching," MetalX warned. "Dr. Kogami alone won't be able to stop us. Also, make sure to use the force-back command to teleport us back on the tower before you fire all of the data at the gate."

"With this, the goal that all of us united behind will finally be achieved," Picaro stated, lowing his claws. "I'm sorry for everything I made you do until now, for making you join the Knights of Hanoi, for making you eliminate innocent people to keep our plans a secret, no matter how much I apologize, it won't be enough. So instead, I want to now thank you for standing by my side so long. Without friends like you to back me up in this war, I would have surely collapsed."

"Don't say that." MetalX smiled. "We all joined you because what you proposed to us, was a dream worth fighting for. If it means creating a world where children won't have to suffer for the greed of adults, then all the bad things we had to do were justified."

"In order to create a world where Miyu could be happy and with all of her friends, I'm ready to give up my own life!" Nulline added.

"To ensure that people would no longer be used as puppets for the pleasure of the men standing at the top." Picaro continued, clenching his claws into a fist. "Ok everyone, be careful out there. Even though I'm going to rescue anyone who's fallen to the Tower of Hanoi, I don't want to witness any of you getting defeated by our enemies."

"Understood."

MetalX, Nulline, and Heliac nodded, a green circle appeared under their feet and the trio teleported away. Their victory was so close, yet it had such a bitter taste. If only he had the ability to postpone the activation of the Tower of Hanoi, Picaro would have used that power in order to help reunite Roxy with her family. Sadly, the world didn't care about the wishes of the small people. Sighing, Picaro turned his back and headed off toward a different location.

* * *

 **Proxy's POV**

We all gathered inside LINK VRAINS. The place looked like a ghost town with no one but our little group remaining behind to fight against the Knights of Hanoi. The Tower of Hanoi was in clear sight before us, looking so small and insignificant due to the large distance between us and it, but able to cause so much destruction.

"We shouldn't waste any time." Playmaker instructed us. "We must be moving."

"Wait." PhantomFire walked before him, stopping Playmaker. "Not everyone is here, the other two should come soon."

"Other two?" I raised an eyebrow; who was he referring to?

"Playmaker!" someone shouted from the left and we turned to see Go Onizuka running toward us.

"Go Onizuka." Playmaker said.

"And not just him." PhantomFire stepped to the side and gestured behind himself.

"So you predicted that I would join?" Blue Angel stepped forward and looked at PhantomFire with a smile.

"Why are you here?" Playmaker asked, looking between the two Charisma Duelists.

"That's what I was going to say." Go spoke up and pointed at Blue Angel. "Especially you, Blue Angel. I thought that you only fought for yourself."

"I learned something from my Duels." Blue Angel replied. "There're people believing in me, so I have to fight for them. And more importantly. There're people very close to me that I must fight for, and a friend to whom I must show the light. That's what Blue Angel fights for from now on!"

"I'm the same." Go stated. "There's a friend who I must save by defeating Hanoi. It's my mission as LINK VRAINS' hero to protect this place!"

"I'm sorry for what happened to Makoto." Blaze Rose stepped up and put a hand on Go's shoulder. Was there something that happened without my knowledge? "I promise to help you with everything I can in this fight."

"Thanks." Go smiled a bit.

"And I promise to help everyone with the best I can," I added. Even though I was easily the weakest Duelist in this group, I would do my best not to be dead weight.

"What about the rest of you?" Blue Angel looked at the rest of us. "Why are you here?"

"For three reasons." Playmaker responded. "One, I'll stop the Tower of Hanoi that's causing this. Second, I'll rescue Ghost Girl who gave us info about that tower." I saw PhantomFire rolling his eyes at that one. "And third, I must end it with the person behind this incident."

Blue Angel's expression turned more worried and she spoke up again. "Did something happen to Ghost Girl?"

"She got herself beaten by Revolver," PhantomFire stated. "He also turned her into data the same way that he did to the rest of the people in LINK VRAINS."

"No way." Blue Angel covered her mouth.

"But we should be going now." PhantomFire sighed and turned toward the rest of us. "For those who weren't with us before, the information you need to know is that Revolver plans to use the Tower of Hanoi to destroy the entire network, along with the consciousness of everyone he captured, including the victims of the Another incident."

"The only way to stop is by defeating Revolver." Playmaker added.

" _Our time limit is six hours."_ Ai pointed out.

" _Everyone, please do your best in this fight!"_ Aqua placed her hands over her chest.

"The rest of you should go home." Playmaker stated. "It's too dangerous for you."

"Sorry, Playmaker, but I must decline." Blaze Rose crossed her arms. "We're all here for our own reasons. Among everyone here, at least you or PhantomFire should be able to defeat Revolver."

"Hey!" Go shouted. "What about the rest of us?"

"Sorry, Go." Blaze Rose sighed. "Revolver is too powerful for someone like you or me. The best we can do is make sure that the other Knights of Hanoi won't get in the way."

"Sorry, but I'm not here to face off against Revolver." PhantomFire closed his eyes. "There are other things that need to be taken care of in LINK VRAINS. The best I can do right now is support you, but defeating Revolver would have to fall on someone else's shoulders."

"Then we'll add do our best to end this with our own strength!" Blue Angel stated.

"Once all of this is done, let's all of us meet once more," I added.

Everyone looked back at me and smiled, well, except for Playmaker of course. Afterward, each one of us headed down different roads with me following behind Blaze Rose. I only looked back once and saw PhantomFire standing there, waiting.

* * *

 **3** **rd** **POV**

Back to the Tower of Hanoi, Picaro was at the core, typing all of the access codes that Kogami had put into his super weapon to ensure that it wouldn't be stopped easily. Unfortunately, the dark knight didn't have the chance to inject Revolver or Specter with his updated Another virus – both of them had left the main room right after Picaro and his team did, leaving the TurboGear Duelist to wonder where they have gone.

But that wasn't his main concern at the moment. If he took control of the Tower, he would be able to turn them into data without the need of the Another virus. Typing away the last access code, Picaro pressed the enter button and waited for the machine to accept it.

 _["Access Denied!"]_

"What?" Picaro's eyes widened behind his mask for a moment. "I see, so that's how it's going to be?" Kogami trusted him, even more than he did in Revolver. The old man wouldn't give false codes to Picaro, which left only one possible culprit.

"I must say that I'm not surprise to find you here, traitor." A voice called from behind, prompting Picaro to turn around and face Revolver.

"You never trusted me, did you?" Picaro asked. "I've miscalculated you, I always thought you disliked me because Dr. Kogami trusted me more than he trusted you, but I never thought that you would see me as an enemy because of that."

"You know, as well as I, why we're here." Revolver narrowed his eyes. "Since the day you joined the Knights of Hanoi, I knew that there was something more to you, something deceitful. I didn't deal with you until now because of how useful you were, but now that your use is done and I have the proof needed, I can eliminate you without remorse."

"Eliminate me?" Picaro tilted his head to the side. "And proof? What're you talking about, Revolver?"

"I've been looking into your past records since you joined us," Revolver admitted. "But recently, I found some information that _someone_ has tried to get rid of. Data about a Charisma Duelist called Rocketeer, the apprentice of a user called PhantomFire."

"I see, now…" It all made sense for Picaro. Revolver was peeved by PhantomFire interrupting his plans, so he began to research him and found out about the link between Rocketeer and PhantomFire. What didn't match with his story was the data. According to Revolver, someone tried to delete it, but Picaro never had any interest in hiding his past from Hanoi.

"You've been manipulated, Revolver." Picaro sighed and raised his claw, activating the Duel Disk that was attached directly the wrist. "Can't say that I'm surprised, you've been nothing more than a puppet throughout your entire life."

"I'm enlightenment." Revolver stated, raising his left arm, with the Duel Disk glowing. "Unlike you, I know what danger awaits humanity if the Tower of Hanoi falls."

"Danger? Is that how you justify destroying an entirely new species? A species that YOUR father created?" Picaro asked. "Just call them dangerous because they're better than you then attack them! Hey fool, if they're really as powerful as you believe, won't they be able to stop the attack? Won't they have retaliated during the five years in which you kept searching for the Cyberse World?"

"You're just a fool." Revolver stated. "A dangerous fool that I'm going to feed to the Tower of Hanoi!"

"Duel!" the two Duelist shouted, a Master Duel Field appeared between them.

 **『** **Picaro LP: 4000, Hand: 5 (VS) Revolver LP: 4000, Hand: 5** **』**

"I'm going to take the first turn!" Picaro declared. "When there're no monsters on my field, I can Normal Summon _TurboGear Carrier (Lv.5, ATK: 1200)_ without any tributes!" A slim robot covered in light green armor appeared in the middle zone.

"Your deck relies on the opponent having monsters to attack." Revolver noted. "Your TurboGear deck focuses on taking battle damage to develop its strategies, why would you choose to take the first turn?"

"The deck I have is much more than what you've seen." Picaro pointed out, pressed two other cards in his hand. "I'm going to set two cards and end my turn! Now show me, how much better you're!"

"Gladly. My turn, draw!"

 **『** **Turn 2 [Revolver] LP: 4000 Hand: 6** **』**

"First, I'm going to Normal Summon _Sniffer Dragon (Lv.2, ATK: 800)_." A red dragon with armor covering its head appeared before Revolver. "When Sniffer Dragon is summoned, I can add another copy from my deck to the hand, then I'll discard it to Special Summon _Defrag Dragon (Lv.3, ATK: 1000)_!" A black and red dragon with green wings flew over Revolver's head.

"It seems that running random DARK dragons has finally backfired on you," Picaro stated, smirking behind his mask. "Your Link Two monsters require Rokkets as materials, and you don't have enough materials to make any of your more powerful Link Monsters!"

"If I didn't have a plan, then I wouldn't be doing this." Revolver sneered. "I activate the Quick-Play Spell, _Quick Launch_. Through its effect, I can Special Summon a Rokket monster from my deck, but it's destroyed during the End Phase. Come forth, _Autorokket Dragon (Lv.3, ATK: 1600)_." A brown dragon with bullet-shaped head appeared.

"Now that's something else," Picaro commented. "Of course, I expected at least that much from you, so this is no surprise at all."

"Allow me to surprise you then." Revolver smirked raising his arm toward the ceiling. "Appear, the future circuit that lights up my path!" A circuit appeared over the leader of Hanoi. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are two or more monsters, except Tokens. I set Autorokket Dragon, Sniffer Dragon, and Defrag Dragon in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Link Three! _Triple Burst Dragon (ATK: 2400, Link-3)_!"

"Triple Burst, huh?" Picaro tapped his chin in thought. "That monster can negate the activation of a card or effect during the Damage Step, but there aren't many traps that activate during the Damage Step, are there? You're playing with your luck."

"Let's check out how my luck will respond!" Revolver shouted, throwing his arm forward. "Battle! Triple Burst Dragon attack TurboGear Carrier!"

The three cannons on Triple Burst's chest glowed and it fired three bullets that pierced through Picaro's monster, destroying it. Picaro raised his claw, protecting his face from the shockwave that knocked him back.

 **『** **Picaro LP: 4000 - 1200** → **2800** **』**

"Not bad…" Picaro muttered, then threw his claw to the side, several green lines appearing all over it. "At this moment I activate my Trap Card - _**Soft Recovery**_! When I take battle damage, this card allows me to activate one Continuous Spell Card directly from my deck!"

* * *

 **Soft Recovery (Trap) Normal**

 **Activate this card when you take battle damage from a battle involving an opponent's monster: Take 1 Continuous Spell from your Deck and either add it to your hand or activate it.**

* * *

The index and middle fingers of Picaro's claw arm glowed and a card materialized in-between them. "Here I go! Continuous Spell activate! _**Elemental Lords of oGear - Mask**_!"

* * *

 **Elemental Lords of oGear's Mask (Spell) Continuous**

 **When this card is activated: You can add 1 "oGear" monster from your deck to the hand. During each player's End Phase: Gain LP equal to ¾ of the damage inflicted to you during that turn. While you control only "oGear" monsters of one Attribute, those monsters are unaffected by the effects of monsters with a different Attribute.**

* * *

A card showing a black mask with two golden clock gears attached to the front of it as eyes appeared in front of Picaro and his black helmet transformed, turning into a copy of the mask depicted in the artwork of his card.

"I'll now show you the full strength of my TurboGear deck, Revolver!" Picaro shouted. "When Elemental Lords of oGear's Mask is activated, I can add one oGear monster from my deck to the hand! I choose _**TurboGear Jetwheel**_!"

* * *

 **TurboGear Jetwheel**

 **Level: 7/Attribute: WIND/Type: Machine/Effect**

 **ATK: 0/DEF: 1000**

 **Effect: If your LP is lower than your opponent's you can Special Summon this card from your hand. You can Tribute this card: Special Summon 3 "TurboGear Tokens" (Machine/WIND/Level 1/ATK 0/DEF 0) to your side of the field in face-up Defense Position. You cannot Special Summon monsters the turn you activated this effect, except WIND monsters.**

* * *

"Hmm, so you took that damage for a few miserable searches?" Revolver put a hand on his hips and smirked. "Your dueling is just like you, underhanded and deceitful. If one looks at just the surface of your deck, they would find a beat-down focused mess of weak monsters that detract their own user's Life Points."

"Are you going to bore me with your analyzes of my deck, or are we going to duel?" Picaro asked. "I've got a work that has to be done, you know?"

"Your work was already canceled, so don't think about your traitorous plans." Revolver stated. The Leader of Hanoi pressed a card next to his palm and it appeared in front of him, face-down. "I set a card and end my turn."

"During the end of your turn, the other effect of Elemental Lords of oGear's Mask activates!" the mask on Picaro's face rotated and a green aura surrounded the user. "I regain three-fourths of the damage I suffered during your turn!"

 **『** **Picaro LP: 2800 + 900** → **3700** **』**

Revolver frowned. As he said, Picaro's deck was made to reflect his deceitful personality.

"Now it's my turn and I'm going to use it in order to end you!" Picaro pointed at his opponent. "Here I go. Draw!"

 **『** **Turn 3 [Picaro] LP: 3700 Hand: 4** **』**

"First off, I'm going to activate the Field Spell, _Turbo World_ and use its effect – when this card is activated, I draw a card." Picaro's claw glowed and it emitted a card that the duelist caught before turning it around to show it. The card he drew was Turbo Synchron.

"Turbo World's additional effect." Picaro continued. "If the card I drew by this effect is a Turbo monster, I can reveal it to Special Summon a different Turbo monster from my graveyard in defense position. Rise again, _TurboGear Carrier (Lv.5, DEF: 1200)_." The green robot rose from the ground and stood up in front of Picaro. "Next, I Normal Summon _Turbo Synchron (Lv.1, ATK: 100)_ and when my Life Points are lower than yours, I can Special Summon _TurboGear Jetwheel (Lv.7, ATK: 0)_ from my hand!"

A green truck appeared on the field. The vehicle had six wheels with four jet engines and its front window has shaped as black sunglasses.

"Three monsters, including a Tuner. How is he going to play it out?" Revolver wondered out loud. The limit of a Synchro monster's Level was 12 and Picaro's monsters' total level was 13…

"Here I go, Revolver!" Picaro declared. "I release Jetwheel to Special Summon three TurboGear Tokens (Lv.1, DEF: 0) on my field!" the large truck disappeared from the field and three small robots made of three gears with a green armored plate on their backs took its place.

"I don't want to waste time, so I'm going to end you in one swift strike! Appear, the circuit of heaven's wind!" Picaro yelled, summoning circuit made of metal plates placed into a square with eight laps attached to the sides. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are at least two Turbo monsters! I set my three TurboGear Tokens, in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _TurboGear Speedstar (ATK: 2200, Link-3)_!"

"So it's a Link Monster appeared first." Revolver commented.

"Did you expect me to use a Synchro just because I had a Tuner?" Picaro tilted his head to the side. "But as a Charisma Duelist, I hate to disappoint my fans, so here, I'll let you see my Synchro Monster as well. Level Five TurboGear Carrier, tune with the Level One Turbo Synchron!"

The monsters dissipate into energy, which then reforms into two sets of rings. One of the top being red in color whilst the other five below it, were green. Afterward, they changed to a dark green color before merging together into a thin ring, forming a tunnel formation that rotated counter-clockwise.

" _I call the warrior born in the eye of the storm! Life to the extreme! Synchro Summon!_ _TurboGear Warrior (Lv.6, ATK: 2500)_!" the red Synchro Monster appeared on Picaro's field, landing at Speedstar's bottom left zone.

"And now, TurboGear Speedstar's effect activates! When it points at a Synchro monster, both of my monsters are going to gain five hundred extra attack points! _Wild Engine_!"

 **TurboGear Speedstar, ATK: 2200 + 500** → **2700**

 **TurboGear Warrior, ATK: 2500 + 500** → **3000**

"And now, I activate Speedstar's secondary effect." Picaro continued. "Once per turn, I can target a monster on your field and halve its attack points, as well as negate its effects! Plus, when Speedstar points at a Synchro Monster, you can't activate a card or effect in response to it!"

Picaro's monster threw its claws at Triple Blast Dragon, tearing through its chest. The red dragon cried out in pain and collapsed on the field, paralyzed in pain.

 **Triple Burst Dragon, ATK: 2400/2** → **1200**

"Battle now!" Picaro shouted. "TurboGear Speedstar, attack Triple Burst Dragon!" The Link 3 charged at Revolver's monster, swinging its claws to cut the dragon down to size.

"Hmm, did you really expect such an easy victory?" Revolver frowned. "Disappointment! I activate my set card! _Mirror Force_!"

"Oh no!" Picaro yelped, eyes staring wide as a semi-transparent barrier appeared around Triple Burst Dragon, absorbing Speedstar's attack, then fired an array of light beams through Picaro's field, destroying all of his monsters.

"To think that you would have a card like this…" Picaro gulped. Two of his strongest monsters, one of which was his ace, were taken down like they were nothing!

"Since two of your monsters were destroyed, I can Special Summon _Overflow Dragon (Lv. 1, DEF: 0)_ , as well as one _Overflow Token (Lv.1, DEF: 0)_." A dragon surrounded by six flames and another smaller dragon made of flames appeared in front of Revolver, filling up his field.

"You must never let your guard down in a fight." The Knight of Hanoi stated, turning to the side. "Optimistic thinking, such as yours will lead you to nothing but despair."

"It seems I must applaud for managing to survive this turn." Picaro clapped twice. "But fortunately for me, Triple Burst Dragon's still going to go down! Trap open! _**Miracle Storm**_! Since a monster was destroyed by a card effect and sent to my graveyard, I'm able to bring one of them back to my field. Come back, _TurboGear Warrior (Lv.6, ATK: 2500)_!"

* * *

 **Miracle Storm (Trap) Normal**

 **Target 1 monster that was destroyed by a card effect and sent to your GY this turn; Special Summon it.**

* * *

Revolver bit his lips at the unfortunate event. He expected that Picaro might have something up his sleeves, but he didn't expect this.

"Go, TurboGear Warrior! Accelerated Crash!" The crimson warrior leaped forward and swung its claws, cutting Triple Blast Dragon's head off.

 **『** **Revolver LP: 4000 - 1400** → **2600** **』**

"Even when you give your best, you're still playing by my rules." Revolver chuckled, pressing another card in his hand. "Because a monster I control was destroyed, I can Special Summon _Fairy Dragon Larvalaur (Lv.1, DEF: 0)_ from my hand." A monster that looked like a baby Firewall Dragon appeared on Revolver's field. "Next, I discard Sniffer Dragon from my hand to target a monster on the field, and add a monster with the same type and attribute as that target from my deck to the hand. I target Overflow Dragon, which means that I can add a DARK Dragon monster to my hand."

Triggering Wurm formed in Revolver's arm and he took it. Picaro looked at the last card in his hand, TurboGear Slipscream. If Revolver summoned a stronger monster next turn, he wouldn't have anything to protect TurboGear Warrior with…

"…I end my turn." Picaro finished.

"Do you see how useless fighting against me is?" Revolver asked. "You choose to betray me, to betray everyone, for nothing! No matter what you try to change, if the Ignis are allowed to exist, humanity will have to go extinct!"

"Oh please, these talks about the end of the world have existed for as long as the human civilization was a thing." Picaro chuckled, leaning to the side. "You're the one who's short-signed. Even Dr. Kogami feel to see the obvious solution to all of humanity's problems! The Ignis were never a solution, there was never a necessity for a successor of our race. Even now, when Kogami found the solution, he's still denying the truth to you!"

"Truth, huh?" Revolver crossed his arms in amusement. "Tell me please, what would that truth of yours be?"

"Digital consciousness!" Picaro yelled. "Don't you realize it? Humanity's evolution didn't stop! The next step in our existence is to conquer the digital reality. By uploading our consciousness on the network, we'll be able to finally abandon these prisons we call our bodies! We'll become something more, something unimaginable!"

"And what will you do once something in this world breaks?" Revolver asked, his smirk never leaving his face. "You're delusional to think that uploading our consciousness to the network will help humanity to evolve, and I'm gladly going to prove it to you in this duel. My turn, I draw!"

 **『** **Turn 4 [Revolver] LP: 2600 Hand: 2** **』**

"Appear, the future circuit that lights up my path!" Revolver threw his arms forward, summoning another circuit. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are two or more Dragon monsters! I set Overflow Dragon, Overflow Token and Fairy Dragon Larvalaur in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Link Three! _Flash Charge Dragon (ATK: 2300, Link-3)_!" A large purple dragon with cannons on its back appeared out of the circuit and landed in the Extra Monster Zone.

"Because Fairy Dragon Larvalaur left the field, it's banished." Revolver explained. "I'm now going to Normal Summon _Triggering Wurm (Lv.2, ATK: 600)_." A red and orange dragon that was shaped like the trigger of a gun appeared on Revolver's field.

"Appear, the future circuit that lights up my path!" The square opened in the air once more and Revolver's monsters flew into it, filling up all of the bottom arrows, as well as the center top one. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are two or more Effect monsters! I set the Link Three, Flash Charge Dragon and Triggering Wurm in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Come forth, my new power! _Topologic Bomber Dragon (ATK: 3000, Link-4)_!"

The giant red Cyberse Monster emerged from the portal and landed in the Extra Monster Zone that Flash Charge Dragon used to be into just a few moments ago. The monster looked down at Picaro and roared, sending a chilling feeling down the duelist's body.

"So, Topologic finally made an appearance, huh?" Picaro smirked. "But will it be enough to defeat me?"

"Triggering Wurm's effect activates!" Revolver ignored his opponent. "When this card is used as Link Material for the summoning of a DARK Link Monster, I can Special Summon it. Then, Topologic Bomber Dragon's effect activates! Since a monster was summoned in one of its zones, all monsters in our Main Monster Zones are destroyed! _Full Overlap_!"

Energy crackled around Topologic's body and a set of green energy wings appeared on its back. The Cyberse monster roared and the energy in its wing shot forward obliterating both Triggering Wurm and Picaro's TurboGear Warrior.

"Since Trigger Wurm was destroyed by the effect of a Link Monster, I draw a card!" Revolver did so, not even bothering to look at the card he got. "Now take the anger of my Topologic monster!" Revolver roared and pointed at Picaro. "Battle! Topologic Bomber Dragon, attack the opponent directly!"

The Cyberse monster clenched its fists and unleashed a beam of green energy from its eye, washing over Picaro. The dark knight cried out as his body was flung back and slammed into the wall behind him before collapsing on the ground.

 **『** **Picaro LP: 3700 - 3000** → **700** **』**

"Shit!" Picaro cursed, slamming his fist against the ground. "Damaging me like this… You bastard…"

"I end my turn." Revolver finished. "At the end of my turn, the effect of your Continuous Spell will heal most of the damage you suffered, right?"

 **『** **Picaro LP: 700 - 2250** → **2950** **』**

"This is enough," Picaro muttered, standing back up. "Do you think I'll let you ruin everything I've worked for so hard? I knew all about your tactics, Revolver! About your strongest monsters, I've prepared for all of them. My turn, draw!"

 **『** **Turn 5 [Picaro] LP: 2950 Hand: 2** **』**

"There it is," Picaro smirked. The card that would grant him victory has appeared! "You might think that things are going in your favor because you were able to defeat TurboGear Warrior, but I've got a monster stronger than it! I Normal Summon _TurboGear Slipscream (Lv.2, ATK: 100)_ and activate its effect! When I use it as Synchro Material for the summoning of an oGear monster, I can use a monster in my hand as the other material! I tune the Level Two TurboGear Slipscream with the Level Six TurboGear Accelerate Blast in my hand!" The two monsters appeared in front of Picaro and turned into rings of energy

"A Synchro Summon using a monster from the hand as material?" Revolver raised an eyebrow.

" _Storming Wind! The untapped wild power of the sky take form and become a machine of terror! Synchro Summon! TurboGear Airstream Dragon (Lv.8, ATK: 3000)!_ "

The large bipedal white and red robot dragon flew out of the rings and landed in Picaro's Extra Monster Zone, roaring.

"Airstream Dragon's effect activates!" Picaro threw his claw forward. "When this card is Synchro Summoned, I negate the effects of all monsters you control and halve their attack power!" Airstream Dragon's core began to rotate and fired an EMP that hit Revolver's Cyberse monster, deactivating it.

 **Topologic Bomber Dragon, ATK: 3000/2** → **1500**

"So that's the power of Synchro Summoning…" Revolver chuckled. "And I always thought that the other summoning methods were useless."

"A big mistake on your part," Picaro stated. "Battle! Airstream Dragon, attack Topologic Bomber Dragon! _Storm Wing Slash_!"

The jet engines on Airstream Dragon's back began to work and the engine on its chest tripled the speed at which it rotated. Sparks of electricity shot through the blades on its back and projected a giant pair of green wings. The robotic dragon roared and charged forward, flying through Topologic Bomber Dragon, cutting its body in half.

Revolver took a step back and held his shoulder in pain. This time it was different, this Airstream Dragon was causing more pain than a monster should be able to.

 **『** **Revolver LP: 2600 - 1500** → **1100** **』**

"Why?" The leader of Hanoi asked. "Why did I feel so much pain from your attack?"

"Why, because of my program of course." Picaro crossed his arms. "Do you remember, the one I used when I dueled Playmaker a while ago? The one with which I was able to throw him around the city like a rag-doll? Sadly, the program isn't able to be used on more than one monster, but I knew that you would be more than a match for TurboGear Warrior, so I installed the program into Airstream Dragon!"

"Go to hell, traitor…" Revolver hissed.

"Sadly, once I fuse my consciousness with the network, I'll no longer be able to die and go to hell," Picaro replied. "But you'll be the one who's going to visit it, so why don't you sent me a mail from there? I heard that it's hot at this time of the, well, eternity."

"You really think that you have a chance to win, don't you?" Revolver smirked.

"Of course I do!" Picaro argued. "Airstream Dragon is unaffected by the effects of all your monsters with attack power less than its own, in addition to that, my Continuous Spell protects it from the effects of all monsters that aren't WIND. There's nothing you can do anymore and during the End Phase of this turn, I can activate the effect of TurboGear Slipscream to add TurboGear Ravening Engine from my deck to the hand. Now, my monster is protected even from battle!"

"Pathetic." Revolver chuckled. "I expected more from you. No matter how much defense you put between your monster and me, I'll still find a way to crush it and take you down to hell. My turn, draw!"

 **『** **Turn 6 [Revolver] LP: 1100 Hand: 3** **』**

"Let's end this." Revolver commented, pressing a card in his hand. "I Normal Summon _Gateway Dragon (Lv.4, ATK: 1600)_ and activate its effect to Special Summon _Hibernation Dragon (Lv.3, ATK: 600)_ from my hand." The two dragon monsters appeared in front of Revolver. "Now Hibernation Dragon's effect activates! I add Defrag Dragon from my graveyard back to the hand, and then discard Drop Draco to Special Summon it." The black and red dragon with green wings appeared back on Revolver's field.

' _He used up all the cards in his hand._ ' Picaro thought. ' _He must be thinking to end the duel this turn, but how's he planning to do that?_ '

"Appear, the future circuit that lights up my path!" Revolver threw his arms into the air, summoning a square. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are two Level Four or lower Dragon monsters! I set Defrag Dragon and Gateway Dragon in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Link Two! _Twin Triangle Dragon (ATK: 1200, Link-2)_!"

A dark brown dragon with triangles around its arms flew out of the circuit and landed in Revolver's Extra Monster Zone. Picaro looked on silently, wondering what sort of move the Leader of Hanoi would pull next.

"Twin Triangle Dragon's effect activates!" Revolver declared. "I pay five hundred Life Points to revive a Level Five or higher monster from my graveyard with its effects negated. I choose _Drop Draco (Lv.5, DEF: 2200)_!"

 **『** **Revolver LP: 1100 - 500** → **600** **』**

"So that's what you're going for," Picaro commented, realizing what his opponent was after. "But do you believe that Borrelsword Dragon will be powerful enough to face against Airstream Dragon?"

Revolver narrowed his eyes. Ignoring his opponent's words, he summoned another square.

"Appear, the future circuit that lights up my path! Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are three or more Effect Monsters!" All of Revolver's monsters turned into bullets and flew into the arrows around the square. "I setHibernation Dragon, Drop Draco and the Link Two, Twin Triangle Dragon in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Come forth, my mightiest monster! _Borrelsword Dragon (ATK: 3000, Link-4)_!"

The more offensive variation of Revolver's ace monster appeared on the field and growled, its blades reflecting light in the room, causing them to shine in the dark.

"Next, I banish three copies of Sniffer Dragon to Special Summon _Defrag Dragon (Lv. 3, ATK; 1000)_ from my Graveyard!" The black and red dragon flew over the field once more, landing behind Borrelsword Dragon. "It's over, Picaro!"

"Come and beat me then!" Picaro laughed.

It was true that Borrelsword Dragon could defeat Airstream Dragon, but Picaro had planned for it. His plan's name was TurboGear Accelerate Blast, a monster with the ability to banish itself from the graveyard in order to revive another one of Picaro's monsters from the graveyard and turn the attack target to it, saving Airstream Dragon.

He had this duel in his sleeves!

"For the last time…" Revolver muttered, raising his arm toward the ceiling. "Appear, the circuit that leads to the future!"

"What!?" Picaro screamed. What was Revolver doing!?

"Arrowhead confirmed! Summoning condition is one Level Four or lower DARK Dragon monster." Revolver stated as Defrag Dragon flew into the bottom left arrow. "Link Summon! _**Miniborrel Drake**_!"

A golden bullet appeared before Revolver. A pair of blue arms grew out of its sides and a red metal tail hanged from its bottom. The tip of the bullet was split into two with sharp teeth covering the inside and a single green eye glowing behind the monster's jaws.

* * *

 **Miniborrel Drake**

 **Attribute: DARK/Type: Dragon/Link/Effect**

 **Link Markers: Bottom Left**

 **ATK: 400, Link-1**

 **1 Level 4 or lower DARK Dragon monster**

 **Effect: When this card is Link Summoned: You can target 1 of your Dragon monsters that are in your GY; Special Summon it to your zone that a Link Monsters point to. If a monster effect is activated during the Battle Phase (except during the Damage Step): You can target 1 monster you control; negate the activation, then destroy that target.**

* * *

"A Link 1 Borrel Monster?" Picaro blinked. "I have never heard of such a card before!"

"That's because I've created it recently." Revolver admitted. "I realized that I needed more variety in my Extra Deck, so I created a few more supporting Link Monsters to help me in the fight. But enough with the explanations. Let me show you what my new Borrel is able to do! I activate Miniborrel Drake's effect to revive _Autorokket Dragon (Lv.3, ATK: 1600)_!" the brown Rokket reappeared on Revolver's field.

"This can't be…" Picaro gulped.

"Battle!" Revolver shouted. "Borrelsword Dragon, attack TurboGear Airstream Dragon! At this moment, I activate Borrelsword's effect to change Autorokket to Defense Position and Autorokket's effect activates, sending your Elemental Lords of oGear – Mask to the graveyard! _Zero Bullet Fire_!"

Autorokket turned into a bullet and flew into Borrelsword's chest. The large Link Dragon roared and fired a bullet from its mouth, blasting Picaro's head. The dark knight cried out, collapsing on his back as the mast that covered his face fell apart revealing the head of his Rocketeer avatar underneath it.

"Damn it, then I'll discard TurboGear Ravening Engine from my hand to activate its effect!" Rocketeer shouted, sending the last card in his hand to the graveyard. "By discarding this card during the damage step, I'm able to negate my monster's destruction!"

Airstream Dragon roared and placed its arms in front of itself, blocking Borrelsword's blades. The two creatures glared at each other and roared.

"Borrelsword Dragon can't be destroyed by battle due to its own effect." Revolver stated. "Furthermore, at the end of the damage step, Borrelsword gains half of your monster's attack points, and your monster loses the same amount of attack!"

 **Borrelsword Dragon, ATK: 3000 + 1500** → **4500**

 **TurboGear Airstream Dragon, ATK: 3000/2** → **1500**

"During the turn in which Borrelsword used Zero Bullet Fire, it's able to attack a second time." Revolver smirked. "It's over, traitor! Battle! Borrelsword Dragon, attack TurboGear Airstream Dragon!"

"I can still fight!" Rocketeer sat up. "I banish TurboGear Accelerate Blast from my graveyard to revive a different oGear monster from my graveyard and make it the new attack target!"

"Do you really believe that I missed that?" Revolver said with a sly smile. "I already knew about your Accelerate Blast's effect. This is why I have this, Miniborrel Drake's effect activates! When another monster's effect activates during the Battle Phase, I can target a monster on my field, negate this effect, and then destroy my targeted monster! I target Miniborrel Drake itself!"

"What!?" A screen appeared in front of Rocketeer showing TurboGear Accelerate Blast with a large red 'X' in front of it. Miniborrel Drake raised its head and roared before exploding, leaving Borrelsword the only monster on Revolver's field.

"Now finish this match!" Revolver shouted. " _Electric Varrel Sword Slash_!"

Borrelsword roared and swung its sword at Rocketeer's dragon, stabbing the Synchro Monster through the core in its chest. Airstream Dragon roared, the core in its body exploding, causing another explosion to tear a hole through its back and neck. Rocketeer lowered his head and chuckled.

 **『** **Picaro LP: 2950 - 3000** → **0** **』**

 **『** **Winner: Revolver** **』**

Borrelsword Dragon vanished from the field and Revolver deactivated his Duel Disk. The Leader of Hanoi looked down at his opponent.

"In the end, fate chooses to abandon my cause," Rocketeer muttered. "But… I'm not the only traitor in this room."

Revolver narrowed his eyes but remained silent. He wasn't going to let Rocketeer play his mind games with him.

"It's true that PhantomFire was my teacher, but I joined the Knights of Hanoi because he's my enemy as well," Rocketeer explained. "You don't realize it yet, but you played right into his hand by eliminating me, the only person familiar with the rest of the oGear decks and the ways to beat them. With this, you secured your and your father's defeat!"

"Even if there is a bit of truth in your words, I'm still going to fight until the end." Revolver stated.

"The end, huh?" Rocketeer looked at his claw. "I guess there's no better moment for this."

Raising his hand, Rocketeer opened a small screen and typed a small message on it before closing it.

"You sent a message…" Revolver narrowed his eyes. "To whom?"

"You weren't small enough to block transmissions from the room, were you?" Rocketeer laughed, his body starting to turn into red data and fall apart. "Don't worry, it wasn't someone dangerous! It's just a death wish! I'm going to wait for you in hell, Revolv-"

Rocketeer's voice was cut off as the last part of his avatar turned into red data and flew past Revolver, entering the core. The Leader of Hanoi stood there for a few moments, thinking through what the former Charisma Duelist told him before choosing that it wasn't of importance anymore. It didn't matter what enemies he would have to face from here on, as long as he could buy enough time for his father's last wish to be fulfilled, nothing else mattered.

* * *

 **Proxy's POV**

The Tower of Hanoi was so far away! Without any Data Storm to create wind, our D-Boards were out of commission, which meant that the only way to reach it would be on foot. I would have to sprint all the way through just to make it in time, and let's not talk if a Knight of Hanoi jumped in our path. With Blaze Rose, Aqua and Firera on my side, I was confident that I would be able to take down any opponent, as long as they weren't Revolver or Picaro, or someone that was on their skill level.

 **Beep!**

" _You got a message,"_ Firera informed me. _"It's from someone called… Rocketeer."_

"Rocketeer?" Why would he message me now, and so suddenly? A part of me was worried that this might be a trap, but my trust in him was stronger than these worries. "Open the message."

"If you want me to…" Firera made a loud sigh and faded back into the Duel Disk. She wasn't trusting him as much as I was, but that was understandable. After a few moments, a message appeared in front of my face.

 _If you're_ reading _this message, then it means that I have been killed. You're probably confused what all of this is about, but you remember the promise I made to you, don't you? I found a lot of stuff on the matter, all of my research so far is attached to this message. Sadly, I must leave the rest of this to you, but I want you to know one thing: Don't trust the Greyson family!_

 _Your appearance, it never really made sense! Me, Vermilya, Arme, we didn't have anyone to rely on until they found us! We had no relatives who cared about us, no place to call our home, we were unwanted trash that he collected from the street. But what about you? A young girl with a family, with friends, why did they take you in?_

 _I know, it must seem to you that I'm trying to make you turn on them because I don't like them. I won't lie and say that this isn't the result I hope for. Everything you need to pierce the truth behind your sudden appearance in Den City will be among the files that I sent to you. Along with them, I'm giving you a card that I have been working on for a while now._

 _Good luck._

"Rocketeer…" I closed the message and looked through the files. There were a lot of files attached, and all of them were long, I wouldn't be able to read all of them now. But there was also the card that Rocketeer has made for me.

 _ **Requiem of the Maiden**_

It was a card meant to… defeat Link 5 monsters? Did those even exist!?

"What're you doing?" Blaze Rose hit me on the shoulder, and I quickly returned the card to my deck.

"Thinking…" I muttered, trying my best to not look her in the eyes. "I'm sorry for being so slow. Let's go!"

Thank you for everything you did, Rocketeer. I promise I won't let your sacrifice be in vain!

* * *

 **And so, Rocketeer leaves the stage for the rest of VRAINS' heroes and villains, but that doesn't mean that his presence has completely disappeared. Also a fun fact, but the 'Betrayal' in the title of his chapter is referring to Rocketeer and Revolver, both of which have betrayed Hanoi's cause in this chapter, though the latter did it unknowingly.**

 **On another news that people who are following the card game should know, our next structure deck will be for Revolver, which... I'm not really hyped about, but I'm happy to hear about it as someone who plays Rokkets from time to time. Right now the Rokket deck is full of problems, but if a Structure Deck was enough to turn Salamangreats from garbage to Tier 0, then I'm going to hope the same to happen with Rokkets.**

 **Also, minor spoilers from the VRAINS anime, but hearing that Yusaku has an emotional connection to Decode Talker made my heart skip a beat out of happiness.**

 **But anyway, thanks to** Redder45 **and** Twelfth Night101 **for following and favoriting this story!**

 **Diabolic Tracer out!**


	36. Chapter 36

Puppets' Last Dance

 **Proxy's POV**

"Have you thought what you'll do after we finish here?" I asked Blaze Rose, trying to lighten up the mood a little bit.

"I never had much of a future to think about, so no." Blaze Rose replied.

My body trembled. How was she able to say something like that so calmly? If she had no future, then why did she come so far, why was she fighting beside everyone else? Was Blaze Rose doing all of this just because she was ordered to do so by Evan and Avice? I could never imagine myself living the way any of them did, fighting, putting my life on the line, without a clear purpose to grasp onto. I would break apart if I had to put myself in their shoes.

"I guess you're going to try and find your family after this is over, right?" Blaze Rose looked back at me.

I just nodded. There was no need for words, she already knew my intentions well, when I accepted help from Rocketeer, our supposed-to-be sworn enemy, I did so because I wanted to find a way home. He used the last moments of his life to give me a chance, to give me all the information he was able to gather about how to go home. Because of his sacrifice and because of the future, I had to fight and survive this battle.

"I'm sorry that I won't be around to help you after this." I apologized.

"Help? Please, you've been the nothing more than a drawback for all of us." She told me with a smirk, a gesture that I believe meant she was just joking with me.

" _That's a rather rude way to point out Proxy's lack of any significant skills."_ Aqua popped out of my Duel Disk, 'trying' to defend my pride. But in reality, her words stabbed be worse that Blaze Rose's did.

" _I think that you're doing more damage than good, Aqua."_ Firera showed up as well with a sigh. _"Along with that, there's a Knight of Hanoi about to show up from behind that building on the left."_

"So an AI created by the Ignis is able to tell my presence?" MetalX walked out from behind the building that Firera was referring to and stopped in front of us. "I must say that I'm impressed and happy to know that the Ignis were able to develop their own technology so much."

"Wait, aren't you the guy that dueled Playmaker and Blue Angel?" Blaze Rose asked, nonchalantly. "Don't you think that you've gone too low trying to ambush your enemies?"

"I wasn't trying to ambush you." MetalX crossed his arms. "I was just about to come to this location when I heard your voices, so I chose to stand back and wait for you to finish your talk before I came out and challenged you to a duel."

" _He's telling the truth."_ Aqua looked up at me. _"I didn't detect a lie in his words."_

"We have to duel either way, so it doesn't matter," I replied and held up my Duel Disk. "I'm sorry for this, MetalX, but you'll have to either step out of the way or face defeat!"

"What brave words," MetalX said back. "You're trying to put on the façade of a strong-willed warrior, but I can see that you're actually scared."

I won't try to deny that. I'm terrified. Losing this duel meant losing my consciousness, my life, everything I had was placed on the life – the most real life or death situation that I was faced with since I woke up in this world.

"How about a three-way duel then?" MetalX continued talking. "Each one of us will have a separated graveyard and Life Points, also, neither of us will be allowed to attack at their first turn. The only downside is that due to the Master Duel field layout, the two of you'll need to share a field and a single Extra Monster Zone."

"That's a very polite way to challenge us." Blaze Rose said. "You're really making this whole thing a lot easier for us. Right, Proxy?"

"Yeah," I nodded.

MetalX might not understand it, but since I and Blaze Rose ran oGear decks, we had more synergy with each other's deck than Playmaker and Blue Angel had with theirs during their duel against this specific Knight of Hanoi. We had the advantage in this situation.

"Duel!"

 **『** **MetalX Hand: 5 LP: 4000 (VS) Blaze Rose Hand: 5 LP: 4000 & Proxy Hand: 5 LP: 4000** **』**

"I'm going to take the first turn." MetalX pressed a card in his hand, activating it. "I activate the Continuous Spell, _Shien's Dojo_ , which gains a Bushido Counter every time I summon a Six Samurai monster, then I activate _Shien's Smoke Signal_ to add a Level Three or lower Sixth Samurai from my deck to my hand. I choose _Legendary Six Samurai – Kageri_ and Normal Summon it, then through its effect, I can Special Summon _Secret Six Samurai – Kizaru (Lv.4, ATK: 1900)_ and Kizaru's effect upon being Special Summoned, allows me to add _Legendary Secret of the Six Samurai_ from my deck to the hand."

" _He's going hard from the start,"_ Firera commented.

"Maybe, but I watched a recorded reply of the duel." Blaze Rose joined in. "He prefers to use the old school summoning methods, but he doesn't have the necessary materials for a Fusion, Synchro or Xyz Summon."

"While that's true, I did grow up since my duel against Playmaker," MetalX said back. "I've learned many things from that battle and changed my deck to better fit the situation. I'm going to show it all to you in due time, but before that, I activate _Asceticism of the Six Samurai_ , targeting Kageri. My Spell's effect will now Special Summon a Six Samurai with the same attack points from my deck!"

"So, two hundred attack points?" That was far from threatening.

" _Are you even paying attention to your opponent's effects?"_ Firera asked me. _"When there's another Six Samurai on the field, Kageri gains fifteen hundred attack points, which means that he can now summon a monster with seventeen hundred attack points."_

"Your AI is right. WithAsceticism of the Six Samurai's effect, I Special Summon _Secret Six Samurai Douji (Lv.4, ATK: 1700)_ from my deck and use the effect of _Legendary Secret of the Six Samurai_ from my hand to Special Summon it on my field since a Secret Six Samurai was called out."

"And now he's capable of doing an Xyz Summon." Blaze Rose groaned. "I shouldn't have spoken so soon."

"Indeed, you shouldn't have." MetalX nodded. "But now the time has come. Allow me to show you. Appear, the circuit of thousand blades!"

MetalX threw his arms toward the sky and a circuit appeared in front of him. I looked at Blaze Rose, she said that he favored the other summoning methods, so why was he doing a Link Summon?

"Arrowheads confirmed!" MetalX shouted. "Summoning conditions are two Warrior monsters, including a Six Samurai monster! I setLegendary Six Samurai – Kageri andSecret Six Samurai – Kizaru in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Great General of the Six Samurai (ATK: 1000, Link-2)_!"

A large warrior in dark armor with glowing lights all over it stepped out of the circuit and in the Left Extra Monster Zone. It wasn't a monster that MetalX have used in his last duel, and that was a reason enough to feel unsafe.

"When Great General is Link Summoned, I can discard one card from my hand," He sent the last card in his hand to the graveyard. "And then, I add a card which lists Bushido Counters from my deck to the hand. I choose _Gateway of the Six_ and activate it!"

"But you need Bushido Counters in order to use it!" I pointed out. "And the only way to gather Bushido Counters is to Special Summon monsters, but with your hand at zero, there's not much you can summon anymore!"

" _You've really not been paying attention, have you?"_ Aqua sighed, while Firera shook her head. _"His other Continuous Spell was on the field since the beginning, accumulating Bushido Counters. He had it all planned out."_

"Maybe you should let your Ignis duel instead of you," MetalX called out. "She seems to be much smarter than you. Thanks to Shien's Dojo's effect working in the background until now, I've already gathered five counters, and now I'm going to gather some more! I overlay the Level Four Secret Six Samurai Douji and Legendary Secret of the Six Samurai!"

A green circuit shaped like an X appeared behind MetalX and absorbed the two monsters into itself, before exploding with energy.

" _The young ruler of the clan, take your blade and reborn yourself into a new legend! Xyz Summon! Shadow of the Six Samurai – Shien (RANK: 4, ATK: 2500)_!"

A warrior in red armor with a purple robe over his defense and a katana in his left hand appeared out of the circuit and landed at Great General's Bottom Right marker.

"When a Six Samurai monster is summoned next to a zone Great General points to, a Bushido Counter is placed on it, and every time a Six Samurai monster is summoned at all, Shien's Dojo and Gateway of the Six grant me three more counters! Now I use four counters to activate Gateway of the Six's effect and add Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan to my hand, and since I control a Six Samurai with a different name, I can Special Summon him!"

"That's bad!" I shouted. He needed four counters to search and all of his cards were able to collect them easily. He would be able to just keep on searching without care!

"Through my cards' effects, I regain four Bushido Counters, then I use four of them to add Grandmaster of the Six Samurai from the deck to my hand, and since there're two Six Samurai monsters I can Special Summon it, triggering my Spells' effects to regain three Bushido Counters. Now I use my remaining four counters to add Secret Six Samurai – Hatsume from my deck to the hand!"

"He can't search anymore." Blaze Rose sighed.

"Since I control two or more Six Samurai monsters with different names, Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan gains three hundred attack and defense points." MetalX's monster raised its katana, a blue aura surrounding its body.

 **Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan, ATK: 1800+ 300** → **2100, DEF: 500 + 300** → **800**

"With this, I end my turn." MetalX finished, gesturing toward me. "Now, show me what you got."

"Gladly," I replied – it was my turn to get rid of his field! "I draw!"

 **『** **Turn 2 [Proxy] LP: 4000 Hand: 6** **』**

"It's time I cool down your field!" Yeah, that line sounded better in my mind… "I discard BrioGear Octobat to Special Summon _BrioGear Sailflying (Lv.3, ATK: 200)_ from my hand!" My Cyberse monster appeared on the field and sat on a throne made of water bubbles. "Next, I activate Octobat's effect! Since it was discarded, I can Special Summon one _BrioGear Bat Token (Lv.1, DEF: 100)_ to my field. Now come forth, the circuit of life!"

My personalized circuit appeared on the ground in front of me and the Bat Token flew into the circuit flame.

"Arrowhead confirmed! Summoning condition is one WATER monster with a level! I set BrioGear Bat Token in the Link Marker! Link Summon! Come out, _BrioGear Lotaxol (ATK: 600, Link-1)_!" the white hybrid between a fish and lizard landed in the free Extra Monster Zone.

"I now activate Lotaxol's effect!" I continued. "When this card is Link Summoned, I can revive a Level Two or lower WATER monster from my Graveyard and place it in the zone Lotaxol points to. Come back, _BrioGear Octobat (Lv.1, DEF: 200)_!" the twisted combination between an octopus and a bat raised from the grave and joined the rest of my monsters.

"Now, Proxy!" Aqua shouted. "Use the new Link Monsters I made for you!"

"Right!" I nodded in agreement and raised my hand forward. "Appear again, the circuit of life! Arrowhead confirmed! Summoning condition is one Level Four or lower WATER monster! I set BrioGear Octobat in the Link Marker! Link Summon! Come out, _**BrioGear Damsel Fish**_!"

A young girl that looked like an idol appeared on my field. She had grey eyes and short blue hair tied into twin-tails with a short pink highlight on the left side and a fish tattoo on her right cheek. The monster was wearing a blue dress with bare shoulders and a clock gear ring on her right index finger. The lower side of her outfit consisted of a long yellow skirt that reached below her knees and was spherical in appearance. Like some of the other monsters created by Aqua, this one was also barefoot.

* * *

 **BrioGear Damsel Fish**

 **Attribute: WATER/Type: Cyberse/Link/Effect**

 **L-Markers: B**

 **ATK: 500/Link-1**

 **1 Level 4 or lower WATER monster**

 **Effect: If this card is Link Summoned: You can add 1 Spell/Trap card that lists "oGear" in its card text from your Deck to the hand. If a "BrioGear" monster you control is destroyed by battle or an opponent's card effect: You can Special Summon this card from your GY, but banish it when it leaves the field. You can only use each effect of "BrioGear Damsel Fish" once per turn.**

* * *

"Damsel Fish' effect activates!" I shouted. "When it's Link Summoned, I can add a card that lists oGear from my deck to the hand. The card I choose is this one, _Elemental Lords of Gear_!"

It was the card that Silver Star entrusted to me, and with it, I was able to unlock the new possibilities of Link Summoning! With it, I could spare a Link Material when going for my strongest monsters and instead use that material to summon something else to support them in the fight.

"I'll activate _Elemental Lords of Gear_ to the zone that Damsel Fish points toward!" The Spell/Trap Zone glowed blue as the card materialized on it. "Now I'll activate Elemental Lords of Gears! Effect! Once per turn, I can Link Summon using a monster that points at this card as the sole material, and the monster I summon is one Link Rating higher than it!"

"So, it's a card that allows you to Link climb while using fewer monsters?" MetalX asked. "That was a turn of events that I didn't foresee."

"I plead before the Elemental Lords of Gear to grand me their power! With their blessing, I'm able to evolve my Link Monsters! Appear, the spinning circuit of bonds!" I threw my arm forward and the large blue gear appeared in the sky above.

 _"Rising tides, unchain the mortal body binding my monster and open the gates of the great ocean through an abysmal sacrifice!"_ I changed as Damsel Fish turned into pure energy and flew through the tunnel. _"Link-Up! Aim your restless bow of justice, the huntress hunting the evil plaguing this world! Grand Ranger Serene (ATK: 2100, Link-2)!"_

I was capable of summoning my original ace, Grand Ranger Serene, but her combat oriented effect wouldn't work here, I would have to evolve her even further to reach the monster I was looking for!

"For the fourth time, appear, the circuit of life!" I was actually going to do Four Link Summons in a row? Yes, finally! "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are two or more WATER Effect monsters. I setBrioGear Lotaxol and the Link Two, Grand Ranger Serene, in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Link Three! _Storm Serene the BrioGear Ranger (ATK: 2300, Link-3)_!"

"Storm Serene?" Blaze Rose looked over my monster. "I haven't seen this monster before, is it your new ace?"

"Yeah!" I nodded and turned back to MetalX and his field. "I activate Storm Serene's effect! When she's Link Summoned, you must shuffle cards from your field to the deck, equal to the total Link Rating of the Link Monster used as materials!"

"Lotaxol and Grand Ranger Serene's total Link Rating is three, so you must choose three cards on your deck to return back into the deck!" Firera pointed at MetalX's field.

" _Torrential Tune_!" I shouted out, as Serene began to hum a soft tune. Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan, Grandmaster of the Six Samurai and Great General of the Six Samurai all fell down, fast asleep and then disappeared from the field, returning back into MetalX's Main Deck and Extra Deck respectively.

"I Normal Summon _BrioGear Geratorned (Lv.4, ATK: 1400)_." Another humanoid monster appeared on my field, carrying two dark blue shields. I couldn't believe that I was going to say this, but… "Appear for the fifth time, the circuit of life!"

"You still aren't done Link Summoning!?" Blaze Rose cried out.

"Arrowheads confirmed!" I continued, trying not to smirk at the surprised look that Blaze Rose had on her face. "Summoning conditions are two BrioGear monsters! I set BrioGear Geratorned andSailflying in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _**BrioGear Naiad**_!"

A tall young woman with wavy light blue hair pulled back in a bun. Her hair seemed to be moving, with waves forming over its surface and her eyes glowed yellow. Her skin was a very light shade of pink and she was wearing a normal white dress with the bottom half progressively turning bluer. She wore golden shackles on her wrists and ankles. Of course, she was barefoot as well.

* * *

 **BrioGear Naiad**

 **Attribute: WATER/Type: Cyberse/Link/Effect**

 **L-Markers: Bottom Right, Left**

 **ATK: 1800/Link-2**

 **2 "BrioGear" monsters**

 **Effect: If this card is Link Summoned: You can Special Summon 1 WATER monster from your hand to your zone this card points to. During the End Phase, if this card was Special Summoned turn: You can return 1 "BrioGear" card from your GY to the hand. You can only use each effect of "BrioGear Naiad" once per turn.**

* * *

"Now I activate Naiad's effect to Special Summon one WATER monster from my hand to the zone Naiad points to. Rise from the deeps, _**BrioGear Great Star**_!" A giant red golem with sharp needle-like growths covering its body and a single blue crystal in the center of its faceless head appeared on my field in Defense Position.

* * *

 **BrioGear Great Star**

 **Level: 7/Attribute: WATER/Type: Cyberse/Effect**

 **ATK: 2000/DEF: 2400**

 **Effect: If you control no monsters in your Main Monster Zone, you can Special Summon this card (from your hand) by discarding 1 monster. You can target WATER Link Monsters in your GY, up to the number of Spell/Trap Cards your opponent controls; return them to the Extra Deck, and if you do, return Spell/Trap Cards your opponent controls to their hand, up to the number of monsters returned. You can only use each effect of "BrioGear Great Star" once per turn.**

* * *

"And Great Star's effect activates!" I pointed at my golem. "I return Grand Ranger Serene and BrioGear Lotaxol from my graveyard to the Extra Deck, in order to return both of your Spell Cards back to the hand!"

Great Star clenched its arms into fists and slammed them down on the ground, turning MetalX's cards back into data that flew to his hand. Even though this didn't matter much, since he would be able to just activate these cards again next turn, I was able to recover a few of my Link Monsters for further use later.

"At the end of my turn, Naida's effect activates. Since it was Special Summoned this turn, I'm able to return BrioGear Octobat back to my hand."

"I should congratulate you," MetalX said. "You managed to remove almost all the cards from my field without even battling. I'm impressed."

"Save your flattering, it won't do you any good." Blaze Rose replied in my place. "It's my turn now, draw!"

 **『** **Turn 3 [Blaze Rose] LP: 4000 Hand: 6** **』**

"I Normal Summon _NitroGear Acid Lancer (Lv.4, ATK: 1700)_ and activate its effect! If there's another oGear monster on my field, I'm able to change the battle position of one of your monsters!"

" _Since Shadow of the Six Samurai – Shien is the only monster on MetalX's field, it'll be changed to Defense Position,"_ Aqua commented. _"But even though its defense is lower, she won't be able to attack it."_

"That might be the case, but Blaze Rose's entire deck revolves around manipulating the battle position of both players' monsters," I explained. "This means that she got a plan."

"Because I changed Shien to Defense Position, Acid Lancer's effect allows me to draw a card." Blaze Rose took the card without paying much attention to it, and place it among the rest of her cards. "Because you control a Defense Position monster, I'm going to Special Summon _NitroGear Veteranion (Lv.5, ATK: 2300)_!"

The Level 5 NitroGear monster leaped into the air and slammed its fists against the ground, roaring.

"I activate the Spell Card, _**NitroGear Trust**_!" The card that Blaze Rose played showed my BrioGear Wave Crusader sacrificing himself as Nitro Synchron was being summoned in its place. "This card's effect allows me to release Acid Lancer and Special Summon a Nitro Tuner monster from my deck, whose level is half the Tributed monster's level! Since Acid Lancer is Level Four, I'm able to Special Summon the Level Two _Nitro Synchron (Lv. 2, DEF: 100)_!" Blaze Rose's signature Tuner monster jumped out of the Spell Card and landed in front of us.

 **NitroGear Trust (Spell) Normal**

 **Send 1 Level 2 or higher "oGear" monster from your hand or field to the GY. Special Summon 1 "Nitro" Tuner Monster from your Deck, whose Level is half the tribute monster. You can only activate 1 "NitroGear Trust" per turn.**

"You're still going to summon NitroGear Warrior?" MetalX asked. "Even though I haven't researched your deck, I watched enough of your duels to know that this is your go-to monster, and getting it on your field is your only real strategy."

"NitroGear Warrior is the symbol of my dueling, of course, my deck would focus on finding ways to summon it." Blaze Rose replied. "So, I'm going to call it out once more! I tune the Level Five NitroGear Veteranion to the Level Two Nitro Synchron!"

A bolt of orange lightning fell onto Blaze Rose's field and created a shockwave as the two monsters turned into five rings of fire. Two blue rings rotated above the five yellow ones below them with the numbers '2' and '5' appearing next to each set of rings respectively. The rings all overplayed, creating a gate of flames inside of which, seven red rings appeared one after another and a light emerged from them.

" _Gathering the burning souls of molten warriors will combine to call forward a new force of nature! Become the path that lights the way! Synchro Summon! Burn it all! NitroGear Warrior (Lv.7, ATK: 2800)!_ "

NitroGear Warrior flew through the rings, leaving a trail of fire behind itself. Blaze Rose's ace landed at the bottom left Link Arrow of Storm Serene.

"Because Nitro Synchron was used as Synchro Material, I draw a card." Blaze Rose drew another card. "Then, I activate the Equip Spell, _**Synchro Cannon**_." NitroGear Warrior held out its left arm and a large red cannon appeared around its wrist. "This card can only be equipped to a Synchro Monster, and while it's equipped, I can once per turn, inflict damage to you for each of my monster's levels!"

* * *

 **Synchro Cannon (Spell) Equip**

 **You can only equip this card to a Synchro Monster. Once per turn, during your Main Phase 1; you can inflict damage to your opponent equal to the equipped monster's Level x 200, but monsters with the same name as the equipped monster cannot attack for the rest of the turn. During the End Phase, if this card is in your GY because the monster equipped to this card was destroyed by battle or an opponent's card effect and sent there this turn: You can target that monster; Special Summon it. You can control only 1 "Synchro Cannon" at a time.**

* * *

NitroGear Warrior roared and aimed its cannon at MetalX, firing a fireball that burned the Knight of Hanoi's chest. His body glitched out for a moment due to the damage, but MetalX remained unfazed by the attack.

 **『** **MetalX LP: 4000 - 1400** → **2600** **』**

"I'll set a card face-down and end my turn." Blaze Rose finished.

"Great work there, partner!" I gave Blaze Rose a thumb up. Even if we were unable to attack, with our combined efforts, we were able to break MetalX's field and inflict serious damage!

"You've done well, but all of your efforts are void of meaning," MetalX stated. "I'll end you now! My turn, draw!"

 **『** **Turn 4 [MetalX] LP: 2600 Hand: 4** **』**

"First, I'll activate again the _Shien's Dojo_ and _Gateway of the Six_ that you returned to my hand during the last turn!" those spells were now back, which meant that the Bushido Counters generation would start again. "I Normal Summon _Secret Six Samurai – Hatsume (Lv.3, ATK: 1600)_ , then change Shadow of the Six Samurai – Shien from Defense Position to Attack Position and activate its effect. By detaching one of its Xyz Materials, I raise Hatsume's attack points to two thousand."

The large red samurai cut through one of the orbs orbiting around him and turned toward the pink ninja, placing the tip of his katana against her shoulder. The ninja knelt down, accepting the kind gesture, as her attack power raised

 **Secret the Six Samurai – Hatsume, ATK: 1600** → **2000**

"Hatsume's effect activates!" MetalX continued. "I banish Legendary Six Samurai – Kageki and Legendary Secret of the Six Samurai from my Graveyard to Special Summon _Secret Six Samurai – Kizaru (Lv.4, ATK: 1900)_ from my Graveyard. Then, Kizaru's effect lets me add a Six Samurai monster from my deck to the hand, as long as its attribute is different from the ones already on my field. I add _Secret Six Samurai – Fuma_."

Even without using his Spells, he was still able to get new cards to his hand. Was that what Avice called a resource controlling type of deck?

"I activate Gateway of the Six's effect to use four Bushido Counters and add Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan from my deck to the hand, then I Special Summon it on my field." The dark swordsman appeared, and with it, came three more Bushido Counters. "Next, I use four more counters to add Grandmaster of the Six Samurai, who can be Special Summon if there are two or more Six Samurai monsters on my field."

He now got five monsters on his field, but they weren't strong enough to take on all of my and Blaze Rose's monsters. We were safe for the moment, but I don't want to jinx it.

"Appear, the circuit of thousand blades!" Ok, I just jinxed it. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are two or more monsters with different names!" Wait, that sounds different from Great General. "I set Secret Six Samurai – Kizaru, Secret Six Samurai – Hatsume, Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan and Grandmaster of the Six Samurai in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Come forth, _Saryuja Skull Dread (ATK: 2800, Link-4)_!"

The monster that MetalX summoned was a familiar one to me. It was the Link Monster that Rocketeer used the first time I meet his as Picaro, it was the monster that almost defeated Playmaker and that I was barely able to overcome. I can't believe it! Not only did they kill Rocketeer, but they also stole his monsters. I won't stand down and let these bastards do as they please anymore!

"How dare you…" I clenched my fists in anger. "How dare you use Rocketeer's cards!?"

"I activate Saryuja Skull Dread's effect!" He ignored me and continued with his turn. "When its Link Summoned using four materials, I can draw four cards, then return three to the bottom of my deck." So, in order words, he was getting to keep the three cards that he wanted. "Next I use Skull Dread's second effect to Special Summon _Secret Six Samurai – Fuma (Lv.1, DEF: 1800)_ from my hand." A ninja wearing robes with pink armor over it appeared on the field.

"When a monster is summoned next to Skull Dread's Link Arrow, that monster gains three hundred extra attack and defense points." MetalX pointed out. In order words, all of his monsters were now going to grow up stronger when he summoned them there.

 **Secret Six Samurai – Fuma, ATK: 200 + 300** → **500, DEF: 1800 + 300** → **2100**

"I'll now use four Bushido Counters from my Spell Cards to add Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan back to my hand, and then I Special Summon it." The samurai wearing dark armor appeared on the field once more. "Now I tune the Level Four Legendary Six Samurai Kizan to the Level One, Secret Six Samurai – Fuma!"

Five blue rings stacked on top of each other as the numbers 1 and 4 appeared in front of them and then they turned into the number 5, announcing the Synchro Summon. A beam of light shot through the rings and MetalX began to chant.

" _The leader of the Six Samurai cursed with eternal life by the elder gods, hear my call and offer me your blade! Synchro Summon! Legendary Six Samurai – Shi En (Lv.5, ATK: 2500)!"_

Another samurai wearing red armor, like the Xyz Shien, but the Synchro's armor was much heavier and he had a helmet to cover up his face, unlike the Xyz.

"That's bad," Firera said. "Because of Skull Dread's effect, the monster will now gain extra attack and defense power."

 **Legendary Six Samurai – Shien, ATK: 2500 + 300** → **2800, DEF: 1400 + 300** → **1700**

"Now, I'll use four more counters to return Legendary Six Samurai Kizan back to my hand, and then I Special Summon it from my hand, then I use four more counters to add Grandmaster of the Six Samurai back to my hand and Special Summon it." It was like an infinite loop, he would just summon his monsters over and over again!

"Once more. Appear, the circuit of thousand blades!" MetalX threw his arms in the air and a circuit appeared in front of him. "Arrowheads confirmed!" Summoning conditions are two Warrior monsters, including a Six Samurai monster! I setLegendary Six Samurai – Kizan and Grandmaster of the Six Samurai in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Great General of the Six Samurai (ATK: 1000, Link-2)_!" the Link 2 that I returned to his Extra Deck during my last turn appeared on his field for a second time, but this time he had put it next to Serene's top arrow instead of his Skull Dread's. Weird.

"I activate Great General's effect to discard a card from my hand and add the Field Spell, _Temple of the Six_ from my deck to the hand, then I activate it. Now, every time a Six Samurai is summoned on my field, this card will gain a Bushido Counter as well."

"In other words, you'll be getting four counters every time you summon a Six Samurai monster and use the same amount to recycle them," Aqua stated. "That hardly seems like a fair and balanced deck that you're using there."

"Fairness doesn't win you wars! I use four counters to return Legendary Six Samurai Kizan and then I Special Summon it once more. Because of Skull Dread's effect, it's going to gain more attack points, along with the three hundred attack bonus Kizan would usually gain when there are two or more different Six Samurai monsters out with it."

 **Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan, ATK: 2800 + 300*2** → **2400, DEF: 500 + 300** → **800**

"And by using four more counters, I'm going to return Grandmaster of the Six Samurai back to my hand, just to Special Summon it once again!"

"Six monsters." Blaze Rose narrowed her eyes, looking at the small army that MetalX was able to summon in just one turn. "Here he comes!"

"Not quite." MetalX shook his head. Temple of Six's effect reduces the attack points of all your monsters by a hundred for every Bushido Counter on it. With two counters, that means all of your monsters lose two hundred attack points!"

 **Storm Serene the BrioGear Ranger, ATK: 2300 – 200** → **2100**

 **BrioGear Naiad, ATK: 1800 – 200** → **1600**

 **BrioGear Great Star, ATK: 2000 – 200** → **1800**

 **NitroGear Warrior, ATK: 2800 – 200** → **2600**

"I'll use the eight Bushido Counters on Dojo and Gateway to increase the attack points of Legendary Six Samura - Shi En, Shadow of the Six Samurai – Shien, Great General of the Six Samura and Grandmaster of the Six Samurai by five hundred until the end of this turn!"

 **Legendary Six Samura - Shi En, ATK: 2800 + 500** → **3300**

 **Shadow of the Six Samurai – Shien, ATK: 2500 + 500** → **3000**

 **Great General of the Six Samura, ATK: 1000 + 500** → **1500**

 **Grandmaster of the Six Samurai, ATK: 2100 + 500** → **2600**

"Also, Great General Gains a hundred attack points for every Bushido Counter that's on the field." His Link Monster raised its sword and a green aura surrounded it.

 **Great General of the Six Samurai, ATK: 1500 + 200** → **1700**

"Let's end this!" MetalX shouted. "Battle! Legendary Six Samurai – Shi En, attack NitroGear Warrior!"

"I won't let you!" Blaze Rose shouted back. "I activate my trap, _**NitroGear Burst**_!" The card showed Advent Skull Archfiend tearing through NitroGear Warrior's chest, with the later releasing a heat wave from its body. "When you attack my Nitro monster, this trap will destroy both of our monsters and we'll both suffer half of our own monster's attack points as damage!"

* * *

 **NitroGear Burst (Trap) Normal**

 **When a "Nitro" monster you control is targeted for an attack: Destroy both your monster and the monster that attacked it, and if you do, both players take damage equal to half their monster's original ATK. You can only activate 1 "NitroGear" Burst per turn.**

* * *

"Do you believe that I'll let you do that?" MetalX asked. "Shi En's effect is able to negate your Trap's activation and destroy it!"

Blaze Rose's Trap Card burst into pixels, leaving her with nothing else to do. Shi En swung its katana at NitroGear Warrior, cutting off both its arms and then with a third swing, cut its body in half, destroying it. Blaze Rose bit her lip, understandably, since she just watched how her ace monster got cut into pieces.

 **『** **Blaze Rose LP: 4000 - 700** → **3300** **』**

"Next, for my second attack, I'll use Grandmaster of the Six Samurai to destroy BrioGear Great Star." The old samurai turned toward my golem and cut it in half, destroying it. Thankfully, I didn't suffer any damage since my monster was in Defense Position.

"Skull Dread, attack Storm Serene the BrioGear Ranger!" the giant dragon opened its mouth and fired a black stream of energy that eroded Serene's body, destroying her. Sorry for not protecting you!

 **『** **Proxy LP: 4000 - 700** → **3300** **』**

"Shadow of the Six Samurai - Shien, attackBrioGear Naiad!" the dark samurai cut through my Link's body, destroying her.

 **『** **Proxy LP: 3300 - 1400** → **1900** **』**

All of our monsters were… I gulped, watching the six monsters that were staring right back at me. Two of them haven't attacked yet and their combined attack points were enough to defeat me. But I didn't want to lose! Not again! Not after I met Aqua and promised to protect her, not after I found a reason to keep fighting, not when I was so close to the end of this story!

"My Six Samurai monsters aren't strong enough to end both of you in one turn." MetalX sighed. "So, who should I eliminate this turn?"

"Eliminate me." I looked at Blaze Rose, who had stepped forward and placed a hand on her heart. "You must realize, that I'm the more dangerous one of us. I got more Life Points and through the effect of my Equip Spell, NitroGear Warrior will return back to my field during the End Phase, unless you kill me. Right now! Use your monsters to drop my Life Points to zero!"

"No, don't." I knew what she was doing. "Please, Blaze!"

"You're not fighting for the same thing as the rest of Hanoi, are you?" Blaze Rose continued talking, looking at MetalX.

"No, I'm not." MetalX shook his head. The Knight of Hanoi turned toward me and pointed at my Duel Disk. "That Ignis you're holding, girl, is both the best and worst thing that my hands helped create. When Dr. Kogami came to me and asked me to help in his project, I thought that it was a dream come true. To create the successors of humanity, a species which would rule the digital reality and evolve, until the day comes, when they would reveal themselves to lead humans to a new age."

" _But there's regret in your heart,"_ Aqua commented.

"Indeed, there is." MetalX nodded. "But it's not the same as Kogami's. I'm not regretting your creation, and I'm not trying to take away your life."

" _Then why are you helping the Knights of Hanoi?"_ Aqua asked.

"Sorry, but I can't answer this question while we're being watched," MetalX replied. "But I'm going to be merciless enough to grant your friend's last wish. Great General, Kizan, attack Blaze Rose directly!"

"No!" I screamed and reached out for her.

The two monsters charged forward and stabbed her with their blades before I could reach her. No. She coughed, her fingertips starting to already turn into red data while her Life Points dropped down.

 **『** **Blaze Rose LP: 3300 - 1700** → **1600 – 2400** → **0** **』**

"Blaze!" I cried out.

The monsters retracted their blades and returned to MetalX's side of the field, while Blaze Rose collapsed on the ground. Even then, she didn't stop smiling at me. Why was I such a failure? She was right, I was a drawback. For her, for Playmaker, everything would have been better if I just didn't exist!

"Why're you sad?" Blaze Rose asked me, even as her body was fading. "I told you already, didn't I? There was no future left for me. The last thing I had was the mission that Evan and Avice left me with, to protect you."

I collapsed on the ground. My legs were too weak to keep me standing. I was sorry! I could never do enough, all of my tries to help them out were futile and brought pain to the people around me. Picaro, Playmaker, now Blaze Rose. I hated it! I hated being such a worthless weakling! I hated being the one walking behind the shadows of others, needing their strength to protect myself. Tears were pouring down and I have clenched my fists so hard, that my nails were digging into the skin.

I felt the anger rising inside my chest, like a burning inferno, it wouldn't die down until the target of my hatred was destroyed. My entire body was shaking with anger, with sadness, pain, self-loathing, all these emotions have grabbed onto me and weren't letting go.

" _Calm down, Proxy!"_ Aqua shouted. _"Don't let your emotions get the better of you! Take deep breaths and,"_

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" I screamed, drowning the Ignis' voice with my own.

I had enough of being the loser! My heart was shredding blood in pain. I was destined for great things; that what you told me Avice! Was that why you let Vermilya give her life for me? Fine! I would live to those expectations by destroying the enemy in front of me!

"It seems that you've lost it." MetalX sighed. "I set a card and end my turn. At this moment, the attack points of all my Six Samurai monsters will return back to normal."

 **Legendary Six Samura - Shi En, ATK: 3300 - 500** → **2800**

 **Shadow of the Six Samurai – Shien, ATK: 3000 - 500** → **2500**

 **Great General of the Six Samura, ATK: 1700 - 500** → **1200**

 **Grandmaster of the Six Samurai, ATK: 2600 - 500** → **2100**

"Firera!" I shouted, shaking my Duel Disk to get the AI out.

" _W-what is it?"_ She showed up alongside Aqua.

"I want you to make it hurt, understand?"

"What do you,"

"It's my turn!" I shouted before Firera could question me. She would understand what I meant when the time comes. "I draw!"

 **『** **Turn 5 [Proxy] LP: 1900 Hand: 4** **』**

"I Normal Summon _BrioGear Drifting Bichir (Lv.1, ATK: 0)_ and activate its effect! Upon this card's summoning, I can Special Summon a BrioGear monster from my Graveyard in Attack Position with its effects negated and its attack halved! Come back, _Storm Serene the BrioGear Ranger_!"

A black portal opened next to Bichir and Serene raised through it.

"I won't let you!" MetalX shouted. "I activate my trap, _Infinite Impermanence_! This will negate your monster's effect before it could go off, and in addition, it's going to negate the effects of all Spell and Trap Cards that are in the same column as it. In other words, your Elemental Lords of Gear's effect is negated for the turn!"

Suddenly, the black portal turned into a vortex that consumed Serene back inside itself. But I won't allow that to stop me!

"I'll crush you this turn! Appear, the circuit of life!"

My personalized circuit appeared on the ground in front of me and my monster flew into the mirror flame.

"Arrowhead confirmed! Summoning condition is one WATER monster with a level! I set Drifting Bichir in the Link Marker! Link Summon! Come out, _BrioGear Lotaxol (ATK: 600_ → _400, Link-1)_!" the white hybrid between a fish and lizard landed in the free Extra Monster Zone.

"I now activate Lotaxol's effect!" I continued. "When this card is Link Summoned, I can revive a Level Two or lower WATER monster from my Graveyard and place it in the zone Lotaxol points to. Come back, _BrioGear Drifting Bichir (Lv.1, DEF: 0)_! My playmaker raised from the graveyard, and with that, its effect was no longer negated. "Now Bichir's effect will activate again. Rise, _Storm Serene the BrioGear Ranger (ATK: 2300_ → _950, Link-3)_!"

"These monsters…" Firera muttered, catching up what I was planning to do.

"Now appear for the second time, the circuit of life!" A second circuit appeared above me, Bichir and Storm Serene turned into four beams and flew into the flame. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are two or more Effect Monsters! I set BrioGear Drifting Bichir and the Link Three Storm Serene the BrioGear Ranger in the Link Markers! Link Summon _! Firera, Firmware Cyberse Dragon (ATK: 2800_ → _2600, Link-4)_!"

The tiny copy of Firera that was in my Duel Disk disappeared and the large dragon formed appeared on my field, landing at Skull Dread's top Link Arrow.

"A Link Four monster!?" MetalX gasped.

"Because of your own Skull Dread's effect, my monster will gain three hundred attack points!" I pointed out, and Firera roared in agreement.

 **Firera, Firmware Cyberse Dragon, ATK: 2600 + 300** → **2900**

"Next, Firera's effect activates!" I continued. "I draw a number of cards, equal to the number of monsters she points to, and then discard that value subtracted by one. Since the only monster Firera points to right now is your Skull Dread, I draw a card, but don't discard any!"

" _So that was your plan?"_ Firera looked back at me.

"It's time to repent! Firera, attack Skull Dread!" Not just for Blaze Rose, I was going to defeat this Knight of Hanoi for Rocketeer as well. I was going to destroy his monster, set it free from the chains of servitude that bounded it to MetalX's side.

"You've lost your mind!" I heard MetalX shouted.

"At this time I activate Firera's effect to discard BrioGear Octobat and reduce Skull Dread's attack power to zero! _Frost Obey_!" Firera opened her jaw and fired a blue beam that stuck Skull Dread, freezing it.

 **Saryuja Skull Dread, ATK: 2800** → **0**

"Z-zero!?" MetalX gulped. "But then that means…"

"Game over." I agreed.

"Subzero Flare!" Firera roared.

She slammed her blade-like arms together while her tails began to charge with electricity and flew over to the lower pair of wings, which absorbed it. Small holes opened in the dragon's upper wings and they began to emit a white gas that froze everything around the monster, including its arms. The electricity surged through the dragon's body and connected to the arms. Firera roared and threw her blades to the side, creating an 'X' of electricity and the strange freezing gas that flew through Skull Dread and cut the monster in four pieces.

 **『** **MetalX: 2600 - 2900** → **0** **』**

 **『** **Winner: Proxy** **』**

"To think that you would manage to pull off a win like this…" MetalX collapsed on the ground, his body starting to turn into data.

The anger, I felt it dying down. But that didn't mean that I would forgive this bastard for what he did to Blaze Rose. Even if he was going to turn into data, it wasn't enough! It just wasn't!

"Don't think that you've won," MetalX spoke up. "I might have lost, but our plan will be complete. As long as Picaro is still alive, we won't lose."

So this one was on Picaro's side? This bastard turned Vermilya into data while fighting on Rocketeer's side? No, I would not allow him to disappear with a sense of satisfaction.

"You're wrong," I told him. "Rocke- Picaro is already gone. Whatever plan you had, is no longer."

"And how do you know that?" He asked me.

"That was written in his last message toward me," I replied and opened the message for him to see.

"This message…" MetalX looked up at me, "So you're that girl… I think… I made a big mistake."

I didn't care what he had to say. It only took a few more moments and the Knight of Hanoi turned into data, which then flew off to be absorbed into the Tower of Hanoi, just like Vermilya. Aqua popped out of my Duel Disk once more and looked at the Tower of Hanoi with a sad expression on her face.

" _His biggest regret."_ She began. _"Was that the Lost Incident happened. I could tell, he never wanted to hurt anyone."_

"And yet he did." We all did. Fighting each other, taking each other's lives without a reason. War was a truly terrifying thing.

"Let's go," I told Aqua. "The Tower of Hanoi won't stop itself."

" _Yes, let's go."_ She nodded.

* * *

 **3rd POV**

"I've been waiting for you to come," Nulline said.

The Knight of Hanoi jumped off the balcony she was sitting onto and landed on the street before, blocking the path of a certain idol Duelist. Taking a step back, Blue Angel readied herself. She had expected to run into Nulline again during the siege of the tower, but she didn't think that it would be so soon.

"I've been expecting this moment to come." Nulline continued. "We weren't able to see the end of our last duel, but this time, this will be a duel to the death, we can't cancel it or run."

"Why are you still doing this?" Blue Angel asked. "There are thousands of people who would die if the Tower goes off, most likely, even more, will afterward. Are you willing to take the burden of those lives on your shoulders for revenge against a single person? What will Miyu thinking of it if she saw you like this?"

"I told you back then, it's too late for me to forgive," Nulline stated. "But I'm not standing here for my own petty revenge. I'm fighting for a cause higher than anything you or the Knights of Hanoi stand up for! You can only see the tower's capability to bring destruction, but I see the potential to create a better world, one where Miyu wouldn't have to be sad ever again!"

"A better world?" Blue Angel asked out loud. "You're going to sacrifice thousands of lives, how can your world be any better if it's built upon blood?"

"I don't want to hear that coming out of an immature child who goes around copying other people to cope with her own miserable self," Nulline said. "I'll end you right here!"

"Duel!"

 **『** **Nulline: 5 LP: 4000 (VS) Blue Angel Hand: 5 LP: 4000** **』**

"I'll take the first turn!" Nulline declared. "I'll set a monster and one card. Turn end!"

"Seriously?" Blue Angel muttered.

Nulline was playing more defensively than during their last duel. No doubt, she was trying to bait Blue Angel into attacking, but would the idol do as Nulline wanted, or would she hold back? She had only a limited amount of time before the Tower of Hanoi activated, she didn't have time to be indecisive!

"It's my turn then!" Blue Angel declared. "Draw!"

 **『** **Turn 2 [Blue Angel] LP: 4000, Hand: 6** **』**

"First, I activate the Field Spell, _Trickstar Light Arena_ and use its effect on your set card. While Trickstar Light Arena is face-up on the field, you won't be able to activate that set card, and during End Phase, you must choose to either activate it or return it to the hand!" Now Blue Angel has locked down her opponent's set card, it was time to hit her hard. "I Normal Summon _Trickstar Candina (Lv.4, ATK: 1800)_ and activate her effect to add Trickstar Lilybell from my deck to the hand, then I use Lilybell's effect to Special Summon since she was added to my hand by a card's effect."

"Two Trickstar monsters already…" Nulling whispered to herself.

"Battle!" Blue Angel shouted. "I attack you directly with Trickstar Lilybell!"

The smaller Trickstar monster flew over Nulline's set card and hit the Knight of Hanoi with her bell-shaped hammer, knocking the duelist back a few feet.

 **『** **Nulline LP: 4000 - 800** → **3200** **』**

"Ouch," Nulline winched, then smirked. "You aren't pulling your punches, I like it."

"But you won't like this!" Blue Angel stated. "Candina, attack her set monster!"

The yellow Trickstar placed her loudspeaker in front of herself and screamed through it, flipping the face-down monster face-up. Much to the idol Duelist's surprise, the creature hiding there wasn't an Aromage, but a jar with four candles of different colors inside of it.

"You feel for it!" Nulline laughed. "Aroma Jar can't be destroyed by battle if it's flipped face-up, and during each of our End Phases, I'll regain five hundred Life Points due to its effect!"

Blue Angel didn't let it show on her face, but she was annoyed by the news. Once again, Nulline was able to play with her and make her mess up. The Knight of Hanoi already knew about the Trickstar Field Spells' ability to freeze set Spell and Trap Cards for the turn, so that face-down card was just to bite out one of Blue Angel's Field Spells.

"I'm still not done!" Blue Angel shouted. She had more than she was able to do during this turn.

"Open, the circuit of dreams and hope!" Blue Angel threw her arms forward and winked as hearts flew out of her hands and transformed into a large square. "Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning condition are two Trickstar Monsters! I set Trickstar Candina and Lilybell in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Trickstar Holly Angel (ATK: 2000, Link-2)_!"

"So you called out your ace?" Nulline smiled. "But she can't do anything during this turn!"

"Wrong!" Blue Angel threw her arm to the side, and Light Arena's card glowed. "Once per turn, if I Link Summoned a Trickstar Link Monster, I can revive one of its materials, as long as I negate its effects! Come back, _Trickstar Lilybell (Lv.2, DEF: 2000)_!" The little red fairy flew down from the sky and landed in the middle Monster Zone. "When a monster is summoned next to Holly Angel's Link Market, I can inflict two hundred points of damage to you!"

Holly Angel spread out her wings and fired light needless at Nulline. The Knight of Hanoi raised a hand to cover her face as the needles pierced her shoulders and stomach.

 **『** **Nulline LP: 3200 - 200** → **3000** **』**

"Additionally, when you take damage from a Trickstar's effect, Holly Angel gains that much attack points!" A golden aura surrounded Blue Angel's ace as its attack power raised. " _Holy Blessing_!"

 **Trickstar Holly Angel, ATK: 2000 + 200** → **2200**

"And for the second time, open the circuit of dreams and hope!" Blue Angel summoned a square behind herself once again. "Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning condition are two at least two Fairy monsters! I set Lilybell and the Link Two, Holly Angel in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Trickstar Foxy Witch (ATK: 2200, Link-3)_!"

"The Link Three now?" Nulline raised an eyebrow. It seemed that Blue Angel wasn't going to hold back anything in this duel.

"Foxy Witch's effect activates!" Blue Angel gestured toward her Link 3 monster. "When it's Special Summoned, I can inflict two hundred points of damage to you for each card you control! Take four hundred more points of damage!"

 **『** **Nulline LP: 3000 - 400** → **2600** **』**

"With that, I set a card face-down and end my turn." A single card appeared at Blue Angel's feet.

"Now, during the End Phase of this turn, Aroma Jar's effect will increase my Life Points by five hundred." Nulline pointed out, as her jar released a cloud of smoke with four colors that flew around her.

 **『** **Nulline LP: 2600 + 500** → **3100** **』**

"Light Arena's effect activates as well." Blue Angel pointed out. "Will you activate your set card, or return it to the hand?"

"Why, of course! I'll activate it! The Continuous Trap – _Dried Wind_ , activate!" Nulline shouted.

"Dried Wind?" Blue Angel was confused. Nulline could have activated that trap before Light Arena's effect and use it to destroy one of the idol's Trickstar monsters during the End Phase. Why didn't she use it back then?

"It's my turn." A green circle appeared around Nulline's Duel Disk and she placed her fingers next to it, materializing a card within her grasp. "Draw!"

 **『** **Turn 3 [Nulline] LP: 3100, Hand: 4** **』**

"I Normal Summon _Aromage Jasmine (Lv.2, ATK: 100)_ and return it to my hand in order to Special Summon _Fallen Angel of Roses (Lv.7, ATK: 2400)_ from my hand, by her own effect!" A woman with pale skin and dark clothes appeared on Nulline's field, holding a whip of thorns in her right hand. "I'll also activate the Continuous Spell, _Child's Play_! Now every time you summon a monster, I'll regain three hundred Life Points!"

"So, every play I make will heal you…" Blue Angle bit her lips. She couldn't summon monsters because that would heal Nulline, but if she chose not to do anything, Aroma Jar would heal the Knight of Hanoi.

"Let's battle!" Nulline shouted. "Fallen Angel of Roses, attack Trickstar Foxy Witch!"

The dark angel screamed and swung her whip, hitting the idol. Foxy Witch gripped her chest in pain and cried out as she exploded.

"I activate the final effect of _Trickstar Light Arena_!" Blue Angel quickly countered. "Once per turn, when a Trickstar Link Monster battles, I can make the damage zero, and gain Life Points equal to the damage negated!"

 **『** **Blue Angel LP: 4000 + 200** → **4200** **』**

"A Trickstar card with a defensive effect?" Nulline wondered. "I see… You must have updated your deck since our last encounter, right?"

"It's not over yet!" Blue Angel shouted. "Because Foxy Witch was destroyed, her effect activates! I Special Summon a Trickstar Link Two or lower monster from my Extra Deck, and you take two hundred points of damage for each card on your field. Come out, _Trickstar Black Catbat (ATK: 2000, Link-2)_!"

The dark Trickstar monster landed in the Right Extra Monster Zone and winked before swinging her wand around, unleashing a beam of purple energy that hit Nulline head on.

 **『** **Nulline LP: 3100 - 800** → **2300** **』**

"Don't forget that due to my Continuous Spell, I regain three hundred Life Points every time you summon a new Trickstar!" Nulline shouted, her own card responding to the harmful effect of the Trickstar by healing the Knight of Hanoi.

 **『** **Nulline LP: 2300 + 300** → **2600** **』**

"And because of Dried Wind's effect, when I regain Life Points, I can destroy a monster on your field." Nulline pointed out. "So, bye, bye Black Catbat!"

A red whirlwind was fired from the trap card, engulfing Black Catbat, before slamming the monster in the ground, destroying it. Blue Angel only bit her lips. That was two Trickstar Link Monsters destroyed in a single turn.

"And now, at the end of this turn, Aroma Jar's own effect will heal me again." Nulline reminded her opponent as another cloud engulfed her body, healing it.

 **『** **Nulline LP: 2600 + 500** → **3100** **』**

"It's my turn then." Blue Angel muttered. "I draw!"

 **『** **Turn 4 [Blue Angel] LP: 4200, Hand: 4** **』**

"I Normal Summon _Trickstar Nightshade (Lv.1, ATK: 100)_." A young Trickstar monster flew onto Blue Angel's field.

"Because of Child's Play's effect, I gain Life Points." Nulline pointed out.

 **『** **Nulline LP: 3100 + 300** → **3400** **』**

"And now Dried Wind's effect's effect is going to destroy your Nightshade!" Nulline laughed, sending a second red whirlwind toward Blue Angel's field.

"I'll activate the Spell Card, _Trickstar Bouquet_ to return Nightshade back to my hand and increase Aroma Jar's attack points by Nightshade's!" Blue Angel's monster flew away from the wind and landed back into the idol Duelist's hand, while the Aroma Jar gained 100 attack points.

 **Aroma Jar, ATK: 500 + 100** → **600**

"Next I activate _Trickstar Vision_ to Special Summon Nightshade back to my field with her attack points halved, and her effects negated!" the fairy reappeared and winked. "Then we both draw a card!"

"Don't forget that due to my Continuous Spell, I gain three hundred extra Life Points." Nulline pointed out.

 **『** **Nulline LP: 3400 + 300** → **3700** **』**

"Open, the circuit of dreams and hope!" Blue Angel threw her hand forward and hearts shoot out of her wrist, transforming into a large square in the sky. "Arrowhead confirmed. Summoning condition is one Level Two or lower Trickstar monster. I set Trickstar Nightshade in the Link Marker! Link Summon! _Trickstar Bloom (ATK: 100, Link-1)_!"

A young fairy in a green dress appeared on Blue Angel's Extra Monster Zone. Even though that would trigger Child Play's effect, Blue Angel didn't have much of a choice, but to try and push Nulline's Life Points recovering effects with stronger burn effects.

 **『** **Nulline LP: 3700 + 300** → **4000** **』**

"I activate the effect of Light Arena to revive Nightshade from my graveyard." The young fairy flew to the field once more, and Nulline's Life Points raised to 4300. "Open now, the circuit of dreams and hope!"

"Aw, you won't give me an extra card from Bloom's effect?" Nulline frowned as a second square appeared in the sky.

"Arrowheads confirmed. Summoning conditions are two Trickstar monsters. I set Nightshade and Bloom in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Trickstar Crimson Heart (ATK: 2000, Link-2)_!" Another fairy in an all-white dress, carrying giant handcuffs as her weapon, appeared in the Extra Monster Zone.

 **『** **Nulline LP: 4300 + 300** → **4600** **』**

"Nightshade's effect now activates from my graveyard, reviving, since she was used as Link Material." The little fairy appeared for the third time. "Crimson Heart's effect activates! Because a Trickstar monster was summoned next to her Link Arrow, I gain two hundred Life Points."

 **『** **Blue Angel LP: 4200 + 200** → **4400** **』**

"Don't forget, because you just summoned a monster, I get a tread as well." Nulline clicked her fingers.

 **『** **Nulline LP: 4600 + 300** → **4900** **』**

"I'll now activate Crimson Heart's effect." Blue Angel gestured toward her monster. "By discarding a card, each one of us will get to draw a new card. And since the card I discarded was Trickstar Mandrake, I can Special Summon it on my field." A Trickstar wearing a purple and aqua green dress appeared beside Nightshade.

 **『** **Nulline LP: 4900 + 300** → **5200** **』**

"And again, appear the circuit of dreams and hope!" for the third time, a square opened over Blue Angel's head. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are two Level Three or lower Trickstar monsters! I set Nightshade and Mandrake in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Come forth, _Trickstar Divaridis (ATK: 1800, Link-2)_!"

"Useless, useless, useless!" Nulline laughed. "Because of my Continuous Spell, I gain three hundred more Life Points!"

 **『** **Nulline LP: 5200 + 300** → **5500** **』**

"Because of Crimson Heart's effect, I'll gain two hundred Life Points." Blue Angel said. "And because of Divaridis' effect, you'll suffer two hundred points of damage!"

 **『** **Blue Angel LP: 4400 + 200** → **4600** **』**

 **『** **Nulline LP: 5500 - 200** → **5300** **』**

"Next, I'll activate my trap card!" Blue Angel continued, activating the card she set on her last turn. " _Trickstar Maribold_ allows me when I Link Summon a Trickstar monster, to return a Trickstar monster from my Graveyard to the hand, and during this turn, I can Normal Summon for a second time! So, I'll return and summon _Trickstar Candina (Lv.4, ATK: 1800)_!"

 **『** **Nulline LP: 5300 + 300** → **5600** **』**

"When Candina is summoned, I can add a Trickstar card from my deck to the hand. I add _Trickstar Temptation_ and activate it to return Aroma Jar back to your hand since its current attack power is different from its original attack power!" All three of Blue Angel's Trickstar monsters threw her arms forward and unleashed a purple wind, which engulfed Aroma Jar and removed it from the field.

"So you found a way to get rid of Aroma Jar," Nulline muttered, placing the card back into her hand. "But none of your Trickstar monsters are powerful enough to take on my Fallen Angel of Roses!"

"I'll change that." Blue Angel said and raised her hand. "Open, the circuit of dreams and hope!"

"Another Link Summon!?" Nulline gasped as another square opened over Blue Angel's head.

"Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are at least two Trickstar monsters! I set the Link Two Crimson Heart and Divaridis in the Link Markers! Link Summon! My Link Four, _Trickstar Bella Madonna (ATK: 2800, Link-4)_!" the idol's Link 4 ace flew through the circuit and landed on the left Extra Monster Zone.

 **『** **Nulline LP: 5600 + 300** → **5900** **』**

"I'll show to you, now, why I love Trickstars so much!" Blue Angel shouted. "Bella Madonna's effect activates! I inflict two hundred points of damage to you for each Trickstar monster with a different name in my Graveyard! There are nine, so you take eighteen hundred points of damage!"

"How much!?" Nulline's eyes widened.

The Link 4 Trickstar swung her ax, unleashing a wave of pink energy that cut through Nulline's body and knocked her down.

 **『** **Nulline LP: 5900 - 1800** → **4100** **』**

"Now battle!" Blue Angel pointed forward. "Bella Madonna, attack Fallen Angel of Roses!"

The Link 4 Trickstar swung her ax once again, cutting through Nulline's monster and reducing the Knight of Hanoi's Life Points even further.

 **『** **Nulline LP: 4100 - 400** → **3700** **』**

"And next, Candina attacks you directly!" The yellow Trickstar raised her loudspeaker and screamed in it. Nulline cried out and placed her hands over her ears.

 **『** **Nulline LP: 3700 - 1800** → **1900** **』**

"I'll now set a card and end my turn." Blue Angel finished, placing a new face-down. "Just give up, Nulline! I've got trained by one of the best duelists in LINK VRAINS, and I learned how to fight opponents with decks built to counter my own! There's nothing you have, which I don't have an answer to!"

"Heh, I agree that you aren't a weakling." Nulline chuckled. "You're able to adapt, but that doesn't mean you can't be beaten!"

"Please, stop it!" Blue Angel implored her. "You're pushing yourself too far, and for what? To watch the world burn? Do you think that people would look at you as a hero for helping destroy the network? For taking part in the murder of thousands of innocent people, most of whom are just children?"

"Will you just shut up and fight?" Nulline asked. "I told you, what I fight for is different from the others. Destroy the network? I'm trying to find the hidden Garden of Eden that lies hidden within this world of data! Instead of trying to talk me out of it, think what you're fighting for? To protect others? From what? The only thing that humans needed protection from is themselves! It's because of their self-righteousness that Miyu was kidnapped and used as guinea pig for the Lost Incident!"

"She participated in the Lost Incident?" Blue Angel placed a hand over her mouth.

The incident that broke Playmaker and turned him into the type of vengeful person that he was today took Miyu as well. That was the worst thing that Blue Angel heard since the news of her parents' death. Her one and only childhood friend had to suffer through the same pain as Playmaker did.

"I've allied myself with people that have the same views as me," Nulline said. "We'll clear the network from the type of scum that dared hurt my friend. Our friend! And what'll you do? You'll protect them from the punishment that they deserve!"

"You're wrong."

"Huh?" Nulline blinked in confusion. Blue Angel lowered her head, the blue bangs on her forehead covering her eyes.

"They deserve to be punished, they will be punished. But not like this. Not at the cost of so many lives!" Blue Angel raised her head and looked at Nulline. "Your actions, they are no different from the type of self-righteousness that you're blaming on the Knights of Hanoi. Your words, they won't make my determination to waver. It's your turn!"

"Then you're beyond saving." Nulline spat. "As you asked, I'll take my turn. Draw!"

 **『** **Turn 5 [Nulline] LP: 1900, Hand: 5** **』**

"At this moment, I'll activate my Trap Card – _Trickstar Reincarnation_!" Blue Angel declared, activating her trump card. "Through my trap's effect, you must banish your entire hand and draw a new one!"

"You annoying…" Nulline frowned as the cards in her hand dispersed and she was forced to draw a new one. "Is that to show how scared you're of Aroma Jar's effect? I Summon _Lonefire Blossom (Lv.3, ATK: 500)_ , then I release it in order to Special Summon _Aromage Bergamot (Lv.6, ATK: 2400)_ from my deck!"

"That one again." Blue Angel narrowed her eyes. Nulline was always using that move to bring out Aromage Bergamot.

"I'll then activate the Field Spell, Aroma Garden and use its effect to gain five hundred Life Points, as well as increase the attack and defense of all my Aromage monsters, Bergamot in this case, by five hundred points!"

 **『** **Nulline LP: 1900 + 500** → **2400** **』**

 **Aromage Bergamot, ATK: 2400 + 500** → **2900, DEF: 1800 + 500** → **2300**

"Additionally, the effects of both Dried Wind and Bergamot activate!" Nulline threw her arms to the side. "First, because I gained Life Points, Dried Wind is going to destroy Candina, and second, because I gained Life Points, Bergamot is going to gain a thousand extra attack and defense points by its own effect."

 **Aromage Bergamot, ATK: 2900 + 1000** → **3900, DEF: 2300 + 1000** → **3300**

A powerful whirlwind shot out of Nulline's Trap Card and slammed into Trickstar Candina, tearing Blue Angel's monster apart. The idol Duelist narrowed her eyes, Nulline knew about Bella Madonna's defense.

"I won't let you recover!" Nulline yelled. "I activate _Wonder Clover_ and discard Aromage Rosemary to give Bergamot the ability to attack you twice this turn, but at the cost of no other monster being able to attack. Now, destroy Bella Madonna!"

The Aromage monster pointed her wand at Blue Angel's Link Monster and fired a crimson whirlwind that pierced through the Link 4, destroying it

"I activate Light Arena's effect to negate the damage, and take that much Life Points instead!" Blue Angel's Field Spell shined as its effect healed the idol instead of damaging her.

 **『** **Blue Angel LP: 4600 + 1100** → **5700** **』**

"But don't forget about the second attack!" Nulline's monster swung her wand and hit Blue Angel, knocking her back.

 **『** **Blue Angel LP: 5700 - 3900** → **1800** **』**

"I'll now set a card face-down and end my turn." Nulline finished.

"Not so fast!" Blue Angel cried out. "I activate the effect of Trickstar Reincarnation from my Graveyard! I banish that card, to revive _Trickstar Bella Madonna (ATK: 2800, Link-4)_!"

"You just don't know when to quit, do you?" Nulline hissed. "Because of Child Play's effect, I gain three hundred Life Points. And at the end of this turn, the effect of Bergamot ends, dropping her attack and defense points by a thousand!"

 **『** **Nulline LP: 2400 + 300** → **2700** **』**

 **Aromage Bergamot, ATK: 3900 - 1000** → **2900, DEF: 3300 - 1000** → **2300**

"It's my turn, I draw!" the idol Duelist stated.

 **『** **Turn 6 [Blue Angel] LP: 1800, Hand: 2** **』**

"I'll activate the effect of Bella Madonna to inflict two hundred damage for each Trickstar in my Graveyard!" Blue Angel shouted. "And thanks to you sending Candina to the grave on the last turn, you're going to take two thousand points of damage!"

The Link 4 Trickstar swung her ax, unleashing a wave of pink energy that cut through Nulline's body once more, dropping her on her knees.

 **『** **Nulline LP: 2700 - 2000** → **700** **』**

"I'll use Light Arena's effect to seal your set card, now let's battle!" Blue Angel threw her arms forward. "Bella Madonna, attack Aromage Bergamot!"

"Attacking using a monster with less attack power?" Nulline raised an eyebrow. "Please, your tricks are obvious to me! I discard Aromaseraphy Angelical from my hand and target Aromage Rosemary in my Graveyard to gain Life Points equal to her attack power!"

 **『** **Nulline LP: 700 + 1800** → **2500** **』**

"Then Dried Wind's effect is going to destroy your monster!" Another red whirlwind shot out of Nulline's Trap Card, piercing through the Link Monster. "Your monster might have the ability to be unaffected by card effects while it doesn't point toward a monster, but it works only if it was Link Summoned."

"Then I'll activate _Pot of Avarice_ to return Bella Madonna, Holly Angel, Bloody Mary, Bloom, and Divaridis back to my Extra Deck and draw two cards!" the spirits of the five Link Monsters appeared in front of Blue Angel and then flew back into her Extra Deck, after which she drew two new cards.

"I destroy Light Arena to activate _Trickstar Live Stage_ and through her effect, I'll return Trickstar Candina back to my hand. I Normal Summon Trickstar Candina (Lv.4, ATK: 1800) and activate her effect to add Trickstar Magicorolla from my deck to the hand." A card popped out of Blue Angel's Duel Disk and she showed it to her opponent.

"Useless!" Nulline laughed. "Child Play's effect will increase my Life Points by three hundred since you just summoned another monster!"

 **『** **Nulline LP: 2500 + 300** → **2800** **』**

"I set a card and end my turn." Blue Angel finished.

"At this moment, the effect of Aroma Garden ends and Bergamot's attack and defense return to normal." Nulline pointed out as her monster's ATK dropped back to 2400. "It's my turn now. Draw!"

 **『** **Turn 7 [Nulline] LP: 2800, Hand: 1** **』**

"I'll activate Aroma Garden's effect to increase my Life Points, as well as the attack and defense points of Bergamot by five hundred." Nulline's Field Spell glowed, increase her and her monster's power.

 **『** **Nulline LP: 2800 + 500** → **3300** **』**

 **Aromage Bergamot, ATK: 2400 + 500** → **2900, DEF: 1800 + 500** → **2300**

"Additionally, the effects of both Dried Wind and Bergamot activate once again!" Nulline snapped her fingers. "Because I gained Life Points, Dried Wind is going to destroy Candina, and second, and Bergamot is going to gain a thousand extra attack and defense points by its own effect."

 **Aromage Bergamot, ATK: 2900 + 1000** → **3900, DEF: 2300 + 1000** → **3300**

"I already know what your set card is." Nulline pointed out. "If I attack you now, you'll be able to bounce back your Field Spell and use its ability to take back Candina and use her next turn. So instead of attacking you with Bergamot, I'm going to activate _Fragrance Storm_ and destroy Bergamot to draw a card." The Aromage monster looked back and nodded before exploding into particles.

"Since the card I drew was the Plant, _Botanical Girl_ , I get to draw one more card." Nulline looked through her cards and then turned back to Blue Angel. "Because an Aroma monster was destroyed, the effect of Aroma Garden is going to increase my Life Points by a thousand."

 **『** **Nulline LP: 3300 + 1000** → **4300** **』**

"I'll now Normal Summon _Aromage Jasmine (Lv.2, ATK: 100 + 500_ → _600)_ and activate her effect to Normal Summon a second time. Come out _, Botanical Girl (Lv.3, ATK: 1300 + 500_ → _1800)_!" Two new monsters quickly raised in place of her destroyed Bergamot. "Additionally, if there is an Aroma monster on my field, I can Special Summon _Aromaseraphy Angelical (Lv.1, ATK: 0 + 500_ → _500)_ from my Graveyard, but I must banish it if it leaves the field again."

Blue Angel took a step back. Nulling head enough attack points to end her this turn. That wasn't worrying the idol, who glanced at her set card. It would be enough to keep her alive for the turn, but she was hoping to save it for later at least.

"Let's see what your set card is!" Nulline shouted. "Battle! Botanical Girl, attack Blue Angel directly!"

"I don't have a choice." Blue Angel muttered. "I activate my Trap Card – _Trickstar Cascade_. Through its effect, I return Live Stage to my hand and negate your monster's attack!"

Botanical Girl threw her fist forward, but a barrier appeared in front of Blue Angel, blocking the direct attack.

"Then I'll attack you directly with Jasmine and Angelical!" The two Aroma monsters leaped forward and attack Blue Angel. The idol crossed her arms in front of herself as the two Plants hit her with everything they got. Blue Angel screamed, as her body was flung back and hit the ground.

 **『** **Blue Angel LP: 1800 - 600** → **1200 – 500** → **700** **』**

"You were able to survive, but you won't be able to do much on your next turn!" Nulline declared. "I tune the Level Three, Botanical Girl and the Level Two, Aromage Jasmine, to the Level One, Aromaseraphy Angelical!"

Six blue rings stacked on top of each other as the numbers 1, 2 and 3 appeared in front of them and then they turned into the number 6, announcing the Synchro Summon. A beam of light shot through the rings and Nulline began to chant.

" _The queen ruling over a kingdom of thorns, stand from your throne and punish the insolent fools with the might of mother Gaia herself! Synchro Summon! Queen of Thorns (Lv.6, ATK: 2200 + 500_ → _2700)!_ "

A half-human, half-plant monster appeared on the field. She had a dress made of leaves and there were human-eating plants attached to her arms in place of hands. Blue Angel took a step back in surprise, this was the first time that Nulline summoned this monster.

"Let's see how you plan to defeat me without using monsters, Blue Angel!" Nulline laughed. "Due to Queen of Thorns' effect, we both must pay a thousand Life Points to summon a monster from our hand, except for a Plant-Type monster!"

"But then that means…" Blue Angel, took a step back in realization.

"You can no longer summon any monsters!" Nulline agreed. "With this, I end my turn!"

Blue Angel looked at the card in her hand: Trickstar Live Stage, Trickstar Magicorolla and Trickstar Corobane. The best she could do would be to use Trickstar Live Stage and Magicorolla to Link Summon without using monsters in her hand as materials, but her monsters would all be destroyed the moment they hit the field due to Child's Play and Dried Wind's effects.

There was still hope. Her Trickstar deck hasn't betrayed her. Ever since she came back from her coma, Blue Angel has been constantly looking at videos of her duel against Playmaker, trying to find ways to update her deck, make it stronger. This new, updated, Trickstar deck she made was her answer. She placed all of her knowledge and heart into building it. There was no way for it to betray her at a time like this!

"My turn, Draw!" Blue Angel declared.

 **『** **Turn 8 [Blue Angel] LP: 700, Hand: 4** **』**

"It's here!" Blue Angel declared triumphantly. "I activate _Trickstar Live Stage_ and use its effect to return Trickstar Mandrake from my Graveyard to the hand, then I activate _Twin Twister_ and discard Mandrake to destroy both to Child Play and Dried Wind!"

"My cards!" Nulline cried out. Two twisters shout out of Blue Angel's Spell and destroyed her cards, fractured the Knight of Hanoi's heal and destroy combo.

"The discarded Trickstar Mandrake, can Special Summon itself on my field." The aqua green Trickstar raised from the Graveyard. "I'll now activate Trickstar Live Stage's other effect. Since there's a set card in your Spell and Trap Zone, I can Special Summon one _Trickstar Token (Lv.1, DEF: 0)_!" a small heart-shaped monster appeared on Blue Angel's field.

"Open, the circuit of dreams and hope!" Blue Angel threw her arms forward and hearts flew out of her hands, transforming into a square above her head. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are two Trickstar monsters! I set Trickstar Token and Mandrake in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Trickstar Holly Angel (ATK: 2000, Link-2)_!"

Blue Angel's ace monster landed in the Extra Monster Zone once again, crossing her arms.

"And now, since I control a Trickstar Link Monster, Live Stage's effect allows me to Special Summon one _Trickstar Token (Lv.1, DEF: 0)_!" a second heart-shaped Token appeared on the idol's field. "And since a Trickstar was summoned to a zone Holly Angel points to, you take two hundred points of damage."

Holly Angel spread out her wings and a red aura surrounded Nulline. The Knight of Hanoi fell on her knees and gritted her teeth as she took damage from the Trickstar's effect.

 **『** **Nulline LP: 4300 - 200** → **4100** **』**

"Additionally, when you take damage from a Trickstar's effect, Holly Angel gains that much attack points!" A golden aura surrounded Blue Angel's ace as its attack power raised. " _Holy Blessing_!"

 **Trickstar Holly Angel, ATK: 2000 + 200** → **2200**

"And once again! Open, the circuit of dreams and hope!" Blue Angel summoned a second square in the sky. "Arrowhead confirmed. Summoning condition is one Level Two or lower Trickstar monster. I set Trickstar Token in the Link Marker! Link Summon! _Trickstar Bloom (ATK: 100, Link-1)_!" the small green Trickstar landed at Holly Angel's Link Marker.

"And since another Trickstar was summoned at Holly Angel's Link Marker, you take two hundred more damage!" Blue Angel declared.

 **『** **Nulline LP: 4100 - 200** → **3900** **』**

 **Trickstar Holly Angel, ATK: 2200 + 200** → **2400**

"I activate _Trickstar Magicorolla_ to revive _Trickstar Foxy Witch (ATK: 2200, Link-3)_!" the Link 3 monster raised on Blue Angel's field once more and winked.

"Now Foxy Witch's effect is going to inflict two hundred points of damage for each card you control and Holly Angel will inflict two hundred extra damage!" The Link 3 and 2 Trickstar Monsters spread out their wings together and fired a pink fireball at Nulline, knocking the Knight of Hanoi on her back.

 **『** **Nulline LP: 3900 - 600** → **3300 – 200** → **3100** **』**

"Because you took damage from a Trickstar monster, Holly Angel will gain attack points once more. _Holy Blessing_!" A golden aura surrounded the Link 2, raising its attack power.

 **Trickstar Holly Angel, ATK: 2400 + 800** → **3200**

"And for the third time! Open, the circuit of dreams and hope!" A third square opened in front of Blue Angel. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are two Trickstar Monsters! I set Bloom and Foxy Witch in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Trickstar Crimson Heart (ATK: 2000, Link-2)!" the crimson Trickstar raised behind Holly Angel.

"Holly Angel's effect inflicts two hundred points of damage." Blue Angel said.

 **『** **Nulline LP: 3100 - 200** → **2900** **』**

 **Trickstar Holly Angel, ATK: 3200 + 200** → **3400**

"I activate Crimson Heart's effect!" Blue Angel said. "I discard Trickstar Corobane, so we both get to draw a card!"

Both the idol and the Knight of Hanoi drew a card and looked at what they got - Trickstar Lycoris and Lonefire Blossom. The Duelists smiled and looked back at each other.

"For the last time, open the circuit of dreams and hope!" the square appeared for the fourth as Blue Angel prepared to Link Summon again. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are at least two Trickstar monsters! I set the Link Two Holly Angel and Crimson Heart in the Link Markers! _Trickstar Bella Madonna (ATK: 2800, Link-4)_!" The two Link 2 monsters flew into the square and the Link 4 Trickstar appeared in their place.

"This is going to hurt a lot." Nulline gulped.

"Trickstar Bella Madonna's effect activates, inflicting two hundred damage to you for every Trickstar in my Graveyard!" Bella Madonna swung her ax, unleashing a wave of pink energy that cut through Nulline's body, sending her rolling across the street.

 **『** **Nulline LP: 2900 - 1800** → **1100** **』**

"With this, it's over!" Blue Angel declared. "Bella Madonna, attack Queen of Thorns! _Shining Espoir_!" The Link 4 leaped forward and swung her ax at the Synchro.

Nulline looked down at his set card. Wall of Thorns would destroy any Attack Position monster that Blue Angel controlled when she attacks a Plant-Type monster. Problem was that Bella Madonna was unaffected by card effects when she didn't point to any monsters.

So, closing her eyes, the Knight of Hanoi let Bella Madonna cut Queen of Thorns into pieces, destroying the last wall that protected her Life Points.

 **『** **Nulline LP: 1100 - 600** → **500** **』**

"Now I activate the effect of Trickstar Lycoris from my hand." Blue Angel said, revealing the last card in her hand. "I target Bella Madonna and Special Summon Trickstar Lycoris, then return Bella Madonna to my Extra Deck!" the Trickstar appeared at the left side of Bella Madonna, who remained unaffected by her fellow Trickstar's effect. "Now battle! Lycoris, attack Nulline directly!"

"To think that I'll go out like this." Nulline sighed. Trickstar Lycoris aimed her knife at the Knight of Hanoi and fired pink electricity off the tip.

 **『** **Nulline LP: 500 - 1600** → **0** **』**

 **『** **Winner: Blue Angel** **』**

"In the end, I wasn't able to achieve revenge." Nulline sighed.

The Knight of Hanoi lied defeated on the ground. She looked over Blue Angel who walked up to her and smiled.

"I still hate you, even if it wasn't your fault, I just can't stop hating you," Nulline admitted. "If Picaro was able to hack into the Tower, she would have fired by now, so I take it that he failed as well."

"I promise to save you once all of this is over." Blue Angel said.

"Oh?" Nulline looked at the idol and smiled. "Sorry, but you won't. You'll never be able to beat Revolver, he's too powerful for you. And even, if by some miracle, you manage to defeat him… I can't feel it. An evil presence. So wrong and twisted, it won't let you succeed."

"I won't give up." Blue Angel replied.

"If you say so." Nulline closed her eyes. Her body turned into her data and disappeared, leaving the idol alone once more.

"Goodbye, Nulline." Blue Angel sighed. "I promise, I'll save everyone."

"Oh, then I believe that you will help me as well."

Blue Angle turned around startled and saw another Knight of Hanoi approaching her. This time it was a male, with light grey hair and a white suit.

"You were just on…" Blue Angel muttered. She could recall it, this was the person who defeated Kitamura.

"My name is Specter." The Knight introduced himself. "This is the second time we met, Blue Angel."

"Second time?" the idol asked.

"Let me open the door deep in your heart." Specter snapped his fingers.

Blue Angel's eyes widened as certain memories resurfaced back to her mind. She remembered the card that caused her to fall into a coma, the person who gave it to her and who used her to fight Playmaker. It was him, Specter.

"You implanted the computer virus in me!" Blue Angel shouted.

"It was a present," Specter argued. "Because I'm your fan."

"Tell me why you're doing this!" Blue Angel ordered.

"There's no point telling you." Specter smiled. "You're just the bait that's going to lead the big fish over to me. You'll lead me to my true opponent."

"What are you-" Blue Angel began to say when the ground below her began to shake and massive vines covered in thorns emerged from the ground and wrapped themselves around the idol, imprisoning her inside a cage.

"What's this?" Blue Angel asked, reaching out for the vines.

"Ah, ah." Specter waved a finger. "I wouldn't do that if I was you. There is a strong computer virus in those vines. If you touch it, you'll turn into data, just like dear Nulline did."

"Show some respect, she was your ally!" Blue Angel shouted.

"Ally?" Specter chuckled at that. "She was a rat who used Revolver's mercifulness to try and backstab him. She got what was coming for her, and so will you, once I'm done."

"You're a coward!" Blue Angel yelled. "If you were a duelist, you would face me like one and not use dirty tricks to gain the advantage."

"Oh, believe me, I would be more than happy to crush you in a duel," Specter smirked. "However, there's someone more important than I must eliminate first. And the only way to make them show up is by threatening something they hold dear."

Blue Angel bit her lip in anger and Specter laughed victoriously. He got the bait, now all he had to do was wait for the big fish to bite.

* * *

 **Ever since Great General of the Six Samurai was revealed, I knew that I needed to give MetalX one more duel. Sadly, I wanted to show him summon all Six Samurai Extra Deck monsters at once, but since all of the best Six Samurai Main Deck monsters were EARTH and its summoning requirements were monsters with DIFFERENT attributes, the Fusion had to sadly be left out.**

 **Other than that, I LOVE writing Duels between Trickstars and Aromage, even though Nulline didn't use that many Aromage monsters during this duel. Just the idea of having the Trickstars' burn deck be blocked by Aromage's healing and Aromage's offensive effects gained by healing themselves storming Trickstars' defenses is an exciting thing to think about. I bet of those were Duel Terminal decks, they would be rivals.**

 **Thanks to** summer490 **for the follow and the favorite on this story!**

 **Now onto the reviews!**

 **So, since I don't want to insult Playmaker's dueling abilities, Is won't address the two Guests' reviews in too many details, though I'll just say... PhantomFie IS overpowered even by Don Thousand standards, so yeah... Playmaker won't stand a chance even in a rematch.**

ScalchopWarrior **: My comment about PhantomFire not being overpowered was sarcasm, but given how much I like that specific OC of mine, I won't blame you for thinking that I'm defending him.**

 **And that's... Really all I've got the say. There will probably be more stuff in the A/N of chapter 37 since I'm posting these together. But thanks for reading!**


	37. Chapter 37

Darkness Spawning Through Ages

 **Proxy's POV**

I felt a new strength and devotion to stopping the Knights of Hanoi after Vermilya sacrificed herself for me. LINK VRAINS was breaking, the ground was starting to disappear, which made running around harder for me. I had to tell you, going through this ghost town on my own was unnerving. And even though I technically wasn't alone, Aqua and Firera weren't able to give the sense of security that being beside another duelist, like Blaze Rose of Playmaker gave me. The AIs were able to help me out during duels with tips and strategies, but it wasn't the same feeling as fighting side by side with someone.

" _Stop!"_ Aqua shouted, prompting me to stop running.

As soon as I did, the space in front of me turned into ripples and someone stepped out of it. Instinctively, I raised my Duel Disk, but then the person revealed themselves to be… a child? A boy to be exact. He was wearing the same uniform that the Knights of Hanoi did, but was he really an enemy? I mean, there were children cosplaying as other users and even Duel Monsters, so maybe he was just a lost child dressed as a Knight of Hanoi? I really didn't want to have to fight against this boy.

"Thanks…" the boy said to me with a low voice, almost whispering.

"What?" I stepped forward, careful not to scare him. "Why are you thanking me?"

"Below…" Ok, I was even more confused by this than the sudden thanking.

" _Proxy, watch out!"_ I heard both Aqua and Firera talk to me.

"What are you-" the ground under me began to shake and large vines covered in thorns shout out, wrapping around to form a cage around me.

" _Now we're trapped,"_ Aqua said.

"No joke about it," I muttered and looked back at the boy.

"Don't." he pointed at the vines. "Virus."

I think that I was getting what he was saying. There must be a computer on those vines that would infect me if I tried touching them. How would I break out of this, if I couldn't touch it? Or more importantly, why was I imprisoned here in the first place?

"Why're you doing this kid?" I asked the boy.

"Child." The boy pointed at himself. "Not. Threat. Need. You."

" _I don't think that your little companion is going to give you a more detailed explanation."_ Firera crossed her arms. _"I could try to use my bigger body to break out of this, but that would mean getting infected with the virus…"_

" _We'll find a different way out of this,"_ Aqua said. _"No one will be sacrificing themselves. We'll end this together."_

" _I was just making a suggestion."_ Firera shrugged. _"I guess that we'll just have to wait for someone to come and save us since that appears to be the kid's idea. Judging by his words, he'll use us as hostages to force whoever else comes this way to duel against him. A smart move, but a very annoying one for the ones who're going to be playing the role of victims."_

"Why do I always end up being the one needing a rescue?" I sighed.

The boy looked around and then the ripples appeared once again and he moved through them, disappearing. Oh, so you came, put me in this cell and then left? Yes, a very classy move you pulled there! Taking a deep breath, I sat on the ground and wrapped my arms around my legs, waiting for someone to show up and get me out of this cage. Aqua and Firera remained quite, most likely trying to create some sort of anti-virus program and break us out of here. I just hoped that the others had a better time reaching the Tower of Hanoi that me.

* * *

 **3** **rd** **POV**

Blue Angel was standing inside her cage, glaring furiously at her capturer. Specter, in turn, was standing with his arms crossed behind his back, waiting for the guest of honor to show up.

"I don't get it, who're you waiting to show up?" Blue Angel asked. "If you're waiting for my brother, he's not involved in this in any way!"

"Hush now," Specter placed a finger on his lips. "I don't care about your brother, even if he shows up, there'll be nothing he would be able to do. The person I'm waiting for is one that caused a lot of trouble for us. A powerful individual for sure. Defeating them would no doubt make me very useful for Master Revolver."

Blue Angel narrowed her eyes. "Are you trying to lure Playmaker here? Even if we're working together to stop the Tower of Hanoi, he knows that stopping it is much more important than saving me."

"Don't worry, there's someone else already there to stop him," Specter replied. "My target isn't he, despite how much more interesting it would be to duel against him."

"Then who?" Blue Angel asked. "Who're you after?"

"It's me, isn't it?"

Ripples appeared in the air around the two and a tall familiar clad in black and purple stepped out to face the Knight of Hanoi. Blue Angel felt herself smile a little. She recognized the avatar that was standing there!

"PhantomFire!" She shouted.

"I was sure that if I took Blue Angel hostage you would show up," Specter said. "You did show affection for her during the Another outbreak. It seems that even your actions could be predicted, old man!"

"Give me a break, I turned twenty only two days ago." PhantomFire crossed his arms. "I thought that your kind would realize after I sent you the remains of your allies that the only way to survive against me would be by avoiding me like the plague. But your decision to lure me with a hostage, Blue Angel no less, shows that there really is no limit to stupidity."

"Big talk, old man," Specter smirked. "If you think that you will be able to beat me, then I invite you to come and try your luck."

"I'll, but I thought that Revolver would have wanted his people to focus more on stopping Playmaker." PhantomFire turned toward the Tower of Hanoi. "Not that it matters, really. I'm sure that if you're here, someone else must be there dealing with Playmaker. The only real question I have is, did Revolver dealt with Picaro already?"

"Hmm, but of course," Specter replied. "Master Revolver already exterminated that useless spy of yours, so I came to finish the job by defeating you."

"I see," PhantomFire smiled. "I'll have to thank Dr. Kogami for letting his son deal with that troublemaker of mine. But I'm getting ahead of myself. You wanted a duel, right? Let's not waste any of my time anymore, alright?"

Specter placed his hands together in front of himself. "I'm looking forward to it!"

"DUEL!"

 **『** **Specter LP: 4000, Hand: 5 (VS) PhantomFire LP: 4000, Hand: 5** **』**

"Interesting," Specter said, looking around them. "Even after you appeared, the space around us remains warped. Did you do something?"

"There are some annoyances going around LINK VRAINS, broadcasting everything that's going on. As a public figure, I can't allow them to take any recordings of me doing such a lowly work. Fortunately for you, that means that no one's going to see how you're getting defeated by me."

"How kind of you," Specter remarked sarcastically. "In return for your kindness, I'll let you see what deck I'm using first. I Normal Summon _Sunseed Genius Loci (Lv.1, ATK: 0)_!"

A golden statue holding a brown seed appeared on Specter's field. PhantomFire narrowed his eyes, running Normal Monsters wasn't common unless Specter didn't need more than one monster to get his strategy enacted.

"Appear! The future circuit that lights up our path!" The circuit square appeared on the ground behind Specter. "Summoning condition is one Plant Normal Monster. I set Sunseed Genius Loci in the Link Marker! Link Summon! Appear, Link One, _Sunavalon Dryas (ATK: 0, Link-1)_!"

PhantomFire took a step back, watching in surprise as the ground behind Specter broke apart and a large tree with a face in the center appeared on the field.

"I set a card and end my turn," Specter finished. "Your move, old man."

* * *

Playmaker ran down the bridge. The Tower of Hanoi was getting closer and with it, his destined duel against Revolver for the fate of the Ignis.

"No. More." A voice called.

The Cyberse Duelist stopped and looked ahead, raising his Duel Disk. The air in front of him warped and a 12 years old boy stepped out of it to face Playmaker.

" _It appears that Hanoi finally sent someone to try and stop us,"_ Ai commented. _"But a child? Revolver's a really nasty person."_

"Heliac." The boy pointed at himself. "Playmaker." He then pointed toward the Duelist in front of him. "Duel." Heliac raised his left hand, which had a Duel Disk attached to it.

"I don't have time for that." Playmaker said. "Move out of the way, kid!"

Heliac, instead of doing as he was told, raised his other hand and snapped with his fingers. A hologram appeared next to him showing Proxy sitting inside a cage of vines. The BrioGear Duelist looked up and gasped.

"Playmaker!"

"Proxy!" Playmaker called back. "What happened?"

"That kid caught me in a trap." Proxy explained, pointing at Heliac. "I don't know the full story, but it seems that the only way to get out of here is by beating him."

" _That's a dirty way to force someone into a duel!"_ Ai protested.

"Since the kid went through all of this to force me into dueling against him, I don't have a choice." Playmaker closed his eyes and then opened them again. "I'll be your opponent then."

"Duel!"

 **『** **Heliac LP: 4000, Hand: 5 (VS) Playmaker LP: 4000, Hand: 5** **』**

"I'll take the first turn!" Heliac said, his voice suddenly turning more energetic and lively. "I activate the Continuous Spell, _Prank-Kids Prank_! By discarding _Prank-Kids Rocksies_ , I can Special Summon a _Prank-Kids Token (Lv.1, ATK: 0)_!" a small red boy in rocker clothes with fire coming out of its head appeared on Heliac's field.

" _That deck does look like something that a child would use,"_ Ai commented.

"Don't let your guard down." Playmaker warned his Ignis. "If he was able to control that trap and use it to capture Proxy, he's smarter than his age lets go."

" _Well, if we have to be talking honestly, even a toddler would be able to capture Proxy, so that isn't much of an accomplishment,"_ Ai said.

"Hey!" Proxy shouted. "Take that back! I'm not that gullible!"

" _I had to talk ill of people, but sadly, this is one time when Ai was able to calculate all of the data correctly."_ Aqua lowered her head.

"Not you too!" Proxy cried.

"I Normal Summon _Prank-Kids Lampsies (Lv.3, ATK: 1500)_!" Three more red boys wearing leather clothes with flames coming out of their heads appeared next to the token.

"Appear now, the circuit of eternal laughter!" Heliac raised his hand, summoning a large square over his head. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are two Prank-Kind monsters. I set Prank-Kids Lampsies and Prank-Kid Token in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Prank-Kids Dodo-Doodle-Doo (ATK: 2000, Link-2)_!" A large greenish-white sparrow with red eyes and hair appeared in the Extra Monster Zone.

" _Do… Dodo… Dododooo…"_ Ai scratched its head. _"How do you pronounce that name without biting your tongue!?"_

"Dodo-Doodle's effect activates!" Heliac continued. "When this card is Link Summoned, I add a Prank-Kid Spell or Trap Card from my deck to the hand. I add _Prank-Kids Pandemonium_. Then Lampsies, effect, since it was sent to the Graveyard as material for the Link Summon of a Prank-Kids monster, you take five hundred points of damage and I Special Summon a different Prank-Kids from my deck!"

The three fire monsters jumped out of the Graveyard and transformed into a fireball that hit Playmaker in the chest. The Cyberse Duelist gritted his teeth in pain and glared at Heliac who was searching through his deck.

 **『** **Playmaker LP: 4000 - 500** → **3500** **』**

"I Special Summon _Prank-Kids Fansies (Lv.1, DEF: 2000)_!" The green boys appeared on Heliac's field. "Next, I activate _Prank-Kids Pandemonium_ to Fusion Summon a Prank-Kids Fusion Monster!" Dodo-Doodle and Fansies jumped next to each other and turned into streams of colored particles gathering together at a singular point.

" _Why's suddenly everyone we face against using different summoning methods all of a sudden?"_ Ai asked. _"It's like we missed the memo or something?"_

"I must admit that having Cyberse monsters of different summoning methods would benefit my deck." Playmaker commented.

" _I'll remember that."_ Ai nodded before turning back to Heliac, who was chanting.

" _Mischievous demons of the elements, gather under the laugh of the bright colors! Fusion Summon! Prank-Kids Weather Washer (Lv.5, ATK: 2000)!_ "

A large blue robot with orange glasses and a huge grin on its face appeared out of the Fusion portal and landed in the Extra Monster Zone, laughing.

"Prank-Kids Fansies' effect activates!" Heliac continued. "I send another Prank-Kids Lampsies from my Deck to the Graveyard in order to Special Summon _Prank-Kids Dropsies (Lv.2, DEF: 1000)_ from my deck!" three blue girls appeared this time. "Next, I'll release Weather Washer to Special Summon _Prank-Kids Dodo-Doodle-Doo (ATK: 2000, Link-2)_ and _Prank-Kids Lampsies (Lv.3, ATK: 1500)_ from my Graveyard!"

"Wait, what!?" Ai's eyes widened.

The Prank-Kids Fusion monster laughed and its body began glowing before it separated into two fragments that then transformed into Dodo-Doodle and Lampsies, landing next to Prank-Kids Dropsies on the field.

"Next, I'll release Dodo-Doodle to return Prank-KidsPandemonium and Prank-Kids Fansies to my hand!" The Link 2 monster disappeared and two cards materialized back into Heliac's hand. "Appear now, the circuit of eternal laugher!"

A second square appeared over Heliac's head. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are two Prank-Kind monsters. I set Lampsies and Dropsies in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Prank-Kids Bow-Wow-Bark (ATK: 2000, Link-2)_! A red Cerberus with a wicked grin came out of the circuit and landed in the Right Extra Monster Zone.

"Do you think that he has a plan, or is he just showing off?" Proxy asked the Cyberse Duelist.

"He's a child, but it's hard to say what exactly he has in plan." Playmaker admitted. "Children are unpredictable by nature, and this deck seems to be the same. It's hard to say what he's trying to accomplish by continuously Link and Fusion Summoning different monsters."

"Dropsies's effect activates!" Heliac continued. "I gain a thousand Life Points and Special Summon _Prank-Kids Fansies (Lv.1, DEF: 2000)_ from my deck!" the three blue girls flew out of the Graveyard and turned into a cloud that rained on top of Heliac, while another copy of the three green boys joined the Link Monster on his field.

 **『** **Heliac LP: 4000 + 1000** → **5000** **』**

"I activate _Prank-Kids Pandemonium_ to Fusion Summon a Prank-Kids Fusion Monster!" The Fusion Card appeared on Heliac's field once again and this time the Fusion Materials were Bow-Wow Bark and the Fansies in Heliac's hand.

"Again, and again!" Ai grabbed its head. "The kid just doesn't stop summoning new monsters!"

" _Mischievous demons of the elements, gather under the laugh of the bright colors! Fusion Summon! Prank-Kids Rocket Ride (Lv.5, ATK: 2000)!_ "

A large red rocket with arms and an evil grin on its front flew into the air and made a sharp turn, landing in the Left Extra Monster Zone. Of course, Heliac wasn't done, as he raised his hand once again. "I release Rocket Ride to revive _Bow-Wow-Bark (ATK: 2000, Link-2)_ and _Dropsies (Lv.3, DEF: 1000)_!" The Fusion exploded and out of its remains, the Link and Effect Monsters raised to replace it.

"I activate Bow-Wow-Bark's effect to release itself and add Fansies, as well as Prank-Kids Pandemonium, from my graveyard to the hand!" The Cerberus split into two parts that flew back into Heliac's hand. "I set a card, and during the end of this turn, I activate the second effect of Prank-Kids Prank to return Rocket Ride, Dodo-Doodle-Doo and Weather Washed back into my Extra Deck, then draw a card!"

" _He finally stopped summoning monsters."_ Ai sighed in relief. _"What even was the point of going through all those Link and Fusion Summons if the only monsters on his field are two Effect Monsters!"_

"Yes, two Effect monsters along with a Graveyard set-up, a set card and five cards in his hand." Playmaker narrowed his eyes. "He hasn't been wasting his time, but rather, was preparing for my turn, while getting an advantage."

" _Is that so?"_ Ai narrowed its eyes.

"Yes." Playmaker stated. "But it's our turn now, and if I play our cards right, we should be able to end this in a single turn."

"A One Turn Kill!" Ai pushed its fist forward. "Let's do it, Playmaker!"

"My turn, Draw!" The Cyberse Duelist declared.

 **『** **Turn 2 [Playmaker] LP: 3500 Hand: 6** **』**

"I activate _Cynet Mining_! By discarding _Stack Reviver_ from my hand, I can add _Cyberse Gadget_ from my deck to the hand!" A card popped from Playmaker's Duel Disk and he showed it before adding it to his hand. "I Normal Summon _Cyberse Gadget (Lv.4, ATK: 1400)_ and activate its effect to revive the Level Two _Stack Reviver (Lv.2, DEF: 600)_!" The two Cyberse robots appeared on Playmaker's field.

"Appear, the circuit that leads to the future!" Playmaker raised his arms, summoning a square over his head. "Arrowhead confirmed! Summoning condition is one Level Four or lower Cyberse monster! I set Cyberse Gadget in the Link Marker! Link Summon! _Link Disciple (ATK: 500, Link-1)_!"

A white, black and red robot appeared in the Right Extra Monster Zone with three red triangles floating behind its back.

"When Cyberse Gadget leaves the field, I can Special Summon one _Gadget Token (Lv.2, DEF: 0)_ on my field!" A monster that looked like Cyberse Gadget's head with two arms attached to it appeared to replace its counterpart. "Appear again, the circuit that leads to the future!"

Another square opened over Playmaker's head.

"Arrowhead confirmed! Summoning condition is one Level Four or lower Cyberse monster! I set Gadget Token in the Link Marker! Link Summon! _Link Devotee (ATK: 500, Link-1)_!" A blue robot appeared behind Link Disciple, co-linking to it.

"During the turn in which Devotee is summoned, I can't summon any Link Three or higher monsters." Playmaker explained. "Now I activate Disciple's effect! By Tributing the Link Devotee that it points to, I draw a card, then place a card from my hand to the bottom of the deck! Now Link Devotee's effect activates! Since it was Tributed while co-linked, I Special Summon two _Link Tokens (Lv.1, DEF: 0)_ on my field!"

" _There it comes!"_ Ai exclaimed. _"Playmaker's famous multi-Link Summon!"_

"Appear for the third time, the circuit that leads to the future!" yet another square opened in the sky to accompany Playmaker's Link Summoning. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are two Normal Monsters. I set the two Link Tokens in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Binary Blader (ATK: 1800, Link-2)_!" A black and yellow monster with blue and red lines running across its body appeared on Playmaker's field carrying two blades attached to the back of its arms.

"When there's a Link Monster on my field, I can Special Summon _Link Infra-Flier (Lv.2, DEF: 1800)_ next to its Link Marker!" Another Cyberse monster appeared on Playmaker's field, landing on the right side of Binary Blader. "And for the fourth time, appear the circuit that leads to the future!"

"That's Playmaker for you!" Proxy cheered on. "He's able to form the perfect Link Monsters line-up to overcome whatever his opponent has in store!"

"Arrowheads confirmed!" Playmaker shouted as Stack Reviver and Link Infra-Flier turned into whirlwinds that flew into the left and right arrows of the circuit. "Summoning conditions are two monsters, except Tokens. I set Stack Reviver and Link Infra-Flier in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Binary Sorceress (ATK: 1600, Link-2)_!" A female monster with, white body and giant arms appeared on the left side of Binary Blader.

"Once per Duel, if Stack Reviver is used as Link Material, I can Special Summon one of the other Link Materials from my Graveyard in Defense Position. I revive _Link Infra-Flier (Lv.2, DEF: 1800)_!" Playmaker clenched his fist. "And for the fifth time, appear the circuit that leads to the future!"

"Another one!?" Heliac gasped in amazement.

"Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are two Cyberse monsters! I set Link Infra-Flier and Link Disciple in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Multi Sledgehammer (ATK: 1000, Link-2)_!" A monster in bulky green armor carrying a sledgehammer appeared on the left side of Binary Sorceress, co-linking with her.

" _Now our field is completed!"_ Ai declared and turned toward Playmaker. _"Let's go, Playmaker! The faster we end this, the quicker Proxy and Aqua will be able to get out of that trap!"_

"Set card activate, _Prank-Kids Pandemonium_!" Heliac shouted, activating his set card. "During your Main Phase, I can use this card to Fusion Summon! I use Prank-Kids Lampies and Prank-Kids Dropsies as Fusion Materials!"

" _He's Fusion Summoning during our turn!?"_ Ai threw its arms around frantically.

The two Prank-Kids grabbed each other's hands and turned into particles that combined into a singular beam that shot behind Heliac while the duelist was chanting.

" _Mischievous demons of the elements, gather under the laugh of the bright colors! Fusion Summon! Prank-Kids Weather Washer (Lv.5, ATK: 2000)!_ "

The large blue robot with orange glasses appeared on the field once more, but this time in a battle stance, ready to face against the three Cyberse Link Monsters that were staring back at it.

"The effects of Lampies and Dropsies activate!" The spirits of the two monsters appeared on the field, grinning and laughing. "First, Lampies will burn you for five hundred and I'll Special Summon _Prank-Kids Fansies (Lv.1, DEF: 2000)_ from my deck, then I'll use the effect of Dropsies to gain a thousand Life Points and Special Summon my third _Prank-Kids Lampies (Lv.3, DEF: 500)_ from my deck!"

The red Prank-Kids turned into a fireball that hit Playmaker once more, forcing him to take a step back, while the blue Prank-Kids turned toward Heliac, healing the little boy.

 **『** **Playmaker LP: 3500 - 500** → **3000** **』**

 **『** **Heliac LP: 5000 + 1000** → **6000** **』**

" _Seriously?"_ Ai asked. _"He damaged us during our turn!"_

"I'll enter the Battle Phase and attack Prank-Kids Lampies with Binary Sorceress!" The Cyberse created a ball of energy between her arms and aimed it at the Prank-Kids monster.

"I activate Prank-Kids Weather Washer's effect!" Heliac replied. "I release this monster to revive _Bow-Wow-Bark (ATK: 2000, Link-2)_ and _Dropsies (Lv.3, DEF: 1000)_!" The blue robot split into two pieces that landed down in the Main Monster Zones.

" _Why would he do that?"_ Ai titled its head.

"Weather Washer's effect, when used to revive Prank-Kids gives them protection from battle destruction during this turn." Heliac pointed out.

"Now we can't get rid of these annoying things," Ai said, while Playmaker narrowed his eyes.

"I'll still attack." Binary Sorceress threw her attack at Prank-Kids Lampies, but the three red boys just jumped to the side, avoiding destruction. "Because I attack, Multi Sledgehammer gains a Hammer Counter. Now, I'll use Binary Blader to attack Bow-Wow-Bark and activate Binary Sorceress' effect. By halving Sorceress' attack, my Blader will gain attack equal to the lost!"

 **Binary Sorceress, 1600/2** → **800**

 **Binary Blader, 1800 + 800** → **2600**

"Now battle, Binary Blader, attack Prank-Kids Bow-Wow-Bark!" The Link monster leaped forward and swung its blades, bringing them down onto the Cerberus' head. The Prank-Kids Link Monster howled in pain and Heliac winched, taking a step back.

 **『** **Heliac LP: 6000 - 600** → **5400** **』**

"Because Sorceress is linked to two monsters, her first effect heals me by the damage my monster inflicted to you." Playmaker stated as his monster turned around and unleashed a bright light with her arms, healing the Cyberse Duelist.

 **『** **Playmaker LP: 3000 + 600** → **3600** **』**

"But will you dare to use the second attack, Mr. Playmaker?" Heliac asked.

" _Why not?"_ Ai asked back.

"Playmaker!" Proxy shouted instinctively as the thorns in her cage lengthened.

" _The thorns grow when the Knight of Hanoi who used them is damaged,"_ Aqua observed. _"In other words, the only way to win would be by sacrificing us."_

" _That's playing dirty!"_ Ai protested and pointed at Heliac. _"For a kid like you to play using lowly tricks like this…"_

"You're getting the wrong idea here, Mr. Ignis." Heliac shrugged. "Because Dr. Kogami was the one who programmed these traps, I have no control over how they function. Don't blame me for this, I only use the resources that are given to me, the same way you would use the resources given to you in order to defeat us. You're just angry because we did it first."

" _Because of this attack, Multi Sledgehammer gained another Hammer Counter,"_ Firera observed from Proxy's Duel Disk alongside Aqua. _"If Playmaker attacks again, and then used Multi Sledgehammer's effect, he would be able to pull some serious damage while recovering a lot of Life Points."_

"There's no way for Playmaker to put another life's in danger to win the duel." Proxy clenched her fist in anger. Only if she was more careful and jumped out of the way when Firera warned her, Playmaker wouldn't be in this position. He wouldn't have to hold back in order to protect her, he would have to give up on himself for her the same way Blaze Rose did.

"I'll place a card face-down." Playmaker said, setting the last card in his hand. "The effects of Binary Sorceress and Blader end, returning their attack points to normal."

 **Binary Blader, 2600 - 800** → **1800**

 **Binary Sorceress, 800*2** → **1600**

" _Playmaker is unable to attack an ally,"_ Ai observed, then looked at Aqua. _"And I'm unable to forsake one of my own for victory either…"_

* * *

"It's my turn, I draw!" PhantomFire declared.

 **『** **Turn 2 [PhantomFire] LP: 4000 Hand: 6** **』**

"First, I'll activate _Treasure of the Six Gears_ to discard _ChronoGear Time Veiler_ and draw two cards from my Deck!" PhantomFire looked at the cards he got and took one of them, placing it on his Duel Disk. "I Normal Summon _ChronoGear Blue Plague (Lv.2, ATK: 400)_ and activate its effect to Special Summon _ChronoGear Berfomet (Lv.4, DEF: 1800)_ from my hand!"

"Because Berfomet was Special Summoned by the effect of a ChronoGear card, I can add ChronoGear Emergency Launch from my deck to the hand, and then I activate it to Special Summon _ChronoGear Steam Ogre (Lv.8, ATK: 2600)_ from my deck, at the cost that it's unable to attack and returns to the deck at the end of this turn!"

"A Special Summon from the deck?" Specter smirked.

"I'll activate both effects of Steam Ogre," PhantomFire stated. "First, because it was Special Summoned from the Deck, I can destroy your set card and draw a card!" Specter's set card, which was Sunavalon Glorious Growth shattered, leaving the Knight of Hanoi to frown. "Additionally, his second effect lets me Special Summon two ChronoGear monsters from my Deck or Graveyard in Defense Position. Come out, _ChronoGear Hellchain (Lv.3, DEF: 1700)_ and _ChronoGear Time Veiler (Lv.2, DEF: 900)_!"

"Amazing!" Specter clapped. "You were able to get five monsters out, but only one of them is able to declare an attack, so I take it that your turn isn't over yet?"

"I'm going to end you quickly, plant lover," PhantomFire replied. "Appear circuit of past and future!"

The sky between the two players cracked and a black void opened up, absorbing Time Veiler inside itself.

"Arrowhead confirmed. Summoning condition is one Level Two or lower oGear monster. I set ChronoGear Time Veiler in the Link Market. Link Summon! _**ChronoGear Time Manipulator**_!"

A little girl with short red hair and large blue eyes came out of the black vortex, landing in the Extra Monster Zone. The girl had two triangular metal objects on the sides of her head, bending upward to take the form of horns. She was wearing a white uniform with a long coat and sharp clock hands jutting out of her shoulders. A dark grey metal plate was placed over the monster's chest and shoulders. She wore long black leather gloves that reached her elbows and metal boots with clock gears jutting out of the sides. Finally, the monster was holding a long wand with a clock on the top.

* * *

 **ChronoGear Time Manipulator**

 **Attribute: DARK/Type: Psychic/Link/Effect**

 **Link Arrows: Bottom**

 **ATK: 900/Link-1**

 **1 Level 2 or lower "oGear" monster**

 **Effect: Once while this Link Summoned card is on the field, you can target 1 Main Monster Zone on the field: Return any monster on that zone to the bottom of its owner's deck, also, that zone cannot be used while this card is face-up on the field. If this card is co-linked, you can place 1** **Synodic** **Counter on every Link Monster you control without a** **Synodic** **Counter. If a monster with Synodic Counter attacks, the effects of all face-up cards your opponent controls are negated until the end of the Battle Phase. You can only use the 2nd effect of "** **ChronoGear Time Manipulator** **" once per turn.**

* * *

"When Time Veiler is used as a material for the summoning of a ChronoGear monster, I draw a card," PhantomFire said, drawing another card from his deck.

"I activate Hellchain's effect!" PhantomFire declared. "Once while this card is face-up on the field, I can revive a DARK monster from my Graveyard with its effects negated. So, raise again, _ChronoGear Time Veiler (Lv.2, DEF: 900)_!" A black portal opened on the free Monster Zone and the little monster flew out of it.

"Appear circuit of past and future!" The sky fell apart revealing the black abyss once more. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two oGear monsters! I set ChronoGear Time Veiler and ChronoGear Hellchain in the Link Markers! Link Summon! The wild spirit dancing over fading ages! _ChronoGear Time Tamer Kitty (ATK: 1700, Link-2)_! the catgirl monster jumped out of the vortex and landed behind Time Manipulator.

"Time Tamer Kitty's effect!" PhantomFire pointed at his monster. "When she's Link Summoned, I revive a DARK monster from my Graveyard! Come back, _ChronoGear Hellchain_ _(Lv.3, DEF: 1700)_!" The Graveyard portal opened at PhantomFire's field and several chains shot out of it, pulling the fiend back into the game.

"And again! Appear circuit of past and future!" Kitty winked and Steam Ogre fowled as the two of them were sucked into the dark abyss. "Arrowheads confirmed. The Summoning conditions are at least two DARK monsters! I set Steam Ogre and the Link Two Time Tamer Kitty in the Link Markers! Link Summon! My dark soul, _Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer (ATK: 2300, Link-3)_!" PhantomFire's ace jumped out of the abyss and landed behind Time Manipulator, crossing its arms as it observed the field.

"Arrowheads confirmed!" Another portal opened in front of PhantomFire. "Summoning requirements are two DARK monsters! I set ChronoGear Berfomet and ChronoGear Blue Plague in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _ChronoGear Timekeeping Succubus (ATK: 1000, Link-2)_!" A young teenager demoness landed at the left side of Phantomus and sent him an air kiss.

"Since it was revived, Hellchain's effect can be activated again." PhantomFire pointed out. "I revive _ChronoGear Time Veiler (Lv.2, DEF: 900)_ and then I'll call forth the circuit of past and future for a final time!"

Reality shattered as pieces of the sky fell on the ground and the pulsing black portal appeared for PhantomFire one more time.

"Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are two DARK Effect monsters. I set Time Veiler and Hellchain in the Link Markers. Link Summon! Come forth, _**ChronoGear Temporal Driller**_!"

A humanoid creature with a green-armored body and the general appearance of a machine appeared from the void. Its head was flat with two red bug-like eyes sticking out of the sides and a single small drill resting on the top. The creature had jackhammer parts on its elbows and its arms ended with drills instead of normal hands. Its legs were small with three claws coming out of its feet.

* * *

 **ChronoGear Temporal Driller**

 **Attribute: DARK/Type: Machine/Link/Effect**

 **Link Arrows: Bottom, Right**

 **ATK: 1800/Link-2**

 **2 DARK Effect monsters**

 **Effect: If a monster(s) is Normal or Special Summoned to a zone(s) this card points to (except during the Damage Step): You can add 1 "oGear" card from your GY to your hand, but for the rest of this turn, you cannot Normal Summon/Set or Special Summon or activate the effect of cards with the added card's name. During your Main Phase, if this card is co-linked: Target a number of Spell/Trap Zones on your opponent's field up to the number of monster this card is co-linked to; return all cards in those zones to the bottom of your opponent's deck (if any), also, those zones can't be used until the end of the next turn. You can only use each effect of "ChronoGear Temporal Driller" once per turn.**

* * *

"What a fancy play," Specter commented. "Getting four co-linked Link Monsters on the field while - still holding six cards in the hand I see. It's starting to get clear to me how you were able to defeat the other Knights of Hanoi, but don't expect me to feel intimidated by you."

"Don't worry, you aren't supposed to feel intimidated," PhantomFire replied. "But you might become a little bit worried after I do this. Time Manipulator's effect activates! I place one Sydonic Counter on every Link Monster on my field, and when a monster with Sydonic Counter attacks, the effects of all face-up cards you control will be negated until the end of the Battle Phase."

"What!?" Specter screamed, taking a step back

The Knight of Hanoi gulped and glanced at Blue Angel on the side. In just a single turn, PhantomFire was able to find all the weak points of his deck and use them against him. Of course, the Knight of Hanoi had expected his opponent to catch on, but not so quickly. He needed to know, how!

"You're wondering how I figured you out, don't you?" PhantomFire asked. He could see it written all across Specter's shocked face. "It was very simple actually. First, everything about your last turn, from the fact that you use Normal Monsters with such low stats, to your Link Summoning of a monster with zero attack points, to the set card. All these things made me realize that your deck doesn't like to place a lot of resources on the field and that based on your monster's lack of attack, your deck must be defensive in nature."

"Second, your reaction when I destroyed that set card of yours." PhantomFire continued. "You were annoyed, but not worried. That was my confirmation that the card you set the last turn was meant to help out Sunavalon Dryas, not protect it."

"Well done, old man," Specter smirked. "But before you go and finish me, I need to warn you. You see Blue Angel over there? Well, as it just happens, the cage she's trapped into is connected to me and my Life Points. If I take any damage, the thorns will become longer and if my Life Points are near zero the thorns will touch her and the virus inside of them will..."

"Infect her." PhantomFire finished. "So that was your last trump card? To use a hostage?"

"It's fun, right?" Specter asked. "So, feel free to deal damage to me."

"Don't let him getting into your head!" Blue Angel shouted. "Don't worry about me! Someone has to stop the Tower of Hanoi, and if that won't be me, then it has to be you!"

"I would say that your cowardly ways are surprising me, but I would be lying." PhantomFire glared at Specter. "There are multiple ways to defeat an opponent, without needing to deal any damage to them. Let's see if you'll be able to defeat me before I defeat you. I'll set two cards face-down and end my turn."

"You could have ended it all in one turn, but you choose to hold back and wait for another chance." Specter laughed. "That's your biggest weakness. Yours and Playmaker's and everyone else's! You worry too much about others. You can't be cruel. You won't abandon people during a fight, in fact, wasn't that why you took these other weaklings under your wing? Your spirit is weak. In order to save Blue Angel you gave your one and only chance to defeat me, and believe me, I'll make sure that you won't get a second chance at this!"

PhantomFire sighed and looked toward Blue Angle. He ignored Specter's words, blocked it out and focused his mind on more important matters. Winning this duel, with the deck built that he was using at the moment, would be a piece of cake. All he had to do, was wait for the right moment, that one opening when he would be able to end it all.

"You know that even if you defeat me, Playmaker will still be able to reach the Tower, right?" PhantomFire asked. "No matter what you do, it'll be in vain."

"No, that's where you're wrong." Specter shook a finger. "Playmaker is held at bay by another one of use, one who uses your dear apprentice, the little girl with the Ignis, as a hostage. What do you think, would Playmaker forsake her for his revenge? Or will he break and give up his chance for victory to save her, the same way you gave up to protect Blue Angel?"

"Take your turn," PhantomFire growled.

"If you insist," Specter said. "But I won't hold back as you did. I'm going to end you, right here. My turn. Draw!"

 **『** **Turn 3 [Specter] LP: 4000 Hand: 4** **』**

"First, I'm going to Normal Summon _**Sunseed Growth**_." A green humanoid plant with yellow eyes and pink flowers covering its chest and back appeared on Specter's field. "I activate Growth's effect to return Sunseed Genius Loci back to my hand."

* * *

 **Sunseed Growth**

 **Level: 1/Attribute: EARTH/Type: Plant/Effect**

 **ATK: 0/DEF: 0**

 **Effect: When this card is Normal Summoned, you can target 1 "Sunseed" monster in your GY: Return that target to the hand. During your End Phase, if this card is in your GY: You can target 1 "Sunavalon" or "Sunvine" Spell/Trap Card in your GY; banish this card, and if you do, add that target to your hand. You can only use each effect of "Sunseed Growth" once per turn.**

* * *

"Appear! The future circuit that lights up our path!" Specter shouted, summoning a circuit under Dryas. "Arrowheads confirmed. Summoning conditions are two Plant monsters. I set Sunseed Growth and Sunavalon Dryas in the Link Markers!" One of Dryas' roots came out of the ground and shot into the Link Arrow alongside Growth. "Link Summon! Grow! _Sunavalon Dryades (ATK: 0, Link-2)_!"

Instead of disappearing to allow a new monster to take its place, Sunavalon Dryas grew larger with the head of a woman coming out of it. PhantomFire observed the new monster. He was getting new information about Specter's strategy every turn.

"I discard Sunseed Genius Loci from my hand to activate the Continuous Spell, _Sunvine Shrine_! With this card's effect, I can now revive _Sunseed Genius Loci (Lv.1, ATK: 0)_ from my Graveyard."

"A Continuous Spell that will revive a monster every turn?" PhantomFire wondered. "An endless supply of Link Materials, is that it?"

"Obviously," Specter replied. "And I was able to get it because you allow me to do. So thanks for helping me. Appear! The future circuit that lights up our path!"

A new square opened, but this time it appeared in the sky instead of the ground. A sight that meant he wasn't going to summon a new Sunavalon monster.

"Arrowhead confirmed! Summoning condition is one Plant Normal Monster. I set Sunseed Genius Loci in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Sunvine Thrasher (ATK: 800, Link-1)_!" A humanoid monster with light-green skin wearing an outfit made of green leaves with a large sword on its back appeared from the circuit.

"Thrasher's effect!" Specter continued. "While linked to a Sunavalon monster, it gains eight hundred attack points of each of that monster's Link Ratings! Because Dryades has two, Trasher gains sixteen hundred attack points!"

 **Sunvine Thrasher, ATK: 800 + 800*2** → **2400**

"An offensive monster," PhantomFire commented. "But you aren't going to use it, are you?"

"And what's stopping me to do that, old man?" Specter asked intrigued. "One of your set cards?"

"Nope." PhantomFire shook his head and pointed at Timekeeping Succubus. "ChronoGear Timekeeping Succubus will protect my monsters that she's linked to from that battle and damage."

"And did you forget that your Time Manipulator is completely unprotected?" Specter pointed at the Link 1 resting in the Extra Monster Zone.

"Is it?" PhantomFire asked back. "Phantomus' effect! While it's linked to a monster, it gains that monster's effects! Since he's linked to ChronoGear Timekeeping Succubus, he gains her effects, protecting Time Manipulator from destruction. What's more, if you try to attack a monster that Phantomus points to, that monster will be placed next to his free Link Marker, giving me control over your monster!"

"Amazing!" Blue Agnel exclaimed. "Because of that, Specter is now unable to attack as well!"

"You just don't know where to quit, do you?" Specter gritted his teeth. "But you just exposed your field's biggest weakness! Phantomus gains the effects of the monster next to its Link Marker regardless if you want him to, or not! So, I'll attack Timekeeping Succubus with Sunvine Thrasher!"

The Plant charged at the demoness and swung its sword ready to cut her in half.

"I activate Timekeeping Succubus' effect that Phantomus is copying!" PhantomFire shouted back. "When a monster linked to Phantomus battles, I can negate the damage and my monster's destruction, then Sunvine Thrasher is placed next to PhantomFire's free zone!"

The Fiend jumped in front of Timekeeping Succubus and raised its arm, producing a large shield made of black data that took Thrasher's attack instead of the demoness. Afterward, PhantomFire's Link 3 pointed at the Specter's monster and created several chains of black data that trapped Thrasher, pulling him next to the right zone next to Phantomus.

"With this, your impenetrable defense is done for!" Specter laughed. "Since no Sunavalon Link Monster points at it, Thrasher will be destroyed, and because Phantomus copied its effects, your ace will follow my monster to the grave!"

"You really thought that I didn't foresee that?" PhantomFire asked. "Let me show you! I activate my Continuous Trap - _**Link Restriction**_! When this card activates, I place one Restrict Counter on it for every Link Monster on our fields and as long as Link Restriction is face-up on the field, our cards can't be destroyed by effects on our own fields!"

A card showing Police Patrol of the Underworld arresting Gouki the Great Ogre and Heavymetalfoes Electrum while pointing to a sign of an explosion with a red X across it.

* * *

 **Link Restriction (Trap) Continuous**

 **Activate this card by placing 1 Restrict Counter on it for every Link Monster on the field. While this card is on the field, cards in the hand and on the field cannot be destroyed by effects activated on the side of the field belonging to the player whose cards would be destroyed. This card cannot be destroyed by card effects. Once per turn, during each End Phase, remove 1 Restrict Counter from this card. When the last Satellite Counter(s) is removed from this card, send it to the GY.**

* * *

"You even had a card prepared for this?" Specter asked, narrowing his eyes. "Admit it, old man! You've been researching us, spying on us, haven't you?"

"Sorry to disappoint, but the only researching I have done was from Ghost Girl's recording of Revolver's duel against Playmaker inside the Data Storm," PhantomFire replied. "As for Link Restriction. Well, let's just say that once I had a bad match against someone using Fire Kings, which gave me the idea of creating a card with such an overcomplicated effect. I mean, wouldn't it be a bit unfair if I was able to negate all kinds of destruction for as long as Link Restriction is on the field?" PhantomFire turned to the side and looked back at Specter. "I admit that I placed a few of these fun cards inside my deck because I was expecting Revolver himself to come, and I knew that this would be a fun little surprise for his Rokket monsters. What I didn't expect was for every Knight of Hanoi to use a suicidal deck."

"You're just as annoying at defending as you're pathetic for not attacking me!" Specter shouted. "set a card and I end my turn! During the End Phase, the second effect of Sunseed Growth activates! I banish it to set _Sunavalon Glorious Growth_ onto my field!"

"Then it's my-"

"Aoi!"

PhantomFire, who was about to draw a card stopped himself and turned back to see a familiar figure running toward them. It was Akira, just as the ChronoGear Duelist expected, he came for his sister.

"Brother!" Blue Angel shouted back. "Please stand back!"

"It's too late for that!" Specter laughed and snapped his fingers.

PhantomFire's eyes widened, the Duelist quickly realized what was about to happen. "Akira, run!"

"Wha-" Akira stopped all so suddenly, the ground under his shaking. Suddenly, vines shot out of the ground and wrapped around him, creating a cell to keep him from interfering.

"How many of these programs do you have?" PhantomFire asked.

"Oh you know, just copy paste the code," Specter replied, grinning.

"What's happening?" Akira asked, then looked at Blue Angel. "Are you alright, Aoi?"

"She's perfectly fine," Specter replied instead of Blue Angel. "That is until PhantomFire here chooses to attack me, in which case both her and you, will be infected by a not-so-pleasant virus and will join the Tower of Hanoi."

"But then that means..." Akira looked back at PhantomFire. The dark duelist kept his eyes on the field, ignoring the older Zaizen's stare.

"Oh, this is getting better by the second, isn't it?" Specter chuckled. "Go on, PhantomFire! It's your turn, so take your move! Attack me!"

"During the end of your turn, Link Restriction loses one counter," PhantomFire stated.

 **Link Restriction, Restrict Counter: 6** → **5**

"I draw," PhantomFire muttered in a low voice.

 **『** **Turn 4 [PhantomFire] LP: 4000 Hand: 5** **』**

"At this moment, I'm going to activate my trap!" Specter shouted. " _ **Sunavalon Poison**_! While this card is face-up on the field, the effects of all monster you currently control are negated, and every time a Link Monster you control is destroyed, you're going to take three hundred points of damage!"

* * *

 **Sunavalon Poison (Trap) Continuous**

 **Activate this card by negating the effects of all monsters your opponent currently controls. Your opponent cannot target "Suavalon" Link Monsters with card effects. If an opponent's monster is destroyed by battle, after damage calculation: Inflict 300 damage to your opponent. If there are no "Sunavalon" monsters on the field, destroy this card.**

* * *

"Don't think that I'll let you take my monsters' effects like this!" PhantomFire raised his hand. "I activate Timekeeping Succubus' Quick Effect! When it's co-linked, I can target one monster on my field and gain Life Points equal to its original attack! I target Phantomus and activate the same effect through Phantomus to target Temporal Driller!"

Timekeeping Succubus and Phantomus turned toward Phantomus and washed him with purple light, creasing the Duelist's Life Points by 4100 points in a single move.

 **『** **PhantomFire LP: 4000 + 2300** → **6300 + 1800** → **8100** **』**

"Even if you're able to increase your Life Points, due to my trap, your monsters are still going to lose their effects!" Specter pointed out. "What are you going to do now, huh? None of your tricks will work on me anymore!"

"I... End my turn." PhantomFire lowered his head. "Link Restriction loses one more counter."

 **Link Restriction, Restrict Counter: 5** → **4**

"Even though he has five Link Monsters, he's unable to declare an attack..." Akira commented.

"Without even making a move?" Specter chuckled. "I'm disappointed! Fine, if you insist so much, I'll end your suffering! My turn, draw!"

 **『** **Turn 5 [Specter] LP: 4000 Hand: 3** **』**

"I Normal Summon a second _Sunseed Genius Loci (Lv.1, ATK: 0)_ and Special Summon _Sunseed Shadow (Lv.1, ATK: 0)_ by its own effect!" Genius Loci appeared on Specter's field alongside a monster that looked almost the same but it was a brown cell with a small plant inside of it.

"Appear! The future circuit that lights up our path!"A square opened underneath Specter's tree monster. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are two or more Plant monsters. I set Sunseed Shadow Link Two Sunavalon Dryades in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Grown, my beautiful mother tree! Appear, _Sunavalon Dryanome (ATK: 0, Link-3)_!"

The giant tree on Specter's field grew once more, revealing a bit more of the woman inside of it.

"I activate Sunvine Shrine' effect to revive _Sunseed Genius Loci (Lv.1, ATK: 0)_ from my Graveyard." the Normal Monster raised from Specter's Graveyard for a second time. "Again, appear, the future circuit that lights up our path!"

Two squares appeared in the air as Specter raised his hands upward and the two copies of Genius Loci shot upward, each one flying into the bottom arrow of its circuit.

"Arrowhead confirmed! Summoning condition is one Plant Normal Monster. I set Sunseed Genius Loci in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Sunvine Thrasher (ATK: 800, Link-1)_!" Two new copies of said warrior flew out of the circuits and landed at the left and right zones that Dryanome was pointing toward.

"Thrasher's effect!" Specter continued. "While linked to a Sunavalon monster, it gains eight hundred attack points of each of that monster's Link Ratings! Because Dryanome has three, Trasher gains twenty-four hundred attack points!"

 **Sunvine Thrasher, ATK: 800 + 800*3** → **3200**

"Now let's battle!" Specter declared. "Thrasher, attack Phantomus!"

The Thrasher on the left leaped forward and cut PhantomFire's Link Three monster into two. PhantomFire winched as his Life Points went down.

 **『** **PhantomFire LP: 8100 - 900** → **7200** **』**

"Thrasher's effect!" Specter laughed. "When it destroys a monster by battle, that monster is Special Summoned next to the link of a Sunavalon monster I control!" A portal opened leading to Specter's Graveyard and it pulled PhantomFire's ace out, placing it behind Dryanome.

"Also, don't forget that because of Poison, you're going to take three hundred more damage." PhantomFire winched at Specter's words, sensing his Life Points falling even further.

 **『** **PhantomFire LP: 7200 - 300** → **6900** **』**

"And of course, let's not forget about your ace's effect," Specter stated, pointing at the Phantomus that he stole. "Since it gains the effects of the monsters it's linked to, it also gains Thrasher's effect!"

 **Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer, ATK: 2300 + 800*3** → **4700**

"And again!" Specter laughed. "Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer, attack Time Manipulator!"

The Link 3 Fiend raised its arm forward and summoned a scythe of dark data that it then swung at the Link 1, cutting it in half.

"I activate a Continuous Trap! _**ChronoGear Defense**_!" PhantomFire shouted, activating a card that showed Time Tamer Kitty and Timekeeper Succubus creating a protective barrier. "While this card is face-up on the field and I control a Link Monster, any damage I take from battles involving a Link Monster whose Link Rating is higher than the highest Link Rating on my field, I halve the damage!"

* * *

 **ChronoGear Defense (Trap) Continuous**

 **While you control at least 2"oGear" Link Monsters, any battle damage you take from battles involving a Link Monster is halved. You can send this card from your field to the GY: Target 1 Link-3 or lower DARK Link Monster in your GY; Special Summon it.**

* * *

 **『** **PhantomFire LP: 6900 - 3800** → **3100** **』**

"Huh?" Specter blinked in confusion. "It says that the damage would be halved, but it's still the same?"

"If Diabolic Phantomus is co-linked, any damage your linked monsters inflict will be doubled," PhantomFire explained. "Because of that, when I halved it, I halved the doubled value of seventy-six hundred."

"Woah!" Specter said in surprise. "That ace of your is truly a powerful beast. Because of my trap, you're going to take three hundred points of damage once more."

 **『** **PhantomFire LP: 3100 - 300** → **2800** **』**

"Battle!" Specter pointed at the Sunvine Thrasher that PhantomFire controlled. "Thrasher, attack that one too."

The swordsman leaped in the air and swung its blade, cutting its copy's head off. Akira and Blue Angel looked away instinctively while PhantomFire took a step back, pushed by the strength of that attack.

 **『** **PhantomFire LP: 2800 - 2400** → **400** **』**

"And now the effect of Sunavalon Poison will inflict three hundred more damage to you," Specter stated.

 **『** **PhantomFire LP: 400 - 3** **00** → **10** **0** **』**

"You were lucky," Specter stated. "But one more attack and you'll be done for! Of course, I won't leave my field like this! Appear, the future circuit that lights up our path!"

Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are two Plant Monsters. I set two Sunvine Thrasher in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Sunavalon Daphne (ATK: 0, Link-2)_!" A large humanoid plant that resembled a woman appeared at the left side of Phantomus.

"I activate Daphne's effect," Specter said. "By releasing your Diabolic Phantomus, I target two copies of Sunvine Thrasher in my Graveyard and return them to the Extra Deck. And now, I'm going to activate my Spell Card - _**Sunvine Renew**_! When a monster leaves my field, except as a Link Material, I can destroy one monster on your field, and if the monster I destroy is a Link Monster, then I'll be able to Special Summon a Sunvine Link Monster from my Graveyard with the same or lower Link Rating! I choose to destroy that Temporal Driller you control!"

PhantomFire watched blankly as the ChronoGear Temporal Driller he controlled exploded into pieces of data that then disappeared.

* * *

 **Sunvine Renew (Spell) Normal**

 **If a monster that a "Sunavalon" Link Monster points to left the field this turn, except as a Link Material for the Link Summon of a Plant monster: You can target 1 monster your opponent controls; destroy it. If the monster destroyed by this effect is a Link Monster, you can Special Summon 1 "Sunvine" Link Monster from your GY, whose Link Rating is equal to, or lower than, the destroyed monster's Link Rating. You can only activate 1 "Sunvine Renew" per turn.**

* * *

"And now, because I destroyed a Link Monster, I can bring back the Link One, _Sunvine Thrasher (ATK: 800, Link-1)_!" The Thrasher that Specter destroyed earlier returned back to his field.

"Thrasher's effect!" Specter continued. "While linked to a Sunavalon monster, it gains eight hundred attack points of each of that monster's Link Ratings! Because Dryanome has three, Trasher gains twenty-four hundred attack points!"

 **Sunvine Thrasher, ATK: 800 + 800*3** → **3200**

"It's over!" Specter laughed maniacally. "Your Life Points at just a hundred, the only monster you control is too weak to do anything! Even though your hand is full, there's nothing you can do with it, without hurting your dear friends! I won!"

Blue Angel lowered her head and Akira looked away. PhantomFire was going to lose trying to defend them, and there was nothing they could do to help him out. Or so Akira thought, but Blue Angel clenched her fists as new determination rose inside her chest.

* * *

"What a waste." Heliac sighed. "It's no fun beating someone who isn't fighting back, but I can't turn off this program on my own, so I guess that I'll have to beat you like this, Mr. Playmaker. It's my turn, draw!"

 **『** **Turn 3 [Heliac] LP: 5400, Hand: 6** **』**

"I release Prank-Kids Bow-Wow-Bark to add Prank-Kids Pandemonium and Prank-Kids Rocksies from my Graveyard to the hand." The young Knight of Hanoi held out his hands as two more cards appeared in it, raising his hand to eight. "Next, I'll activate Prank-Kids Pandemonium to fuse together the Prank-Kids Rocksies in my hand with Dropsies, Lampsies, and Fansies on my field!"

The four trios of kids, one red, one green, one blue, and one yellow turned into particles of the same colors and shot up, connecting into a single beam of multiple colors.

" _Mischievous demons of the four elements, gather under the laugh of the final prank! Fusion Summon! Prank-Kids Battle Butler (Lv.10, ATK: 3000)!_ "

A giant purple monster that looked like a combination of various kitchen equipment formed out of the particles and laughed loudly, breaking the glass of all the buildings around the two Duelists.

 _"A Fusion Summon with four materials!?"_ Ai shouted. _"Be careful Playmaker! Be very, very careful!"_

"The effects of Lampsies, Fansies, and Rocksies activate!" Heliac raised his hands as the spirits of the four monsters appeared over him. "With Rocksies, I banish a card from my hand to draw a new card, then Special Summon another copy of _Dropsies (Lv.3, DEF: 1000)_ from my Deck, with Fansies I send _Prank-Kids Plan_ from my Deck to the Graveyard and Special Summon the second copy of _Rocksies (Lv.4, DEF: 1500)_ from my deck, and with Lampsies, I inflict five hundred points of damage to you and Special Summon my third _Rocksies (Lv.4, DEF: 1500)_ from my deck."

Another Fireball hit Playmaker head-on, pushing the Cyberse Duelist back with flames burning on the back of his hands. The older Duelist looked at his hands, the flames slowly dying down, then turned back to the duel.

 **『** **Playmaker LP: 3600 - 500** → **3100** **』**

"And now, I activate the effect of Battle Butler! I release this card to destroy all monsters you control!" The giant Fusion Monster looked at the puny Cyberse Monsters in front of it and chuckled before exploding, wiping all of Playmaker's Links off the field with one move.

"Such a powerful effect." Ai gulped. What was about to come next surely wasn't going to be pretty.

"I activate the Field Spell, _Prank-Kids Place_ and use its effect to add the third copy of Dropsies to my hand, then I discard it to activate the effect of Prank-Kids Pranks and Special Summon one _Prank-Kids Token (Lv.1, ATK: 0)_ on my field."

 _"Did he forget that he still had a Normal Summon?"_ Ai asked, curiously.

"He's fooling around as a child would." Playmaker stated. "Since he used four Prank-Kids as Fusion Materials, he could have used the other Dropsies' effect to increase his Life Points by a thousand once more, but he didn't."

 _"I still can't believe that we're being used as playthings by him."_ Ai sighed. _"It hurts my pride as an Ignis to be tricked like that."_

"Appear now, the circuit of eternal laughter!" Heliac raised his hand, summoning a large square over his head. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are two Prank-Kind monsters. I set Prank-Kids Rocksies and Prank-Kid Token in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Prank-Kids_ _Bow-Wow-Bark (ATK: 2000, Link-2)_!" The red two-headed dog appeared in the Extra Monster Zone.

"And once more! Appear, the circuit of eternal laughter!" another circuit opened over Heliac. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are two Prank-Kind monsters. I set Prank-Kids Rocksies and Prank-Kids Dropsies in the Link Markers. Link Summon! _Prank-Kids Dodo-Doodle-Doo (ATK: 2000, Link-2)_!" The Link Two sparrow appeared on the field once more, landing behind the dog.

"When Dodo-Doodle-Doo is Link Summoned, I add a Prank-Kids Spell or Trap from the deck to my hand," Heliac explained. "I add the second copy of Prank-Kids Plan." The card materialized in Heliac's hand. "I'll set a card, then go to battle! Due to Bow-Wow-Bark's effect, a Prank-Kid monster it points to gains a thousand attack points!"

 **Prank-Kids Dodo-Doodle-Doo, ATK: 2000 + 1000** → **3000**

"Dodo-Doodle-Doo, attack Playmaker directly!" the sparrow nodded and flew forward, charging at the Cyberse Duelist.

"Playmaker!" Proxy shouted.

"Quick-Play activate!" The Cyberse Duelist pressed a button on his Duel Disk and his set card turned face-up. " _Spool Code_ 's effect! When there are three or more Cyberse Monsters in the Graveyard, I can negate your attack and Special Summon three _Spool Tokens (Lv.1, DEF: 0)_!"

Dodo-Doodle-Doo turned upward, avoiding Playmaker as three disks appeared on his field to protect his Life Points.

"You're still fighting?" Heliac tilted his head to the side. "Oh well, you won't be fighting for long. I attack one of your Spool Tokens with Bow-Wow-Bark!"

The two-headed dog jumped in front of one of the disks and opened its mouth, firing flames that melt away the Token.

 _"That one was close."_ Ai sighed.

"Don't calm down, Mr. Ignis." Heliac wavered his finger. "During the End Phase of this turn, the effect of Prank-Kids Pranks returns Rocksies and two copies of Lampsies back into my deck, then I draw a card."

"It's my turn then." Playmaker stated. "I draw!"

 **『** **Turn 4 [Playmaker] LP: 3100 Hand: 3** **』**

"I Normal Summon _Lady Debugger (Lv.4, ATK: 1700)_ and activate its effect to add one Level Three or lower Cyberse from my Deck to the hand. I choose _Micro Coder_!" Playmaker added the monster to his hand and then threw his arms upward. "Appear, the circuit that leads to the future!"

 _"What's he going to do?"_ Aqua asked. _"He won't attack, so what else's there for him to do?"_

"He must have a plan." Proxy gave a reassuring smile to the Ignis. "I'm sure he does."

"Arrowheads confirmed!" Playmaker declared. "Summoning conditions are at least two Cyberse Monsters! I set Lady Debugger, Spool Token and Micro Coder from my hand in the Link Markers!"

"From your hand?" Heliac narrowed his eyes. "That's the first time I hear of this..."

"Link Summon!" a green core appeared inside the circuit and a body began to materialize around it. "Link Three! Ex _code Talker (ATK: 2300, Link-3)_!"

The green Code Talker flew out of the circuit and landed at the free Extra Monster Zone, holding its claws in front of itself.

"Excode Talker's effect! When it's Link Summoned, I choose Monster Zones up to the number of monsters in the Extra Monster Zones, and while Excode is on the field, those zones can't be used!" Two balls of dark energy formed in the Code Talker's arms and it threw them forward, blocking the Zone in front of itself and the one to the left of it.

"Since Micro Coder was sent to the Graveyard as Link Material, I can add one Cynet Spell or Trap Card from my Deck to the hand. I choose _Cynet Universe_." a card appeared in Playmaker's hand. "Appear again, the circuit that leads to the future!"

Another square opened above Playmaker's head.

"Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are two or more monsters! I set my last Spool Token and the Link Three, Excode Talker, in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Firewall Dragon (ATK: 2500, Link-4)_!" The Link 4 monster Playmaker had, flew through the circuit and landed in front of him, roaring.

"I activate a Spell Card - _Link Back_! By moving Firewall Dragon to the Main Monster zone it points to, I send the top four cards of my deck to the graveyard!" Firewall Dragon flew back and Playmaker took four cards from his deck, sending all of them to the grave. "I'll now activate _Cynet Universe_. Through its effect, Link Monster I control gain three hundred attack points."

 **Firewall Dragon, ATK: 2500 + 300** → **2800**

"I activate Cynet Universe's other effect to return Link Disciple back into my Extra Deck, and set a card, turn e-"

"Wait!" Heliac shouted. "While it's still your Main Phase, I activate my Continuous Trap, _Prank-Kids Plan_! During the Main Phase, this card allows me to Link Summon!"

A square opened behind Heliac who pointed at his two Link Monsters. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are at least two Prank-Kind monsters. I set the Link Two, Dodo-Doodle-Doo and the Link Two Bow-Wow-Bark, in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Link Four! _Prank-Kids Rip-Roarin-Roaster (ATK: 3000, Link-4)_!" A long blue dragon with crimson eyes and an evil grin on its face appeared out of the circuit.

 _"What kind of naming pattern do these monsters have?_ " Ai asked.

"Prank-Kids Place's effect activates," Heliac said. "When I Link Summon, all monsters you control lose five hundred attack points."

Firewall Dragon lowered its head and wings as its attack power dropped down.

 **Firewall Dragon, ATK: 2800 - 500** → **2300**

"And now I activate the effect of Rip-Roaring-Roaster!" Heliac continued. "I release this card to destroy all Spell and Trap Cards you control!"

 _"W-wait, wait, wait!_ " Ai waved its arms, but the Knight of Hanoi ignored it. The blue dragon roared and turned into a large wave that fell on top of Playmaker's field, destroying Cynet Universe and his set card.

"With Cynet Universe removed, Firewall Dragon's attack points will drop by three hundred." Playmaker stated, turning toward his Link 4, which roared.

 **Firewall Dragon, ATK: 2300 - 300** → **2000**

"Is that it?" Heliac frowned. "You're so weak, dueling you really is no fun. My turn, draw!"

 **『** **Turn 5 [Heliac] LP: 5400, Hand: 7** **』**

"At this moment, I activate the effect of Transaction Rollback from my Graveyard!" Playmaker shouted. "I banish this card and pay half of my Life Points to activate the effect of Three Strikes Barrier, and to be precise, I activate the second effect, reducing all battle damage I would take to zero for the rest of this turn!"

 **『** **Playmaker LP: 3100/2** → **1550** **』**

"How boring." Heliac sighed. "First, I activate _Monster Reborn_ to revive _Prank-Kids Weather Washer (Lv.5, ATK: 2000)_ , then I activate Weather Washer's effect. By releasing this card, I can Special Summon two Prank-Kids from my Graveyard. Come back, _Prank-Kids Battle Butler (Lv.10, ATK: 3000)_ and _Prank-Kids Rip-Roarin-Roaster (ATK: 3000, Link-4)_!"

"Now that's bad," Ai said.

"I'll then activate _Monster Reincarnation_ and discard a card from my hand to return one Lampsies from my Graveyard back to my hand! Then I discard a copy of Prank-Kids Pranks to Special Summon one _Prank-Kids Token (Lv.1, DEF: 0)_ , then I activate my second Prankids Pandemonium to Fusion Summon using the Prank-Kids Token on my field and the Prank-Kids Lampsies in my hand as Fusion Materials!"

 _"There it goes again."_ Ai sighed.

"Another Fusion Summon..." Playmaker stated.

" _Mischievous demons of the elements, gather under the laugh of the bright colors! Fusion Summon! Prank-Kids Rocket Ride (Lv.5, ATK: 2000)!_ "

A second copy of the red rocket monster flew over Heliac's head before finally landing down on the field.

"Due to the effect of Prank-Kids Lampsies, you take five hundred points of damage, and I Special Summon Rocksies _(Lv.4, DEF: 1500)_ from my deck!"

Another fireball hit Playmaker head-on, but the Cyberse Duelist stood strong.

 **『** **Playmaker LP: 1550 - 500** → **1050** **』**

"Also, because of Prank-Kids Place's effect, all my Prank-Kids monsters gain five hundred attack points." Heliac's monsters glowed as their attack power increased once more.

 **Prank-Kids Rip-Roarin-Roaster, ATK: 3000 + 500** → **3500**

 **Prank-Kids Battle Butler** **, ATK: 3000 + 500** → **3500**

 **Prank-Kids Rocket Ride, ATK: 2000 + 500** → **2500**

"I'll now release Rocket Ride to revive _Prank-Kids Bow-Wow-Bark (ATK: 2000, Link-2)_ and _Prank-Kids Lampsies (Lv.3, DEF: 500)_!" the rocket exploded and two new Prank-Kids jumped out of the remains to take its place. "Also, due to Bow-Wow-Bark's effect, the Rip-Roaring Boaster linked to it gains a thousand attack points."

 **Prank-Kids Rip-Roarin-Roaster, ATK: 3500 + 1000** → **4500**

 _"He got five Prank-Kid monsters on his field!"_ Ai exclaimed.

"Battle! I attack Firewall Dragon with Prank-Kids Rip-Roarin Roaster!" The blue dragon flew around Playmaker's Link 4 and fired a multi-colored beam from its mouth, destroying the Cyberse monster.

"Firewall Dragon was destroyed!" Proxy shouted.

 _"It's not important,"_ Aqua stated. _"Luckily, Playmaker activated the effect of his trap when he did, or this turn would have ended with his defeat."_

 _"Wait, what's happening with us?"_ Firera asked. Proxy looked down and saw her avatar fizzled.

 _"That must be Kusanagi's program!"_ Ai cheered.

"You'll only hurt her more," Heliac replied.

And indeed, as the young Knight of Hanoi stated, electricity shot into the cake making Proxy scream as her avatar returned to normal.

"It's impossible to destroy this system." Heliac pointed out. "In other words, it's impossible to get her out of there until the duel is over."

Playmaker and Ai clenched their fists in anger while Proxy and Aqua looked from inside the cage. They tried everything already, but no matter what program Aqua or Firera tried to use, it just wouldn't make the cage disappear. It seemed that whoever designed these traps was planning to capture an Ignis holder.

"I end my turn," Heliac stated. "Now, the effect of Prank-Kids Pranks activate and I return Rocket Ride, Bow-Wow-Bark and Dodo-Doodle-Doo from my Graveyard into the Extra Deck, then draw a card."

 _"It's our turn again, Playmaker."_ Ai turned toward his partner.

Playmaker breather heavily and looked at Proxy. He could sacrifice her, even for his revenge, he could sacrifice others. He had to find an alternative. He knew something had to be inside his deck, able to help him out in this situation!

* * *

PhantomFire and Specter were staring at each other. One one side of the field was the Knight of Hanoi with 4000 Life Points, three monsters on his field and several Spell and Trap Cards, while on the other one was PhantomFire with only ChronoGear Timekeeping Succubus, who had her effects negated and two Continuous Traps, which were useless in this situation.

"During the end of your turn, the effect of. Link Restriction removes one Restrict Counter." PhantomFire said,

 **Link Restriction, Restrict Counter: 4** → **3**

"It's pointless," Specter said. "Whatever you do from here on, it's all pointless! You can't attack, you can't defend, just accept your defeat and let's move on!"

"PhantomFire!"

A small smirk appeared on PhantomFire's face as he turned toward the one who called him; it was Blue Angel.

"Don't let yourself be manipulated by him!" the idol shouted. "If you fall to move forward, then..." she shook her head, stopping that thought from reaching her mouth. Blue Angel looked up at the dark Duelist and smiled. "I know, that as long as you and Playmaker are here, fighting for LINK VRAINS, we're sure to win!"

"Aoi..." Akira muttered.

"It's the truth, brother!" Blue Angel shouted. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for making you worry so much, for always causing trouble and for getting you involved in this."

"Aoi... You can't!" Akira shouted, realizing what his sister was about to do.

"It has to be done," she replied and turned back to PhantomFire. "I won't let myself be used against the one person who showed me kindness where I was young. The person who taught me how to duel and gave me my deck. This is the least I can do for you."

PhantomFire watched the siblings silently. Waiting to see what Blue Angel was about to do.

"You're right." Akira finally admitted. "If we let it end like this, everything you did would be for nothing. And PhantomFire..." the Zaizen turned toward his old friend. "I know that you'll be able to see this through. Make sure of it, for me, and Aoi... Defeat the Knights of Hanoi!"

The two siblings looked at each other once more and smiled before both of them grabbed the bars of their cells simultaneously. They screamed in pain as the virus infected their avatars and minds.

"No way!" Specter was shocked, while PhantomFire only stared at them with an emotionless expression.

As the pain began to finally decrease, and the two Zaizens' bodies began to flicker, they smiled. It was over. Their fight was over and was time to go. It was all now in the hands of PhantomFire. Closing their eyes, the siblings, along with the cages that held them disintegrated.

"Hahahaha! HahahaHAHAHAhahahaha! WHAHAHAHAHA!"

A burst of loud laughter pierced the silence. Specter took a step back, shocked, confused and terrified as his opponent began to suddenly laugh. It a reaction he never saw coming. He wasn't very familiar with it, but usually, in a situation like this one, a person would cry or yell, not laugh.

"W-what's so funny?" Specter tried to smile himself. "Did you realize how hopeless this is and fell into madness?"

"Oh, no." PhantomFire shook his head, the laughter died down, and he looked at Specter.

The Knight of Hanoi felt a chill run down his spine. The dark duelist's eyes were glowing an ominous purple color and black aura was coming out of his avatar.

"I must thank you," PhantomFire said. "This place was too dangers and I knew that neither Blue Angel or her brother would willingly leave once they came inside. I honestly would have attacked you back then, ended it all with a single swing, but I didn't want it to look like I don't care about their lives, so..."

"You waited for this..." Specter realized. "You're..."

"What? Crazy?" PhantomFire frowned. "That's my line, boy. No, you're not even that. Getting hostages to try and use against me and Playmaker, to force us into a position where we would have to lose in order to protect the people we care about. It's an underhanded move, but it would have been pretty useful if it wasn't me you were fighting."

"What are you saying?" Specter took a step back. Every part of his body was telling him that he should run, but he didn't want to listen. There was no way he would lose this!

"I'm saying, that it's time to end this," PhantomFire stated. "I''m the one bound to royalty and morality? Then you're nothing more than Revolver's dog, a pitiful dog trying to act like a lion! You're pathetic, and I'm going to end you in an instance! My turn!"

 **『** **Turn 6 [PhantomFire] LP: 100 Hand: 6** **』**

"I activate the Spell Card, _Left Arm Offering_! I banish all cards in my hand and add one Spell Card from my Deck!" PhantomFire threw his hand in the air and it burst into flames. "I Spell that I add is _**Arrows of Elemental Lords**_ and I activate it!"

PhantomFire showed a card whose artwork depicted a circle with six Link Arrows, each glowing a different color, and a shadowy monster coming out of the circle, reaching for the surface.

* * *

 **Arrows of Elemental Lords (Spell) Normal**

 **Tribute 1 "oGear" Link Monster: Add 1 monster of the same Attribute as the Tributed monster, and with Level equal to, or lower than that monster's Link Rating from your Deck to the hand. You can only activate 1 "Arrows of Elemental Lords" per turn.**

* * *

"I release Timekeeping Succubus to add _Knightmare Corruptor Iblee_ to my hand, and then I Normal Summon it!" A girl in black robes with long dark hair and eyeshadows under her eyes appeared before PhantomFire with a wicked grin.

"A Cyberse monster?" Specter said, surprised. "To think you would get your hands on one..."

"Iblee's effect!" PhantomFire shouted. "When this card is Normal Summoned, I revive one Link Monster from my Graveyard so it points toward her, but its effects are negated and its attack power becomes zero. Come back, old friend, _Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer (ATK: 2300_ → _0, Link-3)_!"

"When my Life Points are at a thousand or less, I'm able to call forth this monster using only Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer as Link Material! Appear, the circuit of the past and future!" The space over PhantomFire's head fell apart revealing a black vortex. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are two or more DARK monsters! I set the Link Three, Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer in the Link Markers! Link Change Summon! Rise, _Diabolic Phantomus the Hollow Slayer (ATK: 2300, Link-3)_!"

The lighter version of Phantomus flew through the portal and landed in the Extra Monster Zone, growling.

"And now, Diabolic Phantomus the Hollow Slayer's effect revive a Link Three or lower DARK monster from my grave, so come back, _Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer (ATK: 2300, Link-3)_!" A portal appeared behind Hollow Slayer and the original Phantomus raised on the field.

"Due to Hollow Slayer's effect all monster it points at gain five hundred attack points, but Link Slayer gains the effects of all monster it points at, so Hollow Slayer gains attack as well!"

 **Diabolic Phantomus the Hollow Slayer, ATK: 2300 + 500** → **2800**

 **Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer, ATK: 2300 + 500** → **2800**

"Now I'll activate Link Slayer's new effect to revive _ChronoGear Time Timer Kitty (ATK: 1700, Link-2)_ from my grave!" the female monster raised from the ground and licked her arm playfully. "Now I shall call forth the demonic ruler of time itself! Appear, the circuit of true darkness!"

Electricity shot out of PhantomFire's arms and into a black vortex before him. Red energy began to swirl inside the portal and purple bolts of lightning fell from it, striking everything around PhantomFire.

 _"Supreme Being masqueraded in the shadows, follow my guidance!"_ PhantomFire chanted. His outfit's colors changing, the black and purple burning away to reveal white and red underneath, his hair changed to snow white with crimson bangs and his sclera turned black. _"Our resurrection is imminent! I set Time Tamer Kitty and Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Link Five!_ _Transcendent Devil Emperor Satanel – The Absolute Paradox (ATK: 3200, Link-5)!_ "

"A Link Five monster!?" Specter cried out.

"This is Phantomus," PhantomFire stated, gesturing toward the nightmarish demon standing behind him. "You see, Phantomus' humanoid appearance is nothing more than a chain, one used to keep his true powers, his true potential locked away. He's like me, holding back until he gets pushed too far. And now, we're going to be your nightmare! Satanel, activate your power! _Emperor's Rule_!"

Satanel's Link Arrows glowed and the top arrow shot out red electricity that connected to Diabolic Phantomus the Hollow Slayer's bottom arrow, linking the two monsters together.

"Emperor's Rule gives all of my co-linked monsters the effects of all co-linked monsters on my side of the field! Now go, I activate Hollow Slayer's effect through Satanel to revive _Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer (ATK: 2300. Link-3)_ , then I use the effect through Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer to revive _ChronoGear Time Manipulator (ATK: 900, Link-1)_!

"All the monsters that I destroyed..." Specter watched in horror. That wasn't supposed to happen! He wasn't supposed to react that way!

"I activate Hollow Slayer's effect and target Time Manipulator. Through Hollow's effect, Time Manipulator's effects are negated and Hollow gains those effects. so I activate Time Manipulator's effect through Diabolic Phantomus the Hollow Slayer, placing one Sydonic Counter on every Link Monster on my field!" Hollow Slayer growled again and send a purple aura that engulfed all of PhantomFire's monsters.

"And because of Hollow Slayer's boosting effect, all of my monsters gain five hundred attack power by every monster that points toward them!"

 **Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer, ATK: 2800 + 500** → **3300**

 **ChronoGear Time Manipulator, ATK: 900 + 500** → **1400**

 **Transcendent Devil Emperor Satanel – The Absolute Paradox, ATK: 3200 + 500*2** → **4200**

"No way!" Specter yelled.

"You remember, right?" PhantomFire asked. "When a monster with Sydonic Counter attacks, all of your effects are negated until the end of the Battle Phase! Battle! Satanel, attack Thrasher! _**End of Time**_!"

Satanel roared and clenched its arm into a fist before smalling it into the ground. What followed was an explosion of dark energy that was felt through the entire network, draining away all of the colors inside LINK VRAINS.

* * *

 _"This can't be..."_ Aqua muttered,

"What's happening?" Proxy asked, looking around. All the colors have faded away, the whole world was like it had stopped moving completely.

 _"It was here all along..."_ Ai muttered.

"What are you talking about?" Playmaker asked.

 _"The Cyberse that stands over all other Cyberse,"_ Ai stated. _"Its name, appearance, and its very effect can change, to fit the one who was able to tame its enormous power."_

Proxy touched one of the thorns in her cell and nothing happened. She then grabbed the bars, and still nothing. The virus wasn't working!

"The time inside the entire server was stopped." Ai realized. "Because of that, the virus isn't responding! Now, Playmaker! Let's end this!"

"Right!" Playmaker nodded. "My turn, draw!"

 **『** **Turn 6 [Playmaker] LP: 1050 Hand: 1** **』**

"I Normal Summon _RAM Clouder (Lv.4, ATK: 1800)_ and activate its effect! By releasing this card, I can Special Summon _Firewall Dragon (ATK: 2400, Link-4)_ from my Graveyard!"

The Cyberse Dragon flew out of the Graveyard and landed at below the right Extra Monster Zone.

"Foolish!" Heliac shouted. "I activate the effect of Prank-Kids Battle Butler, tributing it to destroy all monsters you control!" the Fusion monster exploded, sending a rain of fireballs at Playmaker's monster.

 _"Oh, no!"_ Ai cried out. _"If Firewall Dragon falls right now..."_

"I activate the effect of **_Garbage Recycler_ ** from my Graveyard!" Playmaker retorted. "When a monster's effect is activated that would destroy monsters I control, I can banish that card from my Graveyard to negate your effect, and then, I Special Summon a monster from my Graveyard whose attack points are less than the monster whose effects I just negated!"

The spirit of a green monster with two wheels in place of legs, three long and slender arms coming out of its belly and a red visor covering its face appeared before Firewall Dragon, protecting it from the shower of fire.

* * *

 **Garbage Recycler**

 **Level: 5/Attribute: WIND/Type: Cyberse/Effect**

 **ATK: 1000/DEF: 2000**

 **Effect: If a Cyberse monster is Special Summoned from your Deck, you can Special Summon this card from your hand in Attack Position.** **During either player's turn, when a monster's effect is activated that would destroy a Cyberse monster(s) on the field: You can banish this card from your GY; negate that monster's effect, and if you do, Special Summon 1 Cyberse Monster from your Gy, whose ATK is less than the monster whose effects you negated.**

* * *

"I revive _Excode Talker (ATK: 2300, Link-3)_!" The green Code Talker appeared at the left side of Firewall Dragon, co-linking with it.

"Since now Firewall Dragon is linked to Excode Talker, it gains five hundred attack points," Ai exclaimed, waving its arms.

 **Firewall Dragon, ATK: 2500 + 500** → **3000**

"I now activate the effect of _Cynet Defrag_ from my Graveyard! I pay half of my Life Points to revive _Lady Debugger (Lv.4, DEF: 1400)_!" The humanoid ladybug monster raised at Firewall Dragon's right zone.

 **『** **Playmaker LP: 1050/2** → **525** **』**

"The effect of Lady Debugger activates, adding _Swap Cleric_ from my deck to the hand!" A card popped out of Playmaker's Duel Disk and he drew it.

"I activate the effect of Prank-Kids Plan!" Heliac responded. "I use Rocksies and Lampsies to Link Summon!" A circuit opened in front of the boy. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are two Prank-Kids monsters! I set Rocksies and Lampsies in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Prank-Kids Bow-Wow-Bark (ATK: 2000, Link-2)_!" The second copy of the FIRE Link Monster appeared in the Extra Monster Zone, co-linking with Rip-Roarin-Roaster.

"Now the effect of Rocksies and Lampsies activate!" Heliac continued. "I banish a card and draw a new one to Special Summon another copy of _Lampsies (Lv.3, DEF: 500)_ from my Deck, then I inflict five hundred points of damage to you to Special Summon another copy of _Rocksies (Lv.4, DEF: 1500)_!"

Playmaker winched as his Life Points feel even lower.

 **『** **Playmaker LP: 525 - 500** → **25** **』**

 _"Our Life Points are almost gone!"_ Ai panicked.

"Indeed, they are, Mr. Ignis." Heliac agreed. "But now, the effects of Prank-Kid Place and Bow-Wow-Bark activate! First, because of my Field Spell, all of your monsters lose five hundred attack points, then because Bow-Wow is linked to Rip-Roarin, my dragon gains give hundred attack points!"

 **Prank-Kids Rip-Roarin-Roaster, ATK: 4500 + 1000** → **5500**

 **Firewall Dragon, ATK: 3000 - 500** → **2500**

 **Excode Talker, ATK: 2300 - 500** → **1800**

"I'm not done yet." Playmaker muttered. "Appear, the circuit that leads to the future!" The Cyberse Duelist raised his arms, summoning a square over his head. "Arrowhead confirmed! Summoning condition is one Level Four or lower Cyberse monster! I set Lady Debugger in the Link Marker! Link Summon! _Link Disciple (ATK: 500, Link-1)_!" the Link 1 monster returned to Playmaker's field.

"Firewall Dragon's effect activates!" Playmaker continued. "Since a monster left the zone next to Firewall Dragon, I can Special Summon _Swap Cleric (Lv.2, DEF: 1000)_ from my hand! Next, I banish Binary Sorceress and Binary Blader from Graveyard to revive _Dual Assembwurm (Lv.8, ATK: 2800/2_ → _1400)_ from my Graveyard with its attack halved!" A half blue, half red dragon raised from the Graveyard.

"Appear, the circuit that leads to the future!" a second portal opened in the sky. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are two Cyberse monsters! I set Swap Cleric and Dual Assembwurm in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Flame Administrator (ATK: 1200, Link-2)_!" The red and orange robot landed from the circuit at the free zone next to Firewall Dragon, co-linking with the beast.

"Due to Flame Administrator's effect, all of our Link Monsters gain eight hundred attack points," Ai noted.

 **Firewall Dragon, ATK: 2500** **\+ 800** → **3300**

 **Excode Talker, ATK: 1800 + 800** → **2600**

 **Link Disciple, 500** **\+ 800** → **1300**

 **Flame Administrator, ATK: 1200** **\+ 800** → **2000**

"Swap Cleric's effect." Playmaker added. "I reduce Flame Administrator's attack points by five hundred to draw a card."

 **Flame Administrator, ATK: 2000 -** **500** → **1500**

Playmaker looked at the card in his hand, then closed his eyes for a moment. "I activate Firewall Dragon's effect! For every monster co-linked with it, I return a monster from our field or Graveyard to the hand! I return Rocksies and Lampsies to your hand and Micro Coder to my hand! _Emergency Escape_!"

Firewall Dragon roared and fired three blue bolts of electricity, two of which surrounded the Prank-Kids, while the third flew through a portal into the Graveyard and pulled Micro Coder out of it.

"Why would you go after the Effect Monsters instead of the Link Monsters?" Heliac asked.

 _"It means that our strategy isn't finished yet, kid,"_ Ai stated. _"Right, Playmaker?"_

"Appear, the circuit that leads to the future." The Link Portal appeared in front of the Cyberse Duelist once more as Link Disciple and Flame Administrator flew into it. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are two or more Cyberse monsters! I set the Link Two Flame Administrator and Link Disciple in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Encode Talker (ATK: 2300, Link-3)_!" The white Code Talker landed in front of Firewall Dragon holding its shield.

 **Firewall Dragon, ATK: 3300 -** **800** → **2500**

 **Excode Talker, ATK: 2600 - 800** → **1800**

"When a monster leaves the zone linked to Firewall Dragon, I Special Summon a monster from my hand." Playmaker continued. "I Special Summon _Datacorn (Lv.1, DEF: 0)_ and activate its effect! When Datacorn is Special Summoned, I can Special Summon one _Data Acorn Token (Lv.1, DEF: 0)_!"

"Appear once more, the circuit that leads the future!" Another Link Portal opened, awaiting the materials that Playmaker would offer. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are three monsters. I set Datacorn, Data Acorn Token and Micro Coder from my hand in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Link Three! _Powercode Talker (ATK: 2300, Link-3)_!" the red Code Talker appeared, co-linking with Firewall Dragon.

"Micro Coder's effect." Playmaker continued. "I add Cynet Storm from my deck to the hand, then I activate Powercode Talker's effect to negate Rip-Roarin's effects!"

The FIRE Code Talker fired a wire that tied itself around the Link 4's body, trapping it. Heliac looked in confusion, unable to understand what Playmaker was trying to achieve with this. Yet, the answer was in front of his eyes.

"I activate _Cynet Storm_." Playmaker continued, activating his Field Spell. "While Cynet Storm is on the field, all linked monsters gain five hundred attack and defense points!"

 **Firewall Dragon, ATK: 2500 +** **500** → **3000**

 **Excode Talker, ATK: 1800 + 500** → **2300**

 **Encode Talker, ATK: 2300 + 500** → **2800**

 **Powercode Talker** **, ATK: 2300 + 500** → **2800**

 **Prank-Kids Rip-Roarin-Roaster, ATK: 5500 + 500** → **6000**

 **Prank-Kids Bow-Wow-Bark, ATK: 2000 + 500** → **2500 (x2)**

"Battle!" Playmaker shouted. "Excode Talker, attack Rip-Roarin-Roaster!"

"Are you trying to lose?" Heliac asked. The WIND Code Talker charged forward, swinging its claws at the blue dragon, which flew back and opened its mouth, releasing a multi-colored beam toward the Code Talker.

 _"Encode Talker's effect now activates!"_ Ai pointed at the LIGHT Code Talker.

"When a monster Encode Talker points to battles a monster with more attack points, I can negate Excode Talker's destruction and all of the damage!" Excode Talker placed its claws in front of its body and blocked the beam with them. "Then, I give Rip-Roarin-Roaster's attack points to another monster on the field! I choose Firewall Dragon!"

Encode Talker turned around and pointed its shield at the Cyberse Dragon, illuminating the beast's body.

 **Firewall Dragon, ATK: 3000 +** **6000** → **9000**

"An attack power of nine thousand!?" Heliac stepped back, losing balance and falling down onto his butt.

"Firewall Dragon, attack Prank-Kids Bow-Wow-Bark!" Playmaker ordered his Link 4. The beast roared, its body turning from blue to red and then it fired a red bolt of electricity from its mouth toward the Link 2 on Heliac's field.

The young Knight of Hanoi looked around, desperately trying to find something to do, but it was useless. If he used the effects of his two Bow-Wow-Barks to remove them from the field and add cards from his Graveyard to the hand. Rip-Roarin would lose 2500 attack points, making it an easy target for Firewall Dragon. Even if he was to banish the Prank-Kids Plan in his Graveyard and activate its effect, Playmaker's monsters were just too powerful.

Prank-Kids Bow-Wow-Bark cried out as its body was incinerated and Firewall Dragon's attack washed over Heliac. The young Knight of Hanoi closed his eyes, falling down as his body began to crumble away.

 **『Heliac LP: 5400 - 7000** → **0』**

 **『Winner: Playmaker』**

* * *

 _"What are you crying about?"_

 _It was a few months since he heard those words, but the boy remembered them as if they were yesterday. He remembered when Takuma sat next to him in the hospital and asked him why he was so sad._

 _"My brother hasn't awakened yet." the boy said._

 _The doctors were saying things, something that the boy couldn't understand, but the faces that his mother and father would make every time they talked with the doctors told the boy what it needed to know. His brother wasn't going to wake up again._

 _"He was hit by a car on his way back from school." the boy then added. "The doctors say, he won't play with me again."_

 _"I see," Takuma closed his eyes. "There might be a way for him to play with you again?"_

 _"R-really?" the boy turned toward the young man next to him with sparkling eyes. "What is it? What is it?"_

 _"With the help of a special place," Takuma said. "One that I knew where to find, but there's a big metal door, tied with chains and locks by a big bad guy, who doesn't want to let people know about the happiness hiding behind that door. That place is one where nothing bad happens, where everyone lives happily and in harmony. If we find the five keys, we'll be able to use that place to give your brother a second chance. That will be a place where you'll be able to play with your brother forever."_

 _"Is that true?" the boy asked._

 _"Mhm." Takuma nodded and stood up. "Will you help me find it?"_

* * *

"Sorry brother," Heliac said as his body turned into red data.

"It's over." Playmaker said. His four Link Monsters burst into flames before disappearing.

The cell that held Proxy captive broke into pieces, allowing the girl to move once again. Wasting no time at all, the BrioGear Duelist ran over to Playmaker and hugged him tightly.

"I'm sorry!" She apologized. "I'm sorry that I get you in trouble! I'm sorry, sorry, sorry!"

Playmaker didn't respond. Placing a hand on the girl's back, the Cyberse Duelist raised his head to look at the digital sky. The color has returned and everything was moving normally once again. But he wondered, what was the creature which caused this miracle to happen.

* * *

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Specter screamed as he was thrown all the way out of the city and fell face-first into the ground.

 **『Specter LP: 4000 - 7200** → **0』**

 **『Winner: PhantomFire』**

"Haa..." The dark duelist took deep breaths. "That... took too much... energy."

To freeze the entire network for long enough Playmaker to save Proxy wasn't an easy task. Even though Transcendent Devil Emperor Satanel – The Absolute Paradox had unlimited powers, to use them it needed to absorb PhantomFire's own energy.

"There's no longer anything to get in our way..." PhantomFire muttered and looked up at the Tower of Hanoi. "I'm coming, Dr. Kogami. And I'll get my reward!"

* * *

 **Originally, I was planning to add some more things, like PhantomFire explaining to Specter why the Lost Childs are all inferior to their oGear counterparts, but I choose to scratch that part due to it not being all that important. I must say, even though writing Playmaker vs Heliac was more interesting to watch because it made me use almost exclusively RL cards, Specter vs PhantomFire was a lot more hilarious due to it pretty much being a fragile flower with a hostage going up against a Leopard 2A5. I had to make SEVERAL new cards for Specter just because PhantomFire's Link 1 and 2 are enough to kick that little asshole to the Moon and back. So, even though I was planning to let the duel last longer, I had to cut it short to give Specter an edge and an actual chance of winning.**

 **Anyway, this is the last set of two chapters that I'm going to post. Since the next ones are pretty important (The Final of this long season bois and gals!) I'll be publishing them one at a time. And for those who might be worried, no, PhantomFire won't be dueling in the remaining fight against the Knights of Hanoi.**

 **That's all and thanks to everyone for reading! See you next time!**

 **Diabolic Tracer Out!**


	38. Chapter 38

The Seventh Bullet

 **Proxy's POV**

"We should, there's not much time before the Tower is finished." Playmaker said as he walked past me.

I nodded and followed after him. I heard something snapping and looked back. The wires that held the bridge broke and it plumbed down, turning into data that then flew past us and into the Tower of Hanoi. The giant machine of death already had three of its rings completed, so that meant we had only half of our original time to complete our mission. Unlike the other side, which was a ghost town, the area around the Tower was completely decimated. There was nothing but sand, anything that was around it has already been long absorbed. Buildings, objects, even other players must have become this monstrous building's first victims.

" _Are we going to go together from here on?"_ Ai turned back to ask us.

" _The Knights of Hanoi suffered heavy losses already,"_ Aqua replied before I could. _"They might have enough members left to get in our way, but it would be hard to tracks us if we separate again."_

"Seriously?" I frowned. I wasn't doing so good on my own, so I wanted to stand beside Playmaker and help him out like a sidekick was supposed to do.

" _Aw, come on! We haven't seen each other for so long!"_ Ai protested.

" _It's been just two hours and a half since our last meeting."_ Aqua pointed out.

"I think that she's right." Playmaker replied and turned toward me. "The Knights of Hanoi would be troubled if we take a different route from here on. Since we won't be in one place, even if one of them managed to defeat one of us, they wouldn't be able to get to the other in time."

That almost sounded like he wanted me to go down a different route, so I could keep enemies off his back. Yes, I knew that this wasn't what Playmaker meant, but it just sounded like it, ok? And, as long as he was able to reach the Tower and face Revolver, I knew that everything would be ok. As a sidekick, my job was to support him with anything I could, so if to do that I had to distract the Knights of Hanoi, I wouldn't mind one bit. Ok, I would mind being turned into data, but there was no way to tell that to him.

"Then I'll try to flank them from the left." I pointed out.

Playmaker simply nodded to my suggestion. "And I'll continue down this path."

I agreed and separated from Playmaker to do as we had planned. Aqua and Firera were just sticking out of my Duel Disk, watching silently as I changed direction. Their silence meant that they didn't disagree with my actions, so was I doing the writing right now? Or were they just silent, because both of them were willing to sacrifice themselves for what they believed?

Why was I so different from them?

When Playmaker dueled against Heliac, I could have made it easier for him, I could have grabbed the bars and sacrificed myself to allow Playmaker to go and defeat the Knight of Hanoi without having to hold back. I knew it back then, I knew that if it wasn't the miracle that stopped time itself, Playmaker would have lost. It would have been my fault if that happened. And yet, I just couldn't bring myself to even thinking about giving my life for him. Death… death scared me, the idea of death had always scared me. I thought that I have beaten my fears when I managed to overcome my fear of the Knights of Hanoi, but I was wrong. No matter how much I tried, that cowardliness just wouldn't go away. Even now, I just want to stop and run away, let Playmaker solve this by himself like he always does.

But I couldn't. Not because I wanted to keep fighting, but because I was scared of what Aqua and Firera would think of me if I suddenly turned around and ran. They were on my wrist, there was no way to escape without making them realize it. And for even thinking about abandoning everyone… I'm a truly awful person, aren't I?

" _Can I talk with you about something?"_ Aqua turned toward me.

"Of course." I nodded. "Is something troubling you?"

" _No. Nothing of that sort."_ Aqua shook her head, then placed a hand on her chest. _"Roxy… I just wanted to tell you that after this is over and the Tower of Hanoi is deactivated, I'll have to leave you."_

"Eh?" She would have to leave me so soon? "But why? Is it because of how bad of a Duelist I'm?"

" _No, it doesn't have to do anything with you,"_ Aqua said. _"I didn't want to talk about it in front of Ai and Playmaker, but since Ai left the Cyberse World, the rest of us had endless discussions on what we should do. The Light Ignis want us to retaliate, but thankfully, the other Ignis didn't follow after his example, tying his hands in a sort. But after this, after witnessing how far the Knights of Hanoi would go just to eliminate us, I'm not sure if they would look at the subject the same way they did before. I need to go, Roxy. I need to make sure they don't make a mistake and follow the Light Ignis' plan."_

That's right, Aqua had a lot of things to worry about as well. Since the Ignis were only six in total, her entire family was in danger, but worse than that, they could prove themselves to be a danger to humanity if they attacked. A battle between our species would be devastating, no doubt about it. It would be in the best interest for both sides not to play with fire, but the Ignis were in the worse position because, unlike us, their species was made of a very small number of individuals.

"Proxy!"

I stopped and looked up. Some dark creature with wings was flying toward me. But I wasn't scared because I could see its face. Taking a step back, I gave PhantomFire enough space to land in front of me. My teacher slammed his fist into the sand, sending it flying to the side and then stood back up, deactivating the wings of his avatar.

"Was such an over-the-top introduction really necessary?" I asked him.

"The bridge was missing." Oh, right… "Are you the only one who was able to make it? What about Blaze Rose, where is she?"

"She lost," I admitted. "But I'm not alone. Playmaker's going down a different path."

"That's good." He turned around and looked at the Tower of Hanoi. "I have a program that cloaks my presence, if I send you a copy, we should be able to approach the Tower of Hanoi without alerting the Knights of Hanoi."

"But what about Playmaker? If we go this way, then all of the remaining Knights of Hanoi will approach him instead of us." I pointed out.

"By my calculations, the only Knights of Hanoi left should be Dr. Kogami and Revolver," PhantomFire stated. "If he takes down Revolver, then it's over. But if we reach the Tower of Hanoi before their fight,"

"You could reprogram the Tower to deactivate it, right?" So that was what PhantomFire wanted to do? Brilliant!

" _Let's not place all of our faith into a chance that Playmaker would win,"_ Firera told me. _"I vote we go to the Tower and stop it manually!"_

" _I agree."_ Aqua nodded and looked at me. _"It's better to be safe than sorry."_

"Then our next destination is clear." I agreed with the two AIs. "We'll stop the Tower of Hanoi by ourselves!"

"The program is sent," PhantomFire said, and my Duel Disk glowed. "Aqua and Firera should know how to activate it. Let's go."

"Right!"

* * *

The Tower of Hanoi looked even more ominous up close. As PhantomFire told me, no Knight of Hanoi came to stop us. Either because the program was really working, or because Revolver was currently too busy to do it himself. Either way, we were standing at the doorstep, and there was nothing that could stop us from entering.

"Let's see if this is working." PhantomFire held out his arm and a green circuit appeared across his fingertips. He placed his hand against the side of the Tower and the building glowed, after which a piece of it slide to the side, opening a path inside.

" _You were able to accept the main entrance,"_ Aqua commented. _"How?"_

"While you were fighting the Knights of Hanoi in the city, a group of ten elite members came to our private server and tried to make me betray the two of you, but I was able to defeat them," PhantomFire explained. "After the fight, I created this program using their data. With it, I'm able to recreate the data of their avatars, in case I need to enter an area who uses user-recognizing."

" _You've surprised us with your genius thinking once again,"_ Firera said. _"And it's hard to surprise a being made completely out of data, so take this as a compliment."_

"I'll remember that," PhantomFire commented and stepped inside. "Let's go now, there's not much time for us to lose."

We walked inside the Tower, with PhantomFire leading the way while I watched his back. It was so dark inside, with only a few green lights keeping the place bright enough to see where I was stepping. The entire layout was a single long corridor, despite how tall the Tower was from the outside. There was no elevator or even stairs with which we could get to the upper levels.

" _What an interesting design choice,"_ Aqua said, looking around the place.

"In case you're wondering, Proxy," PhantomFire looked back at me. "The green rings you see on the walls are portals which you can use to get to a different level. The one closest to the core should be… this one."

Saying that PhantomFire pressed his hand against one of the rings and his body began to glow before it disappeared in a flash. Not wanting to be left behind, I placed my hand as well and the ring responded, teleporting me next to PhantomFire. But of course, since this was the villains' main base, things could be so simple and easy, could they?

We were teleported into another corridor, but this time, it split into two. I looked at PhantomFire for guidance. Instead of saying something, he began walking toward the right side, while pointing with a finger toward the left. Guess we were going to split again. Inside enemy territory, our chances to survive on our own were much lower than as a team. Not that I would ever dare to say that to PhantomFire.

So, sighing, I turned to the left.

" _There can be traps ahead of us. Try to be more careful."_ Firera told me as if I didn't know that already.

"Don't worry about me, I'll somehow manage." I gave my AIs a thumb up, but inside, I was already starting to panic.

* * *

 **3** **rd** **POV**

PhantomFire stopped and turned around to look behind him. No one was there. After making sure that Proxy didn't follow him the dark duelist turned back and pressed his hand against the wall, opening a door. The mainframe wasn't there, no, he let Proxy go there and deal with whatever Kogami had prepared.

PhantomFire slowly entered the room and looked at the Knight of Hanoi working on one of the desks. There was a screen showing a duel on the left. Looking carefully, PhantomFire could make out that the duelists on the screen were Revolver and Playmaker, who were having a Speed Duel. He was surprised that their duel hasn't ended yet, given how much time it took for him and Roxy to get around the back of the Tower and approach it.

"It's been a while, Dr. Kogami," PhantomFire called the Knight of Hanoi by name.

The old man turned around, PhantomFire's words making him aware of the intruder. He reached out for something, a button of some sort, but before he could press it, a loud sound echoed through the room. It was the sound of a bullet being fired. A moment later, Kogami felt a sharp pain in his chest and collapsed on the ground, holding a hand over a small hole near his heart.

He looked up at his attacker, but PhantomFire had no weapon with him. He was barehanded, yet there was smoke coming out of his open palm.

"W-who are you?" Kogami managed to ask through gritted teeth.

"I'm not someone you have ever meet before, and you're not someone I have ever meet before, so don't think too much about it," PhantomFire replied. "I only said 'it's been a while' because that's usually what you must say when you come face to face with an enemy you have known about for quite some time, isn't it right?"

Kogami didn't answer the dark duelist's question. He looked back at the place where he was wounded, even though in LINK VRAINS damage inflicted to the avatar should fade away after a few seconds, the hole in his chest remained. The Knight of Hanoi breathed heavily, feeling his heart racing with adrenalin.

"I must tell you, even though I was able to build my own server inside LINK VRAINS, I have never seen a place as magnificent as yours," PhantomFire said, gesturing around himself. "The only negative I can see in this Tower is how big it is, despite being empty. But there wasn't much you could do when everyone who followed your insane son has already kicked the bucket, was there?"

PhantomFire stepped past Kogami and looked at the desk on which the old man was working. Clenching his fist, he slammed it against the desk, breaking into two.

"Also, you could have tried a little better with the defenses." PhantomFire continued talking. "For instance, why not place a layer of laser shields on the ground? Once you activate them, they will cut off the legs of whoever dares to ender, and then the person will fall on top of them, disintegrating. That way you won't have to clear the remains afterward. Don't you agree?"

"What… do you want?" Kogami glared at the young man.

"I came to enjoy this piece of art that you've created," PhantomFire stated. "Others might think of you as a monster, a terrorist who built a weapon of mass destruction, but I see it clearly. What you've built here is amazing! You've had a vision while building this place, and you made it real! You don't know how much I respect you for that. Of course, what you're about to do is just unacceptable and must be stopped ASAP, but the beauty, that's something only a blind fool would be unable to see."

"…Did SOL sent you to stop me?" Kogami asked.

"SOL?" PhantomFire looked back at the fallen man. "Of course not, they're too short-sighted, unable to see the bigger picture because of their greed. I'm here because I want to. Because I wanted to come face to face with you and have a short talk."

"What did you do to me?" Kogami breathed heavily. He felt his real body going weaker…

"Something that has never been done to you, for sure." PhantomFire chuckled to himself. "Remember what I said about SOL being too short-sighted? Even when they infected you with that virus to try and silence you, they aimed at the wrong place. What I did, is that I shot you. With a bullet that's still inside your avatar, working tirelessly."

"I… feel tired," Kogami muttered. "Why am I...?"

"Oh, well. Since you're a doctor, I think you'll be able to understand once I say what I did." PhantomFire knelt down in front of the old man an evil grin across his face. "You see, once someone suffers a wound in LINK VRAINS, their real body experiences a small jolt, just enough warn the user that they should move away before they suffer another wound. Because of that bolt, your heartbeat accelerates for a moment, but imagine that the bolt lasted longer. For, let's say, a few minutes? If someone who was bedridden for the last five or so years suddenly had his pulse accelerated and is unable to calm down, what'll happen?"

"My heart will…" Kogami's eyes widened, realizing the horrifying thing that PhantomFire has done.

"Your heart will eventually fail!" PhantomFire laughed. "Heart failure. The type where the amount of blood pumped is more than typical and the heart is unable to keep up. Since you haven't exercised for the last five or more years, I imagine that your heart has gotten used to working fairly slow, just enough to keep you alive. But now, it suddenly has to work fast, as if you're running."

"No, I…" Kogami gasped.

"You cheated death once, did you believe that you will go unpunished for that?" PhantomFire stood up and kicked the man in the face, sending him rolling across the ground. "But given your plans, I take it that you've been planning to die alongside everyone else when the Tower of Hanoi enters the last stage of its existence, right? You must have wanted to see your son, Revolver winning against Playmaker before you had to pass away, right?"

PhantomFire paused for a moment to look at the screen that Kogami was looking at. Playmaker had summoned some new orange Code Talker and pointed at Revolver. The monster fired its rifle, knocking Kogami's son backward, but the impact wasn't enough to drop his remaining Life Points. Narrowing his eyes, PhantomFire stepped around the old man lying on the ground and opened another door.

"But go on, give your last speech to your son, tell him how much you love him," PhantomFire said. "If you want, tell him about us as well, I won't try to stop you, old man."

Kogami, who was able to grab the edge of his desk and pulled himself into a sitting position, looked at PhantomFire.

"Why?" the old man asked. "Why are you-"

"Allowing you to do that?" PhantomFire finished the sentence. "It's simple, doc. You're not the only person in this room who has manipulated his child for his own goals. The difference is, you see, you still have the chance to tell yours how much you love it and redeem yourself. Don't make your child think that you died without loving it."

The door closed behind PhantomFire, leaving Dr. Kogami on his own. The old man held a hand over the wound, knowing that there wasn't much time for him. It would take no more than five minutes for the program to exhaust his heard. He looked at the remaining desk that PhantomFire hasn't destroyed. It was as the dark Duelist said, he didn't have another chance to tell Revolver how proud he was of his son. No, he had plenty of chances to do so, to tell him that he did a great job, but he never used them. He ignored that and focused on his mission, but now, when everything he worked for was so close, he wouldn't do the same mistake.

In the other room, PhantomFire found four coffins, he recognized the duelists inside of them, two of the Knights that came storming his base, the first high-ranking member that was beaten by Go when Hanoi's invasion in LINK VRAINS began, and of course, Specter. He looked closely at them, their bodies suddenly began to fade away, leaving LINK VRAINS.

"So, you choose to save them as well, huh?" PhantomFire said to no one in particular as he watched the bodies disappear. "Farewell, Dr. Kogami. Rest now, for Hell won't give you that luxury."

* * *

 **Proxy's POV**

This place looked so creepy, the silence alone was maddening, but also somehow relieving. If it was silent, then it meant that no one else was here. It meant that there was no Knight of Hanoi who would fight against me. This fact, was also a little saddening when I think about it. The Tower of Hanoi was empty, with no other life present, it meant that Revolver was the only one. It meant that he was fighting against the remaining Duelists on his own, that he had to wait for us alone, in this dark and silent prison. Even if he was a terrorist, I feel bad that his life turned out like this.

" _I think we can safely assume that this place doesn't have any traps meant to keep foes away,"_ Firera told me.

" _Dr. Kogami must have not expected anyone to be able to reach so far, which is why he left the place mostly unprotected from the inside,"_ Aqua said.

" _How do you know that Dr. Kogami is involved in all of this?"_ I asked. It was true that I helped Playmaker secure the data about the Lost Incident, but how was Aqua so sire of it.

" _Five years ago, when the Knights of Hanoi attacked the Cyberse World for the first time, we all recognized that Revolver was his son,"_ Aqua said. Wait, Revolver was Dr. Kogami's son!? _"It didn't take much for us to realize that the very man who created us, now wanted to destroy us."_

"That… must hurt." I said.

Dr. Kogami must have been like a father figure to the Ignis he created. I can understand better why some Ignis didn't want to forgive humans for attacking their home. It wasn't just because of the attack, but because the man who wanted to kill them was the very same person who created them in the first place. If I was in Aqua's place, I would have felt betrayed, hurt, to learn that my father wanted me dead.

" _Even so, we don't blame him,"_ Aqua said. _"At least most of us could see that Kogami was scared and was acting out of fear from us."_

"But to think that your parent is afraid of you doesn't help much, does it?" That was just as bad as being hated by your parents.

" _It does,"_ Aqua said back. _"A little."_

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

A loud scream came from the end of the hallway, scaring me to the bones. But I recognized the voice of the user who screamed. Running, I quickly reached a large open area with a door in the other end, and PhantomFire on the ground, holding several red vines that had tied around his leg and were tearing into his leg.

" _That looks bad!"_ Firera, who chose to be Captain Obvious, exclaimed.

"Are you ok!" I ran over to him and kneeled down to try and pull away from the vines, but I was stopped when a hand came on top of me. I looked up and PhantomFire shook his head, a painted smile on his face.

"It's no use," he told me. "There's no point in those things, so I won't be absorbed in the Tower, but I can't move like this. It seems that it's up to you, Roxy. You must eliminate the remaining Hanoi threat."

"But…" I didn't want to leave PhantomFire alone!

"Don't worry about me!" PhantomFire placed a hand on my shoulder. "Your Ignis is intelligent enough to hack into the Tower. Stopping the destruction of the Ignis is more important than me. So, please. Go!"

"We don't have time to waste on these vines," Firera said. "Roxy, we must move now!"

"I understand." It was all now in my arms. I had to be the one who stops this, there was no one else to do it. "I'll go, make sure to stay safe until I come back, ok?"

"I trust in you." PhantomFire nodded. "Now go, protect the Ignis' existence!"

Nodding, I walked over to the door. I opened the door. I walked inside and continued. Step after step, I kept moving forward. I tried hard not to look back and to just keep going. I was really on my own this time, no back-up, no alternatives if I were to fail. The only thing that remained between the life and death of thousands of people was me and I must tell you, knowing that, didn't make these steps any lighter for me.

"What the-"

I stopped and looked at the thing that appeared in front of me. What was it? It was something that looked familiar, yet I have never seen before. I glanced back down at Aqua, who seems just as surprised about it as I was, then I looked back up. Standing in front of me was an Ignis. Yes, another one! He was light grey in color with green lines running across its body and glowing yellow eyes staring at me as it hovered there, unmoving.

"Do you recognize that one?" I asked Aqua.

" _No, I have never seen this one."_ Aqua shook her head. _"This… This can't be an Ignis. There're only six of us, it must be a fake one created to trick people."_

"Are you sure that there's only six Ignis?" I asked again.

" _Definitely."_ Aqua nodded and turned toward you. _"There're_ _ **only six**_ _of us. Kogami ever created_ _ **only six**_ _Ignis. He had kidnapped_ _ **only six**_ _kids to use for his experiment._ _ **Six**_ _, not seven or eight._ _ **Only six**_ _! Any other are fakes, just ordinary AIs, given the appearance of an Ignis."_

"Ok, jeez. I just asked if you're sure, no need to get so heated up because of it." I replied.

" _Ah, apologies."_ Aqua bowed her head. _"You just won't believe what things people post on the internet sometimes."_

"Oooooooookay," I chose not to question her on what that was supposed to mean. "So, could we possibly just walk past it? Ignore it completely?"

" _Unauthorized personnel detected."_ The Fake Ignis' eyes began to glow. _"Leave the area now, or you'll be eradicated."_

"Figures." I shrugged. Why did I ever have to ask for an alternative route, when the only way to pass would be by dueling this thing? "Is that ok with you, Aqua."

" _It has to be done,"_ Aqua replied. _"Let's do it!"_

" _Ignis detected."_ The Fake Ignis said. _"Beginning procedure three-five-one on eliminating Ignis, according to Dr. Kogami's order."_

A green circuit appeared on the ground under the Fake Ignis and a humanoid puppet raised from it. The thing was wearing a mostly white suit with some red and green, as well as a circular glass-helmet over its faceless head.

"What's that?" I asked Aqua again.

" _An avatar,"_ Aqua replied. _"Since we don't have our own Duel Disks, we must use these avatars when entering a duel. Though this one looks surprisingly similar to…"_

"…Revolver." I said, seeing the pattern as well. An Ignis wouldn't create an avatar with the same appearance as the person trying to destroy them, but this raised more question. For instance, why did this AI choose to make an avatar that looked like Revolver of all the Knights?

" _Be extremely careful then,"_ Firera told us. Well, she meant mostly me. _"If Revolver was the origin from which this one was born, then you're facing an expert duelist with the knowledge of an AI."_

"There's no turning back anyway," I told her. "But for the sake of convenience, let's call our friend over there Bullet for the time being."

"DUEL!" I and Bullet shouted at the same time, activating our Duel Disks.

 **『** **Bullet LP: 4000, Hand: 5 (VS) Proxy LP: 4000, Hand: 5** **』**

" _Taking the first turn."_ Bullet stated, summoning five cards in front of itself. _"I Normal Summon_ _ **Malware Worm**_ _."_ The monster that appeared was, as its name suggested, a worm with six long legs made of green energy. A large mouth filled with sharp blades remained constantly open to allow the glowing green eye inside of it to look around.

* * *

 **Malware Worm**

 **Level: 1/Attribute: DARK/Type: Cyberse/Effect**

 **ATK: 0/DEF: 400**

 **Effect: If you control a DARK Cyberse Link Monster, you can Special Summon this card from your hand or GY, but banish it if it leaves the field. If this card is destroyed by a card effect: Inflict 500 damage to your opponent. You can only use each effect of "Malware Worm" once per turn.**

* * *

"It's a Cyberse card," I muttered.

" _If you control no monsters in the Extra Monster Zone, you can Special Summon this card from the hand,"_ Bullet said, dictating the effect on his card. _"Appear,_ _ **Malware Rootkits**_ _!"_

A blue sphere with three buttons on its chest, one red, green, and yellow, appeared on the field. The monster had a large green right underneath it, keeping its body floating and three orbs on each side of its body formed its 'arms'.

* * *

 **Malware Rootkits**

 **Level: 2/Attribute: DARK/Type: Cyberse/Effect**

 **ATK: 0/DEF: 600**

 **Effect: If you control no monsters in the Extra Monster Zone, you can Special Summon this card (from your hand). If this card in your Monster Zone is destroyed by a card effect and sent to the GY, you can place this card face-up in your Spell/Trap Zone, and if you do, it gains the following effect.**

" **Malware" and "Topologic" monsters on your side of the field cannot be targeted by your opponent's card effects.**

* * *

" _I activate the Field Spell,_ _ **Malware Construction**_ _."_ The card showed a computer circuit being attacked by different Malware monsters.

* * *

 **Malware Construction (Spell) Field**

 **If a Cyberse monster you control is destroyed by a card effect, you can draw 1 card. If your opponent controls more monsters in their Main Monster Zone that you: Special Summon "Malware" monsters from your GY with different names, in face-up Defense Position, equal to the difference. You can only use each effect of "Malware Construction" once per turn.**

* * *

" _Normal Spell, activate –_ _ **Malware Multiplication**_ _. Destroy 1 face-up Cyberse monster on your field. Special Summon two Malware Tokens (Lv.1, ATK: 0)!"_ Rootkits exploded and two black spheres with glowing red orbs in the centers appeared in its place.

* * *

 **Malware Multiplication (Spell) Normal**

 **Destroy 1 face-up Cyberse monster on your field. Special Summon 2 Malware Tokens (DARK/Cyberse/Level 1/ATK: 0/ DEF: 0). If this card is in your GY, except during the turn it was sent there: You can destroy 1 Cyberse monster you control, Set this card on your side of the field, but banish it when it leaves the field. You can only activate 1 "Malware Multiplication" per turn.**

* * *

" _Malware Construction's effect: If a Cyberse monster you control is destroyed by a card effect, you can draw 1 card."_ Bullet drew a new card from its deck. _"Rootkit's effect: If this card is destroyed by a card effect and sent to the GY, you can place this card face-up in your Spell/Trap Zone, and if you do, it gains the following effect - Malware and Topologic cards on your side of the field cannot be targeted by your opponent's card effects."_

The Malware monster appeared back on Bullet's field, but this time it was placed in the Spell and Trap Zone on the left from the middle one. Now all of his monsters were protected from targeting, but what worried me more was…

"It just said Topologic cards." I looked down at my own AIs. "Why does it have Topologic cards as well?"

" _It must be the one from whom they were created,"_ Aqua stated. _"Maybe Dr. Kogami has connected it to Revolver's Skill, so the AI could help it out without revealing itself to Revolver."_

" _Which means that several of his Topologic cards must have already gone missing due to Revolver obtaining them every time he uses his Skill,"_ Firera added. _"We're clearly with an advantage here."_

" _Link Summoning: Opening circuit."_ Bullet raised its arms and a square opened in the middle of the field. _"Summoning conditions: Three monsters. Set Malware Worm and two Malware Tokens. Link Summon!_ _ **Topologic Bifrost**_ _!"_

A dark brown dragon-like monster appeared on the field. Its body was slender, with the exception of the chest, which was expanded to the sides. The monster had two long arms, each of which had three claws that extended the arms in term of length. The dragon's body extended downward before splitting into two equally long blades that were curved forward. Its head had a single green orb in the center and was connected directly to its upper body without a neck. Four large, spherical wings with green lines all across them were jutting out of the monster's back.

* * *

 **Topologic Bifrost**

 **Attribute: DARK/Type: Cyberse/Link/Effect**

 **Link Arrows: Right, Bottom Left, Left**

 **ATK: 2500/Link-3**

 **3 Monsters**

 **Effect: If a monster(s) is Special Summoned to a zone this card points to: Destroy as many of those monster(s) as possible, also both players return all cards in their hand to the bottom of the deck, then draw 1 card for every 2 cards returned by this effect, also, your opponent takes 300 damage for each card they drew by this effect.**

* * *

" _Malware Worm effect: If you control a DARK Cyberse Link Monster, you can Special Summon this card from your hand or GY to a zone a Link Monster points to, but banish it if it leaves the field."_ A portal opened in the zone that Bitfrost was pointing to and the worm crawled out of it.

" _Topologic Bifrost effect: If a monster is Special Summoned to a zone this card points to: Destroy as many of those monsters as possible, also both players return all cards in their hand to the bottom of the deck, then draw one card for every two cards returned by this effect, also, your opponent takes three hundred damage for each card they drew by this effect."_ A red aura surrounded Worm and it exploded into particles.

"I didn't even get a turn and he's already messing with my hand," I muttered, returning my cards back into the deck before drawing two new ones. After I did that, Bifrost unleashed a small gust of wind that hit me head-on.

 **『** **Proxy LP: 4000 – 300*2** → **3400** **』**

" _Malware Worm's effect!"_ Bullet continued. _"If this card is destroyed by a card effect: Inflict five hundred damage to your opponent."_ Malware Worm's spirit appeared on Bullet's avatar's shoulder and fired a purple beam that hit me in the stomach.

 **『** **Proxy LP: 3400 – 500** → **2900** **』**

" _His Topologic's abilities allow him to manipulate the way the duel goes,"_ Firera said. _"The AI instinctively reduced your hand size and inflicted big damage on its first turn. Calm and careful dueling, the same as Revolver himself."_

" _But I already found its biggest flaw."_ Aqua crossed her hands. _"I told you before Roxy, there were created only six Ignis, and Bullet proved it. It's dueling is careful and calculated, but there's no heart in it. An Ignis is created by the extreme emotions that our origins felt when they were kept prisoners by Kogami, these emotions were what allows us to develop a free will, but the AI before you lacks that. It wasn't built from observing Revolver. It's simply a body created with the data for an Ignis and then had the data of Revolver's dueling implanted inside its mind."_

"So, Revolver didn't suffer the Lost Incident?" Aqua turned to look at me and nodded for confirmation. "I see. Then I won't forgive Dr. Kogami for making fun of those who were hurt by his actions with the existence of this perversion of an Ignis!"

"I set a card. Turn end." Bullet finished.

"It's our turn!" I declared for myself, Aqua and Firera. "We draw!"

 **『** **Turn 2 [Proxy] LP: 2900 Hand: 3** **』**

"I Normal Summon _BrioGear Pale Crawfish (Lv.2, ATK: 700)_ and activate its effect to add another copy of BrioGear Pale Crawfish from my deck to the hand!" I had to give it to Bullet, my deck had trouble working properly with few cards in the hand, but since Aqua and Firera shared their power with me, BrioGear became stronger than ever.

"Come forth, the circuit of life!" My personalized circuit appeared on the ground in front of me and Pale Crawfish flew into one of the blue flowers placed around the flame. "Arrowhead confirmed! Summoning condition is one WATER monster with a level! I set BrioGear Pale Crawfish in the Link Marker! Link Summon! Come out, _BrioGear Lotaxol (ATK: 600, Link-1)_!"

My very first Link 1 monster appeared in the right Extra Monster Zone while Bullet's Topologic Bifrost was in the left Extra Monster Zone.

"I now activate Lotaxol's effect!" A black portal opened in the zone behind Lotaxol and a wave of water shout out. "When this card is Link Summoned, I can revive a Level Two or lower WATER monster from my Graveyard and place it in the zone Lotaxol points to. Come back, _BrioGear Pale Crawfish (Lv.2, DEF: 600)_!"

" _Link climbing?"_ Firera asked me.

"You know how much I like it." I smiled for a moment before going back to my serious face. "Pale Crawfish' effect! Since it was summoned, I add another copy of it to my hand. Appear again, the circuit of life!"

A new circuit opened in the sky between me and Bullet as Pale Crawfish flew into one of the flowers.

"Arrowhead confirmed! Summoning condition is one Level Four or lower WATER monster! I set BrioGear Pale Crawfish in the Link Marker! Link Summon! Come out, _BrioGear Damsel Fish (ATK: 500, Link-1)_!" the young idol girl appeared behind Lotaxol and sat in the air with her arms crossed around her legs.

"Damsel Fish' effect activates!" I would use it again, the power that Avice entrusted to me! "When it's Link Summoned, I can add a Spell or Trap Card that lists oGear from my deck to the hand. The card I add is this - _Elemental Lords of Gear_!"

" _Even though Bullet has four cards on his field, if we get rid of three right now, a single draw on his next turn wouldn't be enough to rebuild his field,"_ Firera informed me.

"I get what you're hinting to," I told her. "And luckily, I want to get that card out as well! Elemental Lords of Gear can only be activated in a zone that a Link Monster points to. I'll activate Elemental Lords of Gear to the zone that Damsel Fish points at!" the card glowed as it appeared on my field, good. "Now I'll activate Elemental Lords of Gears' effect! Once per turn, I can Link Summon using a monster that points at this card as the sole material, and the monster I summon is one Link Rating higher than it!"

"Let's go!" A blue aura appeared around Firera as she yelled.

"I plead before the Elemental Lords of Gear to grand me their power! With their blessing, I'm able to evolve my Link Monsters! Appear, the spinning circuit of bonds!" I threw my arm forward and the large blue gear appeared in the sky above. The contract was completed!

" _Rising tides, unchain the mortal body binding my monster and open the gates of the great ocean through an abysmal sacrifice!_ " I changed as Damsel Fish turned into pure energy and flew through the tunnel. " _Link-Up! Aim your restless bow of justice, the huntress hunting the evil plaguing this world! Grand Ranger Serene (ATK: 2100, Link-2)!_ "

I know what you're probably thinking. If I could summon any Link Two or Three monsters I wanted, why did I use it to summon Serene? Because she had the hardest summoning conditions of all my monsters, so if I needed it later, it would be much easier to revive her from my graveyard than to go through her summoning condition.

"For the fourth time, appear, the circuit of life!" The usual mirror-shaped circuit with the flowers appeared before me. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are two or more WATER Effect monsters. I set BrioGear Lotaxol and the Link Two, Grand Ranger Serene, in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Link Three! _Storm Serene the BrioGear Ranger (ATK: 2300, Link-3)_!"

There she was! Wearing her heavy blue armor, with her wings shining like those of an angel. The monster born from the bond formed between me and Aqua; my favorite ace monster!

"I activate Storm Serene's effect! When she's Link Summoned, you must shuffle cards from your field to the deck, equal to the total Link Rating of the Link Monster used as materials! _Torrential Tune_!" Storm Serene began to hum a soft tune.

" _Trap activate!_ _ **Malware Malfunction**_ _!"_ The card showed Malware Worm, but all of its green lines were replaced with red ones and black sparks were jumping out of its body as it shook violently. _"Activate this card by targeting one Link Monster your opponent controls with_ _Link Rating equal to or higher than the Link Monster you control with the highest Link Rating; negate the effects of that monster while its face-up on the field, also it cannot attack, be Tributed, used as Link Material, or be destroyed by either battle or card effect. When that monster leaves the field, destroy this card. If your opponent takes damage: The targeted by this card's effect your lose ATK equal to the damage they took."_

Chains shot out of Malware Malfunction and wrapped tightly around Storm Serene's body and mouth, keeping her from singing or moving. She was completely trapped!

* * *

 **Malware Malfunction (Trap Continuous)**

 **Activate this card by targeting one Link Monster your opponent controls with Link Rating equal to or higher than the Link Monster you control with the highest Link Rating; negate the effects of that monster while its face-up on the field, also it cannot attack, be Tributed, used as Link Material, or be destroyed by either battle or card effect. When that monster leaves the field, destroy this card. If your opponent takes damage: The targeted by this card's effect your lose ATK equal to the damage they took. You can only control 1 "Malware Malfunction" at a time.**

* * *

"The AI predicted what I was about to do." Even without a free will, it was able to predict what I was about to do. "I… end my turn."

"My turn, draw!" Bullet's avatar drew for it.

 **『** **Turn 3 [Bullet] LP: 4000 Hand: 1** **』**

" _ **Malware Paster**_ _'s effect: When there is a Link Monster on your field, you can Special Summon this card from your hand to a zone on your field a Link Monster points to."_ The monster that appeared was cubic in appearance with multiple green lines crossing its body, and all of them ending at a green dot on the four sides of the monster.

* * *

 **Malware Paster**

 **Level: 4/Attribute: DARK/Type: Cyberse/Effect**

 **ATK: 0/DEF: 1800**

 **Effect:** **When there is a Link Monster on your field, you can Special Summon this card from your hand to a zone on your field a Link Monster points to. If this card is destroyed by a card effect: You can target 1 "Malware" monster in your GY or that's banished; Special Summon it with its effects negated. You can only use each effect of "Malware Paster" once per turn.**

* * *

" _Topologic Bifrost effect: If a monster is Special Summoned to a zone this card points to: Destroy as many of those monsters as possible, also both players return all cards in their hand to the bottom of the deck, then draw one card for every two cards returned by this effect, also, your opponent takes three hundred damage for each card they drew by this effect."_ A red aura surrounded Paster and it exploded the same way that Worm did not long ago.

I returned the four cards that were in my hand back to the deck and drew two to replace them. At the same time, the second part of Bifrost's effect hit me, inflicting 300 damage for each card that I just drew.

 **『** **Proxy LP: 2900 – 300*2** → **2300** **』**

"Malware Malfunction's effect!" The chains around Serene began red and my monster began to thrash around in pain.

 **Storm Serene the BrioGear Ranger, ATK: 2300 - 600** → **1700**

" _Malware Paster's effect: If this card is destroyed by a card effect: You can target 1 "Malware" monster in your GY or that's banished; Special Summon it with its effects negated."_ The only other Malware monster that Bullet currently had was Worm, which raised at the zone Topologic Bifrost pointed to.

" _Topologic Bifrost effect: If a monster is Special Summoned to a zone this card points to: Destroy as many of those monsters as possible, also both players return all cards in their hand to the bottom of the deck, then draw one card for every two cards returned by this effect, also, your opponent takes three hundred damage for each card they drew by this effect."_ The red aura surrounded Worm once more and it exploded while I was forced to shuffle the cards in my hand back into the deck, then draw a single new one.

 **『** **Proxy LP: 2300 – 300** → **2000** **』**

 **Storm Serene the BrioGear Ranger, ATK: 1700 - 300** → **1400**

" _Malware Worm's effect: If this card is destroyed by a card effect: Inflict five hundred damage to your opponent."_ Malware Worm's spirit appeared on the avatar's shoulder and fired a purple beam that hit me in the chest, dropping my Life Points even further.

 **『** **Proxy LP: 2000 – 500** → **1500** **』**

 **Storm Serene the BrioGear Ranger, ATK: 1400 - 500** → **900**

" _Malware Worm effect: If you control a DARK Cyberse Link Monster, you can Special Summon this card from your hand or GY to a zone a Link Monster points to, but banish it if it leaves the field."_ A portal opened in the zone that Bitfrost was pointing to and Worm crawled out of it to allow another activation of the Topologic's effect.

" _Topologic Bifrost effect: If a monster is Special Summoned to a zone this card points to: Destroy as many of those monsters as possible, also both players return all cards in their hand to the bottom of the deck, then draw one card for every two cards returned by this effect, also, your opponent takes three hundred damage for each card they drew by this effect."_ A red aura surrounded Worm and it exploded into particles.

"If you let the AI shuffle the last card, you'll lose," Firera warned me.

"Then I'll activate it!" I declared. "I activate the effect of _**BrioGear Life Anchor**_ from my hand! If there's a Link Monster on my field, I can discard this card and target one Link Monster in my Graveyard! The Link Monster on my field can't be destroyed by card effects this turn, also I return the Link Monster in my Graveyard back to the Extra Deck and gain two hundred Life Points for each of its Link Rating!"

A bulky monster in blue armor appeared on my field. The creature was wearing a knight helmet and its arms had large metal anchors in place of wrists. The creature fired its anchors inside a portal and began to pull out something.

* * *

 **BrioGear Life Anchor**

 **Level: 3/Attribute: WATER/Type: Cyberse/Effect**

 **ATK: 800/DEF: 800**

 **Effect: If you control a "BrioGear" Link Monster (Quick Effect): You can discard this card from your hand and target 1 WATER Link Monster in your GY; Link Monsters on your field cannot be destroyed by card effects for the rest of this turn, also, return that Link Monster to the Extra Deck, and if you do, gain LP equal to that monster's Link Rating x 200. If you control at least 2 "oGear" monsters, you can Special Summon this card from your GY, but banish it if it leaves the field.**

* * *

"I return Damsel Fish back to my Extra Deck and gain two hundred Life Points." I slapped the Link Monster back to my Extra Deck and Life Anchor disappeared from my field.

 **『** **Proxy LP: 1500 + 200** → **1700** **』**

" _Malware Construction's effect: If a Cyberse monster you control is destroyed by a card effect, you can draw 1 card."_ Bullet drew a new card from its deck. "Topologic Bifrost, attackStorm Serene the BrioGear Ranger."

The Topologic's eyes glowed and it charged forward, swinging its claws at my monster. Though she wasn't destroyed from the attack, Storm Serene screamed in pain as the claws tore through her armor and cut off one of her wings, leaving her too damaged to fight anymore.

 **『** **Proxy LP: 1700 – 1600** → **100** **』**

 **Storm Serene the BrioGear Ranger, ATK: 900 - 1600** → **0**

" _Proxy, are you ok!?"_ Aqua called out toward me.

"I've been better," I admitted.

" _That Topologic monster hits hard,"_ Firera told me. _"Our Life Points were already dropped to just a hundred."_

" _Card set. Turn end."_ Bullet finished.

Serene's attack is already zero and so is my hand. Can't believe that I would have to hope for a miracle on just my second turn, but against an AI-based after the leader of the Knights of Hanoi, a miracle might be my only chance to survive.

"My turn, draw!"

 **『** **Turn 4 [Proxy] LP: 100 Hand: 1** **』**

"I activate _**BrioGear Ascending**_! Since there are no monsters in my Main Monster Zone, this card allows me to target Pale Crawfish in my Graveyard, gain Life Points equal to its attack, and then return it to my hand."

 **『** **Proxy LP: 100 + 700** → **800** **』**

* * *

 **BrioGear Ascending (Spell) Normal**

 **If you control no monsters in your Main Monster Zones, target 1 "BrioGear" monster in your GY, gain LP equal to its ATK, and if you do, add it to your hand. If this card is in your GY, you can discard 1 "oGear" card from your hand; add this card to your hand. You can only use each effect of "BrioGear Ascending" once per turn.**

* * *

"I Normal Summon _BrioGear Pale Crawfish (Lv.2, ATK: 700)_ and activate its effect to add another copy of it to my hand. Come forth, the circuit of life!" I shouldn't forget, Storm Serene couldn't be used as Link Material, so I needed to use more devious methods to get out the monster I needed.

"Arrowhead confirmed! Summoning condition is one Level Four or lower WATER monster! I set BrioGear Pale Crawfish in the Link Marker! Link Summon! Come out, _BrioGear Damsel Fish (ATK: 500, Link-1)_!" the idol monster appeared to my field once again.

"Damsel Fish' effect activates! I add _**BrioGear Symbol**_ from my deck to the hand!" the card popped out of my Duel Disk and I took it.

* * *

 **BrioGear Symbol (Spell) Quick-Play**

 **Add 1 "BrioGear" monster from your Deck to the hand, then discard 1 card from your hand. If this card is in your GY, you can discard 1 "oGear" card from your hand; add this card to your hand. You can only use each effect of "BrioGear Symbol" once per turn.**

* * *

"I activate BrioGear Symbol's effect to add BrioGear Leviathan Dragon from the deck to my hand, and then I discard it." Now, I could use its power from the grave, but before that… "I activate Life Anchor's second effect to revive it since there are at least two oGear monsters on my field."

" _And again!"_ Firera pumped her fist forward.

"Come forth, the circuit of life!" my circuit opened over the field. "Arrowheads confirmed. Summoning requirements are two BrioGear monsters! I set BrioGear Damsel Fish and BrioGear Life Anchor in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Link Two, _BrioGear Enhance Mermail (ATK: 1700, Link-2)_!"

" _Because of Storm Serene's Link Markers,' we are unable to place a monster directly over Elemental Lords of Gear."_ Aqua frowned.

"It doesn't matter," I told her. "I banish BrioGear Lotaxol and BrioGear Damsel Fish from my Graveyard to revive _BrioGear Leviathan Dragon (Lv.7, ATK: 2600)_! Then I activate Leviathan's effect to Special Summon _BrioGear Pale Crawfish (Lv.2, DEF: 600)_ and I activate Pale Crawfish's effect to add another copy of it to my hand!"

"Let's battle! I attack Topologic Bifrost with Leviathan Dragon and activate the effect of Pale Crawfish from my hand! By discarding it, I increase the attack of all my monsters by six hundred until the end of this turn!"

 **Storm Serene the BrioGear Ranger, ATK: 0 + 600** → **600**

 **BrioGear Leviathan Dragon, ATK: 2600 + 600** → **3200**

 **BrioGear Enhance Mermail, ATK: 1700 + 600** → **2300**

 **BrioGear Pale Crawfish, ATK: 700 + 600** → **1300**

My Leviathan opened its mouth and fired a beam of water that went through Topologic Bifrost's body like a knife through paper, destroying the annoying Link Monster.

 **『** **Bullet LP: 4000 – 700** → **3300** **』**

"And next, I'll attack with Enhance Mermail." My second Link 2 monster raised its arms forward and summoned a bubble of water. "I activate Enhance Mermail's effect to halve Leviathan Dragon's attack and give the lost attack to Enhance Mermail."

 **BrioGear Leviathan Dragon, ATK: 3200/2** → **1600**

 **BrioGear Enhance Mermail, ATK: 2300 + 1600** → **3900**

" _Trap Activate –_ _ **Malware Reboot**_ _."_ A card showing a kid running from his computer which had a green screen with multiple warning signs on it appeared on Bullet's field. _"When a Link Monster your opponent controls declare an attack: Halve the battle damage you take, and if you do, Special Summon 1 Link Monster from your GY, but destroy it during the End Phase."_

The spirit of Topologic Bifrost appeared in front of Bullet, trying to block Enhance Mermail's attack, but it went through, creating a large explosion on the fake Ignis' field.

 **『** **Bullet LP: 3300 – 1450** → **1850** **』**

* * *

 **Malware Reboot (Trap) Normal**

 **When a Link Monster your opponent controls declare an attack: Halve the battle damage you take, and if you do, Special Summon 1 Link Monster from your GY, but destroy it during the End Phase.**

* * *

After the smoke cleared, Topologic Bifrost was standing on Bullet's field once again, ready to take the next attack. But there wasn't going to be another attack. With Strom Serene unable to attack and Pale Crawfish in Defense Position, my Battle Phase was complete.

" _This one is stubborn,"_ Firera said. _"I suggest you use Symbol to prepare for the next turn."_

"I discard the second Crawfish in my hand to return BrioGear Symbol back to my hand and then I set it on my field." The card appeared at my feet for a moment before it disappeared completely.

" _Malware Reboot's effect: Topologic Bifrost destroyed."_ The Link Monster shattered into pieces. " _Malware Construction's effect: If a Cyberse monster you control is destroyed by a card effect, you can draw 1 card."_

At least the Topologic was now officially dead, but I wonder why I felt that this wasn't the worst that the AI had to throw at me.

"At the end of this turn, the attack of all my monsters return to normal," I said as the attack of most oGears dropped, while Leviathan's raised.

 **Storm Serene the BrioGear Ranger, ATK: 600 - 600** → **600**

 **BrioGear Leviathan Dragon, ATK: 1600** → **2600**

 **BrioGear Enhance Mermail, ATK: 3900** → **1700**

 **BrioGear Pale Crawfish, ATK: 1300 - 600** → **700**

" _My turn. Draw."_

 **『** **Turn 5 [Bullet] LP: 4000 Hand: 2** **』**

" _Spell Activate –_ _ **Malware Programming**_ _: Target one Cyberse monster in your Graveyard; Special Summon that target but its effects are negated."_ A portal opened and Topologic Bifrost raised from it once more.

* * *

 **Malware Programming (Spell) Normal**

 **Target one Cyberse monster in your Graveyard; Special Summon that target but its effects are negated. If this card is in your GY, except during the turn it was sent there: You can destroy 1 monster you control, Set this card to your side of the field, but banish it when it leaves the field. You can only activate 1 "Malware Programming" per turn.**

* * *

" _I Normal Summon_ _Malware Worm (Lv.1, ATK: 0)."_ Uh, the second one of those appeared.

" _Link Summoning: Opening circuit."_ Bullet raised its arms and a square opened in the middle of the field. _"Summoning conditions: Two or more Effect Monsters. Set Malware Worm and Link Three Topologic Bifrost. Link Summon!_ _ **Topologic Blackmal Dragon**_ _!"_

A black dragon monster with bright green lines appeared on the field. The creature had a bulky body but was missing any arms. Instead, it had large nozzles covering its chest with green energy glowing from inside of them. Its stomach was open with jaws coming out of it and instead of legs, it had two long tails that raised behind it in an infinity symbol. Two long yellow blades were jutting out of its shoulders and its head had three small blades on its forehead resembling a crown, with a green eye glowing underneath it.

* * *

 **Topologic Blackmal Dragon**

 **Attribute: DARK/Type: Cyberse/Link/Effect**

 **Link Arrows: Top Left, Top, Top Right, Bottom**

 **ATK: 3000/Link-4**

 **2+ Effect Monsters**

 **Effect: If another monster(s) is Special Summoned to a zone a Link Monster points to, while this monster is on the field: Destroy that monster(s), then banish all monsters from both players' GYs, and if you do, inflict 100 damage to your opponent for each of their monsters banished by this effect, also reduce the ATK of all monsters they control by that amount until the end of this turn. You cannot attack your opponent directly during the turn this effect is activated.**

* * *

"I activate BrioGear Symbol to add BrioGear Cryo Raptor to my hand and then discard it!" The card popped out of my deck and I sent it directly to the graveyard. "Then, Cryo Raptor's effect activates, allowing me to Special Summon one Level Two or lower BrioGear from my deck. I choose _**BrioGear Enchant Siren**_."

The monster was very close to Enhance Mermail in appearance. It was a little girl-like monster with light pink skin and short aqua green hair. Her pupils were dark blue. She had golden armor on her arms and chest with pinkish fish scales covering the part of her skin that remained exposed, mostly her shoulders and neck, which had fish gills on the sides. A belt made from purple crystals decorated her waist.

* * *

 **BrioGear Enchant Siren**

 **Level: 1/Attribute: WATER/Type: Cyberse/Effect**

 **ATK: 0/DEF: 1500**

 **Effect: If a card is discarded from your hand, you can Special Summon this card from your hand (even if it wasn't there when the effect activated). If a Link Monster activated its effect, you can send 1 monster you control to the GY, and target 1 Link Monster in your GY; negate that monster's effects until the end of the turn, then return the targeted card to your Extra Deck and gain LP equal to its Link Rating x 200.**

* * *

" _Malware Construction's effect: If your opponent controls more monsters in their Main Monster Zone that you: Special Summon "Malware" monsters from your GY with different names, in face-up Defense Position, equal to the difference."_ Two portals opened as Malware Worm and Malware Paster raised to our opponent's field.

" _Topologic Blackmal Dragon's effect: If another monster(s) is Special Summoned to a zone a Link Monster points to, while this monster is on the field: Destroy that monster(s), then banish all monsters from both players' GYs, and if you do, inflict 100 damage to your opponent for each of their monsters banished by this effect, also reduce the ATK of all monsters they control by that amount until the end of this turn."_ Topologic roared and swung its tail, aiming to crush the Malware Worm behind it. If the effects of these two went off, I would lose for sure!

"I activate Enchant Siren's effect!" I had to negate the effect before it could go off. "I send Storm Serene to the Graveyard and return Grand Ranger Serene to my Extra Deck in order to negate your Topologic's effect until the end of this turn and gain two hundred Life Points per Siren's Link Marker."

 **『** **Proxy LP: 800 + 200*2** → **1200** **』**

" _Malware Malfunction's effect: When that monster leaves the field, destroy this card."_ The trap shattered now that Storm Serene was no longer there. _"Malware Multiplication's effect: If this card is in your GY, except during the turn it was sent there: You can destroy 1 Cyberse monster you control, Set this card on your side of the field, but banish it when it leaves the field."_

Malware Worm exploded and the Spell Card appeared on Bullet's field once more, setting itself face-down.

" _Malware Worm's effect: If this card is destroyed by a card effect: Inflict five hundred damage to your opponent."_ Malware Worm's spirit appeared on the avatar's shoulder and fired a purple beam, knocking me back.

 **『** **Proxy LP: 1200 - 500** → **700** **』**

 _Malware Construction's effect: If a Cyberse monster you control is destroyed by a card effect, you can draw 1 card."_ Bullet drew another card. _"Activate Continuous Spell –_ _ **Malware Transfer**_ _: Once per turn, if you control a Link Monster, you can target 1 Malware monster in your Graveyard; Special Summon it next to that monster's Link Marking on either player's side of the field."_

The card showed a shadowy figure sitting at a computer grinning as it sent an email to a list that was unreadable but was most likely a list of users that the figure had targeted.

* * *

 **Malware Transfer (Spell) Continuous**

 **Once per turn, if you control a Link Monster, you can target 1 Malware monster in your Graveyard: Special Summon it next to that monster's Link Marking on either player's side of the field. Cyberse monsters you control cannot be destroyed by your opponent's card effects. You can only control 1 "Malware Transfer" at a time.**

* * *

" _Revive, Malware Worm (Lv.1, DEF: 400)."_ That monster just wasn't going to die, was it? "Activate _Malware Multiplication: Destroy 1 face-up Cyberse monster on your field. Special Summon two Malware Tokens (Lv.1, ATK: 0)!"_ Worm exploded, again, and two tokens took its place.

" _Battle!"_ Bullet called gestured toward my field. _"Topologic Blackmal Dragon attack BrioGear Leviathan Dragon."_

The nozzles on Blackmal's body glowed brightly and each of them unleashed a green laser beam. All of the attacks, no matter in what direction they were fired, aimed toward my dragon and stabbed it like nails. Leviathan Dragon cried out before it exploded into a cloud of pixels.

 **『** **Proxy LP: 700 - 400** → **300** **』**

"We were able to somehow survive, again," I muttered.

" _These Topologic monsters are powerful if you let their effects to be activated,"_ Aqua told me.

"I know." I had to be careful, if another Topologic's effect went through, I would be a goner.

" _Turn end,"_ Bullet said.

"The elements for our winning combination have already gathered on our field." Firera looked back at me. "You know what to do, Proxy!"

"Yeah," I saw it too. With the monsters, I have gathered on my field… "This is the last turn, draw!"

 **『** **Turn 6 [Proxy] LP: 300 Hand: 1** **』**

BrioGear Wave Crusade, what perfect timing to show up. I looked at Bullet's field. He had cards protecting his Topologic from destruction and targeting, so I wouldn't use any of those.

"Appear, the circuit of life!" the large mirror-like circuit appeared before me. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are two or more Effect Monsters! I set the Link Two Enhance Mermaid, along with BrioGear Pale Crawfish and BrioGear Enchant Siren. Link Summon! _Firera, Firmware Cyberse Dragon (ATK: 2800, Link-4)_!"

" _Topologic needs the Link Monster to be summoned next to a Link Marker to trigger the effect, but no Link Markers point toward the Extra Monster Zone,"_ Aqua stated the obvious fact.

"End this, Firera! Attack Topologic Blackmal Dragon!" I declared. "And now I activate Firera's effect, discarding Wave Crusader from my hand to reduce Blackmal Dragon's attack power to zero and negate its effects! _Frost Obey_!"

Firera opened her jaw and fired a blue beam that engulfed Topologic Blackmal Dragon, trapping him inside a cage of ice.

 **Topologic Blackmal Dragon, ATK: 3000** → **0**

Bullet didn't say anything as it watched its monster freezing. I just didn't care, because it didn't have the will to care.

" _Subzero Flare_!"

Firera slammed her blade-like arms together while her tails began to charge with electricity and flew over to the lower pair of wings, which absorbed it. Small holes opened in the dragon's upper wings and they began to emit a white gas that froze everything around the monster, including its arms. The electricity surged through the dragon's body and connected to the arms. Firera roared and threw her blades to the side, creating an 'X' of electricity and the strange freezing gas that flew through Topologic Blackmal Dragon and it exploded.

 **『** **Bullet LP: 1850 – 2800** → **0** **』**

 **『** **Winner: Proxy** **』**

The avatar that Bullet used in order to duel be broke apart and the fake Ignis fell on the ground, its eyes turning black as it deactivated. I looked down at Aqua and Firera, both of which watched the scene in front of us unaffected. They truly didn't think of Bullet as one of them, did they?

"Even if it wasn't created the usual way, for Dr. Kogami to base an Ignis on his son," I walked past Bullet and continued on my way toward the control room. "That's twisted."

" _I have heard that people could do awful things if they're desperate,"_ Firera commented. " _He put all of his faith in this Tower, of course, he would also create a guardian to protect it if Revolver failed."_

"Yeah, but fate betrayed him once more." Even that last guardian of Dr. Kogami's failed.

"I wouldn't agree with that."

"Revolver…" I muttered, knowing that there could be only one person who would know their way around inside the Tower.

"My father warned me about an intruder." Revolver walked out of the shadow and looked at the fallen pseudo-Ignis for a moment before turning his attention toward me. "You've reached far, but I won't let you reach any farther. Your destiny will end here!"

* * *

 **That took a very short time to write despite how long it is. I'm only not sure about the Topologics' names because didn't completely understand their naming, though I understood that Gumblar and Bomber stand for different types of software malware, so I choose to use that for both the Link-3 and the Link-4 Topologic monsters that appeared in this chapter. Also, now watch Revolver go into a Data Storm and pull a new Topologic after I gave them a backstory on how they were created... Just...**

 **I have to say, I was disappointed that in the VRAINS anime Kogami didn't use Revolver to create an Ignis. Given that he was willing to use him in order to kidnap the children and then gave him the task to kill the Ignis, I expected Kogami to not be shy about torturing his own child. Of course, as explained above, Bullet wasn't created the same way as the other Ignis, so no, Kogami didn't do it here either. Sadly.**

 **But the good news is that the fight for the Tower of Hanoi will end in the next chapter with a duel between Revolver, Roxy and Playmaker! And this entire first season will end with Chapter 41. I can finally see the end of this first season. I can almost smell it, touch it... lick it!**

 **Thanks to** SoulMatter **and** WriterWorks **for following this story and thanks to** nerostar12 **for the Follow and Favorite.**

 **Also, thanks to everyone for checking this story and I'll see you next time, when the war will finally come to an end and a grave silence will fill the network...**

 **Bye, Bye!**

 **Diabolic Tracer out!**


	39. Chapter 39

**Since I don't know how much will actually read the A/N at the end of this chapter and THIS is the most important message I have, I'm going to post it in the beginning.**

 **I plan to make a 'Special Chapter' after the end of this story's first Arc. Those of you who read my other works (Arc-Tracers) will know what a Special Chapter is, but for the new ones, a Special Chapter is sort of a big A/N where I answer questions and talk about the story: Character analysis, Plot analysis, etc.**

 **The thing is, that since the last time I did this for a story of mine, it just ended up being me talking about things with little to no involvement from my audience. To summarize what I'm trying to say, if there's something you don't quite understand or want to ask (as long as it's not a spoiler), you can write it as a review or a PM and I'll answer it in the Special Chapter, if there's no interest, or you just don't have any questions, I won't make a Special Chapter.**

 **Now, thanks for reading this and hope you enjoy today's chapter.**

* * *

Hero and Sidekick's Hope

 **Proxy's POV**

"If you're here, then where's Playmaker?" I asked.

"So, that was my father's last project?" Revolver ignored me and looked at the AI lying on the ground. "Even after his speech, to find out that my father built this creature, expecting for me to fail him… it hurts."

Revolver opened his palm and something fell off it. A small black cube hit the ground and multiple spikes shot out, piercing through Bullet's body. I watched with my mouth hung open. I wanted to shout at him, but I didn't know what to say. Even Aqua and Firera, who firmly denied Bullet being an Ignis looked pained watching the AI's body dissolving because of the spikes. It's empty yellow eyes staring blankly at the ceiling while it faded away until the only thing that remained from it were two cards that flew into Revolver's deck.

He killed it. Without showing any sight of regret or pain, he killed the only thing that his father left to him! Screw his mission to save the world, screw everything! Revolver was nothing more than a bloody psychopath, a blood lust maniac who only wanted to kill AIs for the fun of it!

"How could you!?" I yelled. "That AI was your father's last invention! It was the only thing he has left for you, and you destroyed it without a second thought!"

"It was an Ignis." Revolver stated. "Even if it didn't have a free will, there was nothing that could stop it from obtaining one in the future. Not that there would be any future left for it once this Tower finishes its countdown."

"You can take everything you are saying about AIs having free will being dangerous and shove it up your ass!" I couldn't believe that I was saying such vulgar things, but the words were out of my mouth without any control. It was like some form of restriction was lifted off me. "You're nothing more than a terrorist, a bloody murder who can't stop killing! Not just Bullet, but everyone else! There are thousands of people trapped inside this Tower and all of them will die once you fire it. How about that, huh? Did you think about it? Did you think about these innocent people, most of whom are children that you got involved in this? Not Playmaker or the Ignis, it was YOU who attacked LINK VRAINS, placed a virus in their Duel Disk and stopped them from leaving ever again!"

"I'm not expecting you to understand." Revolver replied. "Their sacrifice is a necessary one to ensure humanity's survival."

"Fuck off with that bullshit!" I yelled. "Necessary? All those people who are going to die inside the hospitals because the technology needed to keep them alive stopped working, all the people who will die when their planes crash into highly populated cities? Is that what you call a necessary sacrifice? Who are you to play GOD? Who asked you to do that? An insane old man who tortured children, that's who!"

"Don't you dare speak ill of my father!" Revolver roared, but his anger didn't scare me. Not anymore. Something inside me finally felt right… "He was a great man who made mistakes! But to his final breath, he tried to fix his biggest mistake!"

"But since you're still here with us, I take it that he failed." I was probably crossing the line here. Hell, I must have crossed it a long time ago, but it just couldn't stop. The hatred inside me, it was like I was trapped until now like I was trying unconsciously to hold back!

"I was going to eliminate you either way," Revolver snarled. "Your insults toward me mean nothing, but insulting my father. I'll never forgive you for that. You're going to go down! Alongside Playmaker!"

Revolver held up his Duel Disk and it glowed. Everything around us turned blurry and transformed into a mix of colors, but then I saw it. We were moving up, passing through the floors in an instant. A red platform for a field appeared before my eyes with red vines holding it in place. Revolver was still standing before me, glaring angrily, but this time there was one more person next to me.

" _Oh, he finally appeared!"_ Ai shouted. _"And wait…"_ He seemed to notice us. _"Why's Proxy here too?"_

" _Revolver transported us here,"_ Aqua told them. _"It seems that in the end, we'll have to join forces to overcome this threat."_

"What's the meaning of this?" Playmaker turned toward Revolver. "I thought that this was our final real duel; that it would end with the two of us!"

"I thought that too." Revolver said and looked back at me. "But I was alerted by my father that there was an intruder inside the Tower. Don't think that I'm stupid enough to duel you while your sidekick is destroying everything that my father, and friends, gave their lives for."

"On a positive note, he called me your sidekick." I joked.

"So that's how it's going to end?" Playmaker looked back at me. "This isn't your fight Proxy, you shouldn't be here."

"What're you saying?" I frowned. Did he already forget why I was here? Even if I was scared, this was bigger than me, than any of us. "I know, you've wanted to defeat the Knights of Hanoi with your own arms, but this is bigger than any of us, Playmaker. This isn't just about revenge anymore, didn't you say so yourself?"

" _Don't remind him."_ Ai sighed. _"Things happened when our last duel ended in a draw and now it turns out that Revolver saved Playmaker."_

"He what!?" I, Aqua and Firera shouted at the same time.

"It's true," Playmaker nodded. "Revolver was the voice that gave me hope during the time I was captured. He was the only thing I had to clench to during those hellish days. This duel, it's not just because of the Tower, but to show him that we can still take a new path."

Revolver, take a new path? I was dumbfounded. Was Playmaker hit by a rock or something, because what he was saying right now was completely different from his usual self? Revolver was a psychopath, a mass soon to be mass murderer and Playmaker wanted to save him? What about logic, are you telling me that logic dictates we should be saving people holding a trigger against the heard of a thousand people simultaneously? I shook my head and turned away from Playmaker. Watching him like this, having hope for a monster like Revolver, it might be worse than the cold look he used to have on his face earlier.

"Come on you two!" Revolver shouted at us. "Destiny has chosen the three of us to be the last ones standing, so come at me!"

" _Be careful,"_ Aqua warned Playmaker. _"He just killed an AI that Dr. Kogami tried to turn into an Ignis based onto Revolver, and then absorbed something from its remains. He's more dangerous than ever!"_

"Dr. Kogami tried to build an Ignis based off his own son?" Now Playmaker was the one who looked at us surprised.

"Revolver killed an Ignis?" For once, Ai was the one concerned about the more important part of the news.

"Yeah, he did." I nodded. "And even though the AI he killed was lacking a free will, he still didn't show any mercy."

"Enough talking! Either fight or disappeared!" Revolver warned us.

"Very well then." Playmaker took a step forward. "I'll take you on, Revolver!"

"And as your sidekick, I'll assist you." I reasoned.

"DUEL!"

 **『** **Revolver LP: 4000, Hand: 5 (VS) Playmaker Hand: 5 & Proxy Hand: 5 [LP: 4000]** **』**

"I'm going to take the first turn!" Revolver declared. "I activate the effect of Defrag Dragon from my hand to discard _Keeper of the Shrine_ and Special Summon it from my hand!" Some black and red bird-like monsters with digital green rings appeared on Revolver's field.

"I'll now activate _Quick Launch_ to Special Summon _Metalrokket (Lv.4, ATK: 1700)_ from my deck!" Now a blue dragon with a bullet on its forehead appeared. "And I activate Squib Draw to destroy Metalrokket, then draw two new cards from my deck! At this moment the effect of Keeper of the Shrine activates reviving from my Graveyard!" An old human-dragon hybrid appeared on Revolver's field sitting with 2100 defense. "And finally, I'm going to Normal Summon _Triggering Wurm (Lv.2, ATK: 600)_."

" _He got three monsters on his field, so he won't be able to summon either his Topologic or Borrel monsters,"_ Ai stated.

"You're wrong." Revolver declared. "There's a Topologic monster that I can summon using the monsters presented."

"He's going to call the monster from the recording." Playmaker said.

The recording… Ah yes, I remember that the recording Evan's AI was able to obtain from Revolver's duel against Ghost Girl, the bastard used a Link 3 Topologic monster. But I didn't think that he would summon that one. I think he was going to use the new one…

"Appear, the future circuit that lights up my path!" A square shot out of Revolver's arms and rested in the sky above him. "Arrowheads confirmed. Summoning conditions are three monsters. I set Keeper of the Shrine, Defrag Dragon and Triggering Wurm in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Come forth, my new power! _Topologic Bifrost (ATK: 2500, Link-3)_!"

" _Where's he pulling all those Topologic monsters out of!?"_ Ai cried out.

" _Bullet,"_ Aqua said simply. _"The AI I told you about, the pseudo-Ignis, Kogami used it to create the Topologic cards that Revolver's using. There's one more that you haven't seen yet, a Link Four."_

" _This is going to end in a train-wreck I can already predict it."_ Ai lowered its body back into Playmaker's Duel Disk.

"The effect of Triggering Wurm activates." Revolver declared. "Since it was used as Link Material for the Link Summon of a DARK monster, I can revive it. And now Bifrost' effect activates! When a monster is summoned next to its link, I destroy that monster and we'll both be forced to shuffle our hands back into our decks, then draw two cards for everyone we returned!"

" _But Playmaker has five cards!"_ Ai screamed.

"That means I'll still have to draw only two cards." Playmaker muttered, returning the cards in his hand back to the deck, then drawing two.

"Due to Topologic Bifrost's effect, you take three hundred points of damage per card added by this effect." Revolver added, his monster swung its claws, creating an energy slash that our avatars.

 **『** **Playmaker & Proxy LP: 4000 – 300*2 **→ **3400** **』**

"Because of Wurm's effect, I draw a card." Revolver stated, drawing one more card from his deck. "I'll now set a card face-down and activate _Boot Sector Launch_. Of course, since I don't have any Rokket monsters in my hand, I can't activate its effect, but that won't be a problem. Metalrokket's effect activates at the end of this turn! Since it was destroyed, I can Special Summon _Shelrokket Dragon (Lv.2, DEF: 2200 + 300_ → _2500)_ from my deck and now Bifrost' effect activates once more."

The rokket monster that Revolver summoned exploded and Playmaker's cards turned purple. He shuffled them into a deck and drew a single new one. I knew that strategy. Revolver was going to use the Rokkets floating ability to drop Playmaker's hand to zero in a single turn! Because a card was drawn by Bifrost's effect, I and Playmaker took more damage.

 **『** **Playmaker & Proxy LP: 3400 – 300 **→ **3100** **』**

"And now Shelrokket's effect activates Special Summoning _Anesthrokket Dragon (Lv.1, DEF: 2000 + 300_ → _2300)_." This time it was a green dragon that appeared, and it was in the same zone as the previous rokket, which meant… "Bifrost' effect activates shuffling the last card in your hand back into the deck!"

" _Now Playmaker will start the turn without a single card!"_ Ai yelled.

"Playmaker, do you see the power left by my father?" Revolver laughed maniacally. "All of your hope was erased before you could even take your turn!"

"Hope will never disappear until I'm able to draw!" Playmaker declared.

"Then show me what that hope of yours is truly capable of." Revolver challenged us. "Anesthrokket's effect activates, Special Summoning _Magnarokket Dragon (Lv.4, DEF: 1200 + 300_ → _1500)_ from my deck." Another blue dragon appeared, but this time it was different in appearance from the previous one.

"I'll show you that there's still a chance to move away from the path you've taken." Playmaker stated and looked at me. "Together with my ally, I'm going to prove you that a bond between a human and AI can exist. My turn, draw!"

 **『** **Turn 2 [Playmaker] LP: 3100 Hand: 1** **』**

Playmaker paused for a moment, looking at the card that he drew. He was already at an unfair disadvantage as it was. But if the card that he drew was a useless one, the duel could end here, during the second turn!

"I Normal Summon _Lady Debugger (Lv.4, ATK: 1700)_." A monster that looked like a humanoid Lady Bug appeared on Playmaker's field. "Her effect activates, adding one Level Three or lower Cyberse monster from my deck to the hand! I add _Micro Coder_. Appear, the circuit that leads to the future!"

A square appeared over Playmaker's head. I wasn't sure about it, but I believe that if he played his cards right (of course he would do that) he would be able to summon a strong monster.

"Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are two Effect Monsters. I set Lady Debugger and Micro Coder that's in my hand, in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Come forth, _Code Talker (ATK: 1300, Link-2)_!" the grey Code Talker he used in our first duel appeared again, this time to help us defeat Revolver!

"A mini Code Talker?" Revolver sneered. "Your deck doesn't have an archetype, but you seem to have grown attached to these."

"Micro Coder's effect activates." Playmaker ignored Revolver's comment. "I add one Cynet card from my deck to the hand. I add _Cynet Defrag_ and use its effect to revive _Lady Debugger (Lv.4, DEF: 1400)_."

"Now he has the materials to call forth a Link Three monster," Aqua commented. "Amazing, with just a single card, he was able to get so much done!"

"Appear, the circuit that leads to the future!" Another square appeared in front of Playmaker. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are two or more Cyberse monsters. I set Lady Debugger and the Link Two, Code Talker in the Link Markers. Link Summon! Link Three, _Encode Talker (ATK: 2300, Link-3)_!" A white version of Code Talker appeared carrying a shield.

"Encode Talker is going to be able to protect is for a turn, but what after that?" Ai looked at Playmaker.

He didn't respond to the Ignis' question. He didn't know, there was no way to know when all of his future was already taken away by Revolver. Ripped out of his hand and shuffle back into his deck.

"It's my turn," I stated, turning Ai's attention away from Playmaker. "I draw!"

 **『** **Turn 3 [Proxy] LP: 3100 Hand: 6** **』**

"Because you were facing Playmaker when you used your Topologic's ability, I wasn't affected by it!" I pointed out. "It's my turn now, Revolver! I Normal Summon _BrioGear Wave Crusader (Lv.4, ATK: 1700)_!"

My most loyal knight appeared on the field carrying its sword. The monster glared at Revolver and I could feel the same anger that I had, being present in the monster as well. To punish. It wanted to punish!

"Appear, the circuit of life!" my personal circuit appeared with the eight flowers open to take my monsters and give them a new form. "Arrowhead confirmed! Summoning condition is one Level Four or lower WATER monster! I set BrioGear Wave Crusader in the Link Marker! Link Summon! Come out, _BrioGear Damsel Fish (ATK: 500, Link-1)_!"

"New Cyberse cards," Revolver hissed at the sight of my monster. "The Ignis inside your Duel Disk seems to have already started to make that place its own home, hasn't it?"

"Will you shut up, like, permanently?" I hated that guy and didn't want to listen to him anymore. "Damsel Fish's effect activates. Since it was Link Summoned, I add a card with oGear in its text to my hand. I'm going to add _Elemental Lords of Gear_ , a Continuous Spell that can only be activated next to the Link of a Link Monster!"

" _Only next to the Link?"_ Ai blinked. _"But why would you use a card with such a limitation?"_

" _Because of the payback,"_ Aqua said. _"With the power of this card, we were able to achieve the next level in Link Summoning. Show them, Proxy."_

"I'll activate Elemental Lords of Gear to the zone that Damsel Fish points toward!" My Spell Card appeared behind Damsel Fish. "Now I'll activate Elemental Lords of Gears! Effect! Once per turn, I can Link Summon using a monster that points at this card as the sole material, and the monster I summon is one Link Rating higher than it!"

" _I plead before the Elemental Lords of Gear to grand me their power! With their blessing, I'm able to evolve my Link Monsters! Appear, the spinning circuit of bonds!_ " I threw my arm forward and the large blue gear appeared in the sky above.

" _Rising tides, unchain the mortal body binding my monster and open the gates of the great ocean through an abysmal sacrifice!_ " I chanted as Damsel Fish turned into pure energy and flew through the tunnel. " _Link-Up! The hidden maiden with the power of purgatory._ _ **BrioGear Risen Dunkle**_ _!_ "

A large humanoid creature with grey skin appeared through the circuit. The monster had muscular arms with four fingers, ending with claws and green fins between them. Metal arm and neck braces covered a decent portion of its upper body, while a dark blue loincloth covered the lower part. Its legs had only two toes with claws and with fins between them, these fins were also prominent on the back of its elbows and across its back. Its large head looked like it had armor instead of a skull underneath, a beak was placed inside its mouth, whose lower half was capable to split in two. Two empty looking grey eyes were located on the sides of its head and a golden gear symbol was attached to a black belt used to hold its loincloth.

* * *

 **BrioGear Risen Dunkle**

 **Attribute: WATER/Type: Cyberse/Link/Effect**

 **L-Markers: Top, Bottom**

 **ATK: 1000/Link-2**

 **2 WATER monsters**

 **Effect: If this card is co-linked, you can place 1 Risen Counter on every Link Monster you control without a Risen Counter. You can only use this effect of "BrioGear Risen Dunkle" once per turn. All Link Monsters you control gain 100 ATK for every Risen Counter on the field. While this card is on your field or in your GY: If a monster with a Risen Counter would be destroyed by battle or your opponent's card effect, you can remove 1 Risen Counter from it instead.**

* * *

"I'll show you the strength of the bond between me and Playmaker!" I declared. "Risen Dunkle's effect activates! I place a Risen Counter on every Link Monster on our field, and for every Risen Counter present, our Link Monsters are going to gain one hundred attack points!"

A bubble badge appeared on Encode Talker and Risen Dunkle while a blue aura surrounded them, creating a protective barrier around each of our monsters.

 **Encode Talker, 2300 + 100*2** → **2500**

 **BrioGear Risen Dunkle, ATK: 1000 + 100*2** → **1200**

" _Now Encode Talker's attack is the same as Topologic Bifrost and it also has anti-destruction defense thanks to Risen Dunkle!"_ Ai exclaimed.

"Because it's my first turn and this is a three-way duel, I'm unable to attack." I sighed, taking two cards from my hand. "I set two cards face-down and end my turn!"

"All of your strugglings are for nothing." Revolver stated. "I'll show it to you during this turn. Draw!"

 **『** **Turn 4 [Revolver] LP: 4000 Hand: 1** **』**

Appear, the future circuit that lights up my path!" Are you serious? He was barely started his turn and he's planning to Link Summon already? "Arrowheads confirmed. Summoning conditions are two or more Effect Monsters. I set the Link Three Topologic Bifrost and Magnarokket Dragon in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Come forth, Link Four! _Topologic Bomber Dragon (ATK: 3000, Link-4)_!"

" _At least this time it's a monster we're familiar with."_ Ai sighed in relief.

" _You mean that a Link Four with the ability to destroy all monsters in the Main Monster Zone is better than facing Topologic Bifrost?"_ Firera raised an eyebrow at that.

" _No, I'm just saying that there won't be any surprises when fighting this one."_ Ai corrected her.

"Your monster might be able to negate destruction, but with only one counter, it would fail easily!" Revolver pointed at me. "I activate the effect of Boot Sector Launch to revive _Metalrokket (Lv.4, DEF: 1400 + 300_ → _1700)_!"

" _He summoned his monster next to Topologic Bomber Dragon's Link!"_ Ai shrieked.

"Now taste the effect of Bomber Dragon!" Revolver shouted. "When a monster is summoned next to a Link Monster's Link, I destroy all monsters in our Main Monster Zones! _Full Overlap_!"

Topologic Bomber Dragon roared, its wings unleashing a green energy wave that covered my field and caused an explosion that engulfed Risen Dunkle. That would have been dangerous if I didn't have Elemental Lords of Gear, but since that card was on my field, the smoke raised and Risen Dunkle remained on my field with her counter still on.

"You didn't use your monster's effect?" Revolver narrowed his eyes. "How is Risen Dunkle still on the field?"

"Elemental Lords of Gear's effect protects any monster pointing toward it from effect destruction," I explained. "No matter how many times you try to use Topologic's effect, it just won't work!"

"Then I'll go for the damage instead." Revolver said. "Bomber Dragon, attack Encode Talker!"

The Link 4 clenched its fists and fired a pink beam out of its eye, hitting Encode Talker straight on. Both I and Playmaker slid back from the damage, wincing. Revolver has just gotten serious, I could feel it. The smoke from Topologic Bomber Dragon's attack cleared and Encode Talker was still standing, but the badge on its chest was now missing, showing that it no longer hand the Risen Counter to protect it from further harm.

 **『** **Playmaker & Proxy LP: 3100 – 500 **→ **2600** **』**

"By removing the Risen Counter from Encode Talker, I negated its destruction," I explained. "Because of that, all our monsters now lose a hundred attack points."

 **Encode Talker, 2500 - 100** → **2400**

 **BrioGear Risen Dunkle, ATK: 1200 - 100** → **1100**

"You're going to lose much more!" Revolver gave us a sinister smile. "You'll now take Topologic Bomber's effect. You take damage equal to the attacked monster's original attack! Aiming Blast!" Topologic Bomber roared, firing another beam at us.

"I activate the effect of _BrioGear Effect Slime_ from my hand!" I quickly reacted, taking a card from my hand. "I discard this card to negate your monster's effects and halve its attack power! This effect is also permanent, so now your monster will be useless as long as you have it!"

 **Topologic Bomber Dragon, ATK: 3000/2** → **1500**

"To think you had a card like that." Revolver frowned. "But it matters not! I set a card face-down and end my turn! At the End Phase, the effects of my destroyed Rokket monsters activate, so I Special Summon _Shelrokket Dragon (Lv.2, DEF: 2200 + 300_ → _2500)_ and _Autorokket Dragon (Lv.3, DEF: 1000 + 300_ → _1300)_!"

His new Rokket monsters appeared to replace the ones that were destroyed because of Topologic Bomber's effect. He was getting more monsters every turn, we would have to go on the offensive on our next turn, or he's going to get the better out of us! It was, once again, all up to Playmaker.

" _It's our turn again!"_ Ai exclaimed, pumping its fist. _"Let's go, Playmaker!"_

Come on, Playmaker. I was sure that he must have figured it out; what you can do with the cards that I left for him. Given his strategy of Link Spamming, at least one of my set cards would be extremely useful. And of course, he was going to figure it out because he was Playmaker – the Hero of LINK VRAINS!

"It's my turn. Draw!" He declared. Now, it was all up to the card that he would obtain from this draw.

 **『** **Turn 5 [Playmaker] LP: 2600 Hand: 1** **』**

"I Normal Summon _Cyberse Gadget (Lv.4, ATK: 1400)_ and activate its effect to revive _Micro Coder (Lv.1, DEF: 0)_ from my Graveyard!" Now he had the materials needed for another Link Summon. "Appear, the circuit that leads to the future!"

" _Something powerful is going to appear!"_ Aqua exclaimed.

"Arrowheads confirmed. Summoning conditions are two or more Effect Monsters. I set the Link Two, BrioGear Risen Dunkle and Micro Coder in the Link Markers!" my and Playmaker's monster flew into the square. "Link Summon! Come forth, _Transcode Talker (ATK: 2300, Link-3)_!"

Playmaker's new Code Talker, a warrior in orange futuristic armor appeared with a loud roared at the left zone that Encode Talker was pointing toward. This was weird to me since this was Transcode and Encode wouldn't co-link. But if he wasn't going to do it that way, then Playmaker must have thought of another strategy to beat Revolver.

"I activate Micro Coder's effect to add _Cynet Codec_ from my Deck to the hand, and then I activate it!" A Continuous Spell that showed six Code Talkers standing in a circle around a Link Square appeared on Playmaker's field. "I activate Transcode Talker to revive _BrioGear Risen Dunkle (ATK: 1000, Link-2)_."

" _He revived Dunkle so that it's co-linked with Encode Talker again,"_ Firera observed. "Is he planning to use her effect once more to raise the attack of all your monsters by three hundred only?"

"Appear again, the circuit that leads to the future!" I smiled, he was going to go beyond our expectations. "Arrowheads confirmed. Summoning conditions are two or more Cyberse Monsters. I set the Link Two, BrioGear Risen Dunkle and Cyberse Gadget in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Link Three, _Excode Talker (ATK: 2300, Link-3)_!"

A green Excode Talker raised at the right side of Transcode Talker, co-linking with both it and the Encode Talker that was standing above them.

"Excode Talker's effect activates, Cyberse Gadget and Cynet Codec chains to it!" Playmaker exclaimed, activating three effects at once. "Through Cynet Codec's effect I add one Cyberse monster from my Deck with the same attribute as the Code Talker I just summoned. I add Link Infra-Flier, then Cyberse Gadget's effect Special Summons one _Gadget Token (Lv.2, DEF: 0)_ on my field, and lastly, Excode Talker's effect allows me to block one of your Main Monster Zones for every monster in the Extra Monster Zone! _Grasp Zone_!"

Excode Talker created a ball of green energy in its arm and threw it to Revolver's field, hitting the center and the most left zones, since Revolver's Autorokket monster was covering the Monster Zone under Topologic Bomber's center Link Arrow. But that didn't matter since Topologic Bomber's effects were sealed away and its attack points weren't enough to stop our monsters.

"Because of Transcode Talker's effect, if it's co-linked, it and the monster it's linked to gain five hundred attack points." Playmaker stated. "Also, due to Excode Talker's effect, all monsters that it points go gain five hundred attack points!"

 **Transcode Talker, ATK: 2300 + 500*2** → **3300**

 **Excode Talker, ATK: 2300 + 500** → **2800**

 **Encode Talker, ATK: 2300 + 500** → **2800**

"I Special Summon _Link Infra-Flier (Lv.2, DEF: 1800)_ to the zone Excode Talker points to!" a monster whose appearance I didn't completely understand appeared next to the Code Talker. "Appear again, the circuit that leads to the future!"

" _A third Link Summon,"_ Aqua said while she looked at Playmaker with interest.

"Arrowheads confirmed. Summoning conditions are two Cyberse Monsters. I set Gadget Token and Link Infra-Flier in the Link Markers. Link Summon! Come forth, _Flame Administrator (ATK: 1200, Link-2)_! A bulky looking red and orange robot fell from the circuit and landed to Excode Talker's link, co-linking with the WIND monster.

"And because of Flame Administrator's effect, all of our Link Monsters will gain eight more attack points!" Ai shouted.

 **Transcode Talker, ATK: 3300 + 800** → **4100**

 **Excode Talker, ATK: 2800 + 800** → **3600**

 **Encode Talker, ATK: 2800 + 800** → **3600**

 **Flame Administrator, ATK: 1200 + 800** → **2000**

"That was great! You were able to turn a single draw into three powerful Link Monsters!" I shouted. Transcode, Excode, and Flame Administrator were all summoned after Playmaker drew a single card. "But as your sidekick, I can't let you do all of the work, Playmaker! Trap activate - _**BrioGear Deep Beacon**_!" The card showed a dark figure with glowing blue eyes swimming through the dark deeps of an ocean, trying to reach a sphere of light.

* * *

 **BrioGear Deep Beacon (Trap) Normal**

 **Target 1 Link Monster in your GY that was sent there as Link Material: Special Summon that target, also it cannot be destroyed by card effects while its face-up on the field. You can only activate 1 "BrioGear Deep Beacon" per turn.**

* * *

"Rise from the deep, _BrioGear Risen Dunkle (ATK: 1000, Link-2)_!" My monster raised to accompany Playmaker's. It landed in front of Topologic Bomber, co-linking with it. "And now, Risen Dunkle's effect activates! I place one Risen counter on all of our Link Monsters, increasing their attack points by a hundred for every counter!"

 **Transcode Talker, ATK: 4100 + 100*5** → **4600**

 **Excode Talker, ATK: 3600 + 100*5** → **4100**

 **Encode Talker, ATK: 3600 + 100*5** → **4100**

 **Flame Administrator, ATK: 2000 + 100*5** → **2500**

 **BrioGear Risen Dunkle, ATK: 1000 + 800 + 100*5** → **2300**

"Five Link Monsters…" Revolver muttered. "Impressive. You were able to rise past the devastation caused by my new Topologic's effect and created a field like this. But it wouldn't be worth to duel you, Playmaker, if you weren't able to raise from the worst of situations.

"I'll end it this turn." Playmaker declared. "Battle! Encode Talker, attack Topologic Bomber Dragon! _Final Encode_!"

The LIGHT Code Talker raised its shield and a blade came out of it, after which it swung the blade down to cut Topologic Bomber Dragon in half. If this attack went through, Revolver would take huge damage, and Playmaker's remaining monsters would be able to seal our victory. It was over!

"Despite how good of a duelist you are, you still fail to anticipate my plans, Playmaker!" Revolver shouted. ""

"And it wouldn't be me if I haven't prepared a counter for it. Trap Activate! _Link Short_ negates the effects of all co-linked monster you control and take away their ability to attack for the rest of the turn!"

A bolt of electricity hit all of Playmaker's and my Link Monsters, causing them to scream in pain as the life faded from their eyes and their bodies leaned forward. The bolt knocked Encode Talker away from Topologic Bomber Dragon.

 **Transcode Talker, ATK: 4600** → **2300**

 **Excode Talker, ATK: 4100** → **2300**

 **Encode Talker, ATK: 4100** → **2300**

 **Flame Administrator, ATK: 2500** → **1200**

 **BrioGear Risen Dunkle, ATK: 2300** → **1000**

" _Our chance to seize victory has been…"_ Ai reached a hand weakly toward our monsters.

" _His dueling doesn't have any openings,"_ Aqua commented. _"He has built his deck to counter Playmaker's perfectly."_

"Exactly." I agreed. Revolver must have expected this rematch with Playmaker, so he built a deck meant to counter his, but he never expected me to enter in the equations, so my deck is the wild-card of this entire situation. If I played the cards right, I would be able to aid Playmaker in his fight. "During the end of this turn, the effects of our monsters return and their attack raises once more!"

 **Transcode Talker, ATK: 2300** → **4600**

 **Excode Talker, ATK: 2300** → **4100**

 **Encode Talker, ATK: 2300** → **4100**

 **Flame Administrator, ATK: 1200** → **2500**

 **BrioGear Risen Dunkle, ATK: 1000** → **2300**

"I draw!" Please, give me a good card!

 **『** **Turn 6 [Proxy] LP: 2600 Hand: 3** **』**

"That one will do." It wasn't what I wanted, but it didn't matter since I have five powerful Link Monsters on my side. "Battle! Transcode Talker, attack Topologic Bomber Dragon! _Transcode Finish_!"

"I activate my trap, _**Mirror Force Exposure**_!" Revolver's set card flipped face-up showing the shadow of a dragon being burned by a beam of light shot through a mirror barrier. "This card negates the effects of all face-up monsters you control until the end of this turn and sets a Mirror Force directly from my deck!"

* * *

 **Mirror Force Exposure (Trap) Normal**

 **Activate this card when a monster you control is targeted for an attack, while your opponent controls more monsters than you do: Negate that attack, then negate the effects of all face-up monsters your opponent controls, and if you do, set 1 "Mirror Force" card from your deck. You can activate that card the turn it was set.**

* * *

" _So that's where his Mirror Force card was,"_ Ai commented.

"Because of his trap, the attack of all our monsters will now return to normal." Firera grumped. Even so, thanks to my Effect Slime, Topologic Bomber's attack was cut in half, which was less than Playmaker's Code Talkers current attack points. Revolver would still lose a lot of Life Points if we attacked him.

"Your monster will still go down!" I declared and raised my hand, "Encode Talker, go! Attack Topolo-"

" _STOP!"_ I paused and looked down. Aqua, Firera and even Ai have raised their arms trying to stop me from attacking.

"What is it?" I looked at the Ignis and Firera.

" _He used Mirror Exposure to set Mirror Force on his field,"_ Aqua spoke up first. _"If you attack again with another monster, he'll be able to activate the card and use its effect to destroy all of our monsters! Excode Talker and Risen Dunkle can't negate the destruction when their effects are negated. Please, be careful with what you're doing during this duel."_

"Oh…" That would have been catastrophically if I didn't listen. I looked back at the cards in my hand; two trap cards and one spell, I couldn't Link Summon with these cards, but for now, I'm going to just set the traps face-down and wait to see what he got in store for us, during the next turn. "I'll set a card face-down and end my turn."

"That certainly was a close one, wasn't it, Playmaker?" Revolver turned toward Yusaku and laughed. "Your so-called 'sidekick' almost gave me the edge in this duel! But no matter if she chooses to attack or not, I've already assembled the pieces needed for my ultimate formation! My turn, draw!"

 **『** **Turn 7 [Revolver] LP: 4000 Hand: 1** **』**

"I should thank you." Revolver turned toward me. "I have expected from Playmaker to pull out a card which would negate my Topologic Bomber Dragon, but now you. Of course, thanks to your card, now I'm able to bring out my most powerful monsters. Appear, the future circuit that lights up my path!"

He's about to start his turn with another Link Summon? But the only monsters in his field were Topologic Bomber and the two Rokket monsters, the best he could bring out with them is a Link 3, which wouldn't cause that much damage!

"Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are two Rokket monsters! I setShelrokket Dragon and Autorokket Dragon in the Link Markers. Link Summon! _Miniborrel Dragon (ATK: 800, Link-2)_!" A dragon-like monster with a gun on the left side and a gun on the right side of its upper body appeared out of the circuit. Now, if that was his most powerful monster, it would be a bit embarrassing.

"I'll now activate _Link Coin_ to release Topologic Dragon and flip the top four cards of my deck face-up. I add Squib Draw to my hand and return the rest of the cards to the top of my deck in any order." He got that card which allowed him to draw two new cards, but he didn't have any Rokket monsters to destroy for its effect.

"And now, the effect of _Boot Sector Launch_ to revive Rokket monsters from my Graveyard equal to the difference in the number of monsters we control. Come out, _Anesthrokket Dragon (Lv.1, DEF: 2000 + 300_ → _2300)_ , _Magnarokket Dragon (Lv.4, DEF: 1200 + 300_ → _1500)_ , _Metalrokket (Lv.4, DEF: 1400 + 300_ → _1700)_ , and _Shelrokket Dragon (Lv.2, DEF: 2200 + 300_ → _2500)_!" Me and my big mouth…

"I activate Squib Draw to destroy Anesthrokket Dragon and draw two cards." I gulped and turned toward Playmaker who remained unfazed despite what Revolver has done so far. "Now appear again, the future circuit that lights up my path!"

"Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are three or more Effect Monsters! I set the Link Two Miniborrel Dragon along with Shelrokket and Magnarokket in the Link Markers. Link Summon! Link Four, _Borreload Dragon (ATK: 3000, Link-4)_!" a giant red dragon with green wings and gun parts all across its body appeared on the field.

"Let's battle! I attack Transcode Talker with Borreload Dragon!" Huh? Why wouldn't he attack one of our weaker monsters like my BrioGear? "And now I activate Borreload Dragon's effect! Once per turn, I reduce the attack and defense points of one monster on the field by five hundred, and you can't activate any cards or effects in response! I target Metalrokket, and his effect now activates, destroying itself to destroy all cards in the same column as itself!"

Metal turned into a bullet that flew into Borreload's chest and it began to spin as the dragon opened his mouth and a turret came out of it, aiming at Encode Talker, Excode Talker and Elemental Lords of Gear. It then fired, destroy all three of our cards in one go!

" _All of our cards were erased!"_ Ai panicked.

"And now Borreload's other effect activates!" Revolver continued. "When my monster battles, yours, I can take control of your monster and place it next to Borreload's link! _Strange Trigger_!"

Revolver's monster fired a second bullet at Transcode, but this time its color began to change mid-air until it hit the Link 3, turning into yellow go that covered Playmaker's monster and made it glitch out before reappearing behind Borreload Dragon. "Battle! Transcode Talker, attack BrioGear Risen Dunkle!"

"Then I'm going to activate my trap! _Diamond Dust_! I destroy all WATER monsters on the field to inflict five hundred points of damage for each!" BrioGear Risen Dunkle exploded and turned into blades of ice that flew at Revolver, damaging him for the first time in this duel.

 **『** **Revolver LP: 4000 – 500** → **3500** **』**

"Then I'm going to attack Flame Administrator instead!" Transcode Talker turned around and pulled out its rifle, firing a shot straight between the Link 2's eyes, destroying it. Both I and Playmaker winched from the pain, but it could have been worse if he had destroyed BrioGear Risen Dunkle instead.

 **『** **Playmaker & Proxy LP: 2600 – 1100 **→ **1500** **』**

"It's still too early for you to relax." Revolver told us. "I Normal Summon _**Mirror Dragon**_."

A bipedal dragon with dark purple skin appeared on the field. The monster had large sharp crystals penetrating through its skin and jutting outward, with a large portion of them being located on its back.

* * *

 **Mirror Dragon**

 **Level: 2/Attribute: DARK/Type: Dragon/Effect**

 **ATK: 0/DEF: 800**

 **Effect: If this card is used as Link Material for the Link Summon of a DARK Link Monster, you banish this card from your GY and target 1 "Mirror Force" card on your field, hand, or in your GY; Special Summon 1 Fusion Monster from your deck that lists "Mirror Force" in its card text by ignoring its Summoning conditions, and if you do, equip that card to that monster with the following effect.**

 **A monster equipped with this card cannot be destroyed by card effects.**

* * *

"Now appear again, the future circuit that lights up my path!" The Link Square appeared over Revolver's head once again. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are two or more Effect Monsters! I set the Link Three Transcode Talker and Mirror Dragon in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Topologic Blackmal Dragon (ATK: 3000, Link-4)_!"

I took a step back as that other Topologic I had to face appeared once again. Ah, just great! Thankfully, I didn't have to witness that monster's effects when I battled it, but I don't think that Revolver would be so clumsy and unable of foresight to let its effect be negated the same was as Bomber Dragon's effect was.

"Mirror Dragon's effect activates!" Revolver continued. "I banish this card and target Mirror Force Exposure in my Graveyard. Now, I summon a monster from my Extra Deck that lists Mirror Force in its card text and equip Mirror Force Exposure to it! Come out, _Mirror Force Dragon (Lv.8, ATK: 2800)_!"

"This is…" Playmaker muttered.

" _A Fusion Monster?!"_ Ai finished.

"This is my new strength!" Revolver declared. "Topologic Blackmal Dragon's effect activates! When a monster is summoned to zone a Link Monster points to, I destroy it and then we both will have to banish all monsters in our Graveyards! Due to Mirror Force Exposure's effect, Mirror Force Dragon isn't destroyed, but our cards will still be banished!"

The monster swung its tail and slammed it against the ground, creating a crack. Holograms of all our monsters flew out of the crack and then turned into a purple mist that flew through our field. My entire body was burning. No, it wasn't just a feeling, but a real burning! There was smoke coming out of my wrists with the skin falling off to reveal the data underneath it – I was trapped inside an acid cloud, losing Life Points in agonizing pain.

 **『** **Playmaker & Proxy LP: 1500 – 1300 **→ **200** **』**

"Finally, I activate the effect of _**Link Defragment**_ to return my banished Topologic Bomber Dragon to the Extra Deck and Special Summon a new Link Monster from my Extra Deck with the same Link Rating!" A beam of light shot behind Revolver turning into a bullet before transforming into a circuit.

* * *

 **Link Defragment (Spell) Normal**

 **Activate this card by returning of your banished 1 DARK Link Monster to your Extra Deck; Special Summon 1 DARK Dragon Link Monster from your Extra Deck with the same Link Rating as that monster, but with a different name. You can only activate 1 "Link Defragment" per turn.**

* * *

"Where are you going to summon that monster?" I asked him. "Borreload Dragon's zones are already filled and Topologic Blackmal doesn't point toward your field?"

" _No, it does,"_ Firera told me. _"He's doing something that only the LIGHT Ignis has ever been able to achieve."_

"It seems that your AI is already familiar with the technique I'm about to use." Revolver sneered, throwing his arms to the side. "Usually, a player is allowed to use only one Extra Monster Zone, but when two Extra Monster Zones are mutually linked, a monster can be Special Summoned in the other Extra Monster Zone! From here on, the two of you will enter a completely new world of dueling! Manifest! Link Four, _Borrelguard Dragon (ATK: 3000, Link-4)_!"

I instinctively took a step back. Such power, there was nothing about a technique like that one in the tutorial I was given and Evan never told me about it. Could it be… Has Revolver done something that even the Greysons didn't know about!?

"Extra Link!" Revolver roared as his new Borrelguard Dragon monster appeared in the other Extra Monster Zone, co-linking with Topologic Blackmal Dragon. "Usually, Blackmal would destroy the monster that was summoned next to its link, but Borrelguard Dragon's effect protects it from effect destruction."

" _Borrelguard protects from destruction, albeit only itself,"_ Aqua muttered.

" _Borreload protects itself from being targeted by monster effects,"_ Firera added.

" _And in addition to this, if a monster is targeted for either attack or card effect, Mirror Force Dragon will destroy all cards on our field."_ The two said in unison. _"The perfect formation!"_

"Playmaker." Revolver called out. "You said that my words saved you." I wasn't sure what he was talking about, but I still listened intently. "But now I'm giving you three things to make you despair! One: Your life is over in a few turns! Two" During these turns, I'll seal away all your moves! Three: The Tower of Hanoi will be completed and everything will end! With this, I end my turn!"

Was this entire situation as hopeless as Revolver said it was? Both I and Playmaker were barely standing after we got infected with Topologic Blackmal's acid, my Trap Cards were the only cards we had left on the field, all of our monsters were banished from the Graveyard and we barely had any card in our hands. But even then, what would we be able to do? The moment we target one of their monsters, Mirror Force Dragon is going to destroy our field, if we try to summon an Extra Deck monster next to Borrelguard's link, Topologic Blackmal's effect will destroy our monsters and banish them, inflicting a hundred more damage to us for each card banished. And any strong monster we called out would just be weakened by Borreload Dragon. I didn't want to believe it, but there was no hope anymore.

"Now it's your turn, Playmaker!" Revolver pointed at him.

Yusaku was struggling to stand, let alone fight. He took a step forward and then fell down on his knee. We were both in pain and at our limits, at least I was. Ai was worried, calling out toward his partner, I would have called out too if I had the strength to speak. He then collapsed on the ground and I averted my eyes. I couldn't go there and help him up, I couldn't encourage him because this situation was so hopeless, and it took all of my willpower just to remain standing.

" _Please, Playmaker! Don't lose now! I don't want to vanish!"_ Ai's voice ran alone through the arena while Aqua and Firera looked at me with worried looks on their faces. _"I, we, have friends waiting somewhere within the network! I don't want all of that to be gone."_

" _Neither do I,"_ Aqua spoke up and looked at me. _"Please, give us your strength to protect our friends waiting for our return! To go back and rebuild what has been destroyed!"_

"What kind of place was the Cyberse World?" Playmaker asked his Ignis.

" _It was a good place,"_ Ai replied. _"It was our paradise. Created by the six Ignis. We created a lot of Cyberse monsters and gave the place a new life. We all divided our responsibilities and lived as we liked."_

" _Ahem."_ Aqua cleared her throat (?).

" _Well, I wasn't the most responsible out of them."_ Ai rubbed the back of its head.

" _Ahem."_ Aqua made that sound again, glancing at Ai from the corner of her eyes.

" _Ok, I was just lazy and fooled around instead of working with the others!"_ Ai finally admitted. _"I was a nuisance that always caused trouble for the rest of the Ignis. But we were never thinking of doing back things to the humans as Revolver suggested."_

" _All we wanted was a peaceful life."_ Aqua continued. _"We just wanted to be left in the Cyberse World and live in harmony with the Cyberse monsters that we created. Even after Revolver and the Knights of Hanoi attacked, the Ignis weren't willing to enter a fight with the humans. We wanted to help humans, share our technology and findings with you and the rest of the world, and make Earth, a better place where humans and Ignis would be able to co-exist."_

"Is that why you're using and manipulating them to fight for you?" Revolver sneered; I swear, I'm hating this bastard so much… "You can try and manipulate them, but I won't fall for your lies."

" _I admit that I did use you."_ Ai continued to talk to Playmaker, ignoring Revolver. _"But I only wanted to go home and return to my friends! But even now, when my own world is no more, I'm still here, standing beside you! Playmaker! Proxy! Please, stand up!"_

"Three things, Playmaker." I reminded Yusaku. "Three things to keep us fighting against the enemy. One: We still have Life Points and cards in our decks to fight!"

"Two: There's still time until the Tower of Hanoi is completed." Playmaker said.

"Three: We are the last line of defense that can stop Hanoi's plan from succeeding. So we must _**win**_!" We declared in unison, standing back up.

"Revolver!" Playmaker raised his hand and clenched it into a fist. "There's still hope! Our paths, or destinies, can still be changed! We'll prove it to you!"

"Let's go!" I encouraged him.

"My turn, draw!" Playmaker declared, drawing a new card.

 **『** **Turn 8 [Playmaker] LP: 200 Hand: 1** **』**

"I activate Arrow Charge! Since there are two Link Monsters with the same Link Rating in the Extra Monster Zones, I draw two cards and reveal them!" A screen opened in front of me to show that the cards Playmaker drew were Security Block and Recoded Alive.

"I set two cards and end my turn." Our Spell and Trap Zones were now completely used up.

"It's my turn then." Since Playmaker played cards in the last Spell and Trap Zones, I could no longer use the Spell that was in my hand. But I wasn't worried about it. We would find a way to win! For Kusanagi's brother, for Playmaker's past, for Ai and Aqua's friends, so I can move on and go back to my family!

"Draw!" I shouted.

 **『** **Turn 9 [Proxy] LP: 200 Hand: 2** **』**

"I discard a card from my hand to Special Summon _BrioGear Cryomage (Lv.5, DEF: 1800)_!" the female magician appeared on our field and landed in front of me in a defensive stance.

" _You didn't draw a Cyberse monster this turn,"_ Aqua stated, looking back at me. _"But even so, BrioGear Cryomage should protect us."_

"My turn is over, Revolver!" I declared.

"No matter how much you struggle, destiny has already forsaken both of you." Revolver said. "I'll end you this turn. Draw!"

 **『** **Turn 10 [Revolver] LP: 3500 Hand: 1** **』**

"I Normal Summon _Magnarokket Dragon (Lv.4, ATK: 1800 + 300_ → _2100)_ and activate Borreload's effect to reduce Magnarokket's attack and defense by five hundred. At this point, Magnarokket's effect activates. I send both itself and BrioGear Cryomage to the Graveyard!" the blue dragon turned into a bullet that flew into Borreload's chest and the large red dragon fired it at my monster destroying her.

"Now you no longer have anything to protect you!" Revolver pointed toward our field. "Battle! Borreload Dragon attack them directly!"

"Playmaker!" Ai cried out.

"Right!" He looked at me and I nodded before we activated one of our set cards together.

"Quick-Play Spell – _Security Block_!" We shouted in unison. "We target one Cyberse monster and protect it from destruction for the rest of this turn, we choose Topologic Blackmal Dragon!"

"Useless!" Revolver roared. "I activate the effect of Mirror Force Dragon to destroy all cards you control!'

The large black dragon spread out its crystal wings and they began to grow blue after which a brilliant light exploded outward, cutting through our cards like a knife through butter. The last cards we had were all gone, but Security Block's effect wasn't negated and as Borreload Dragon fired its bullet at us, a shield of data appeared before us, redirecting the attack somewhere else.

"Why didn't you take the damage?" Revolver asked us.

"Because of Security Block's effect, neither player takes battle damage on the turn it's activated." Playmaker stated.

"So you used my Topologic Blackmal Dragon to protect yourselves?" Revolver frowned. "What a desperate move! I end my turn. At this moment Magnarokket's effect Special Summons _Autorokket Dragon (Lv.3, DEF: 1000 + 300_ → _1300)_ from my Deck."

" _We were able to survive for a turn, but at the cost of our entire field,"_ Firera said.

" _We won't be able to continue like this!"_ Ai reasoned.

"Playmaker." I turned to him. "You must end in this turn!"

"Right!" Playmaker nodded. "My turn, draw!"

 **『** **Turn 11 [Playmaker] LP: 200 Hand: 1** **』**

"I activate the effect of Recoded Alive from my Graveyard to banish it and Special Summon _Excode Talker (ATK: 2300, Link-3)_!" The WIND Code Talker raised to the field once more, landing in the middle monster zone. "Next I activate the effect of _**BrioGear Cold Wave**_ from my Graveyard! I banish that card and BrioGear Cryomage from my Graveyard to return Recoded Alive back to my hand, then I activate the effect of _**BrioGear Miracle Dive**_ to discard Recoded Alive and add Miracle Dive back to my hand!"

* * *

 **BrioGear Cold Wave (Trap) Normal**

 **If an opponent monster's effect activates, you can discard 1 card from your hand: Negate the activation, and if you do, target 1 monster on their field, its ATK becomes 0 until the end of this turn. If this card is in your GY, except during the turn it was sent there: You can banish this card and 1 "BrioGear" monster from your GY to target 1 banished Spell or Trap Card; return it to your hand.**

* * *

 **BrioGear Miracle Dive (Spell) Normal**

 **Target 1 Link Monster in your GY or that's banished: Special Summon that target, and if you do, immediately after this effect resolves Link Summon using that target as Link Material. If you can't Link Summoned, banish all monsters you control, then take damage equal to their combined ATK. You can discard 1 card: Add this card to your hand. You can only activate each effect of "BrioGear Miracle Dive" once per turn.**

* * *

"And again, I banish Recoded Alive to reviving _Transcode Talker (ATK: 2300, Link-3)_!" the EARTH Code Talker raised to the field next, co-linking with Excode Talker.

"Useless!" Revolver declared. "Due to Topologic Blackmal Dragon's effect, your monster is destroyed!" the Link 4 roared and slammed its tails, unleashing a deadly gas that surrounded Transcode Talker.

"Due to Excode Talker's effect, my monster isn't destroyed!" Excode Talker slammed its claws into one another and unleashed a bright light that pushed the poisonous toxin away. "Excode Talker's effect increases the attack of all my monsters by five hundred and Transcode Talker's effect, when co-linked, increase the attack of both itself and the monster it's co-linked with by five hundred."

 **Exode Talker, ATK: 2300 + 500** → **2800**

 **Transcode Talker, ATK: 2300 + 500*2** → **3300**

"I'll now Normal Summon _Swap Cleric (Lv.2, ATK: 500)_ and activate BrioGear Miracle Dive to revive _Encode Talker (ATK: 2300, Link-3)_ , then I Link Summon using Encode Talker and Swap Cleric as the materials! Appear, the circuit that leads me to the future!"

"Arrowheads confirmed!" A square appeared in the sky above Playmaker's head as his monsters turned into four whirlwinds and flew inside the arrows. "Summoning conditions are two or more monsters! I set the Link Three Encode Talker and Swap Cleric in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Firewall Dragon (ATK: 2500, Link-4)_!"

"Firewall Dragon has finally appeared!" I grinned at the sight of the majestic dragon.

"Topologic Blackmal's effect!" Revolver pointed as his own Link 4 Cyberse monster. "Since Firewall Dragon was summoned next to the Link Markers' of both Excode Talker and Borrelguard Dragon, it's destroyed, then all of your monsters are going to be banished and you'll take a hundred points of damage for each!"

"No, we won't!" I shouted. "The last trap that I set activates from the Graveyard! _**BrioGear Corral Armor**_! By banishing this card and one Link Monster from my Graveyard, I'm able to negate the effects of your monster and destroy all Spell/Trap Cards on the field, then we Special Summon a Link Monster from our Extra Deck with equal or fewer Link Ratings!"

"Topologic!" Revolver growled as Encode Talker's spirit appeared in front of the Link 4 and held out its shield, turning on a bright light that made Topologic Blackmal roar in pain while all of Revolver's remaining Spell and Trap Cards were destroyed.

* * *

 **BrioGear Corral Armor (Trap) Normal**

 **Target 1 Link Monster you control; equip it with this card. A monster equipped with this card cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects once per turn. If an opponent's Link Monster activate its effect while this card is in your GY: You can banish this card and 1 Link Monster from your GY; negate that monster's effects and destroy all Spell/Trap Cards on the field, then Special Summon 1 Link Monster from your Extra Deck whose Link Markers' are less than, or equal to the banished monster's. You can only activate this effect of "BrioGear Corral Armor" once per Duel.**

* * *

"Due to Corral Armor's effect, I Special Summon _Powercode Talker (ATK: 2300, Link-3)_ from my Extra Deck." The FIRE Code Talker showed up, co-linking with Firewall Dragon. "Also due to Swap Cleric, I reduce Firewall Dragon's attack by five hundred to draw a new card."

Playmaker drew his last card, OUR destiny card. Then we looked at the field in front of us. Revolver's Extra Link and Mirror Force Dragon where still present, glaring back at us with hatred in their eyes.

"Firewall Dragon's effect!" I and Playmaker declared together. "For every monster co-linked with it, we return one monster on your field to the hand! _Emergency Escape_!" Firewall Dragon roared and fired three bolts of light from its wings, trapping Mirror Force Dragon, Topologic Blackmal Dragon, and Borrelguard Dragon.

"So that's your last pathetic try?" Revolver frowned. "I activate the effect of Mirror Force Dragon! When my monsters are targeted, I destroy all cards on your field!"

"The effect of Excode Talker activates! Transcode Talker and Firewall Dragon aren't destroyed!" The light washed over Excode Talker and Powercode Talker, destroying them while our other monsters remained on the field. Mirror Force Dragon, Topologic Blackmal Dragon, and Borrelguard Dragon, in turn, disappeared in a flash of light, leaving only Borreload Dragon on Revolver's field.

"Transcode Talker's effect!" I and Playmaker were in complete harmony, acting like a single person! "We revive Excode Talker and co-link it to Transcode Talker."

"I activate the effect of Borreload Dragon to reduce Transcode Talker's attack points by five hundred!" A bullet hit Transcode Talker, knocking him back and dropping his ATK to just 1800, after which Excode Talker raised between Transcode and Firewall, powering them up once more.

 **Exode Talker, ATK: 2300 + 500** → **2800**

 **Transcode Talker, ATK: 1800 + 500*2** → **2800**

 **Firewall Dragon, ATK: 2000 + 500** → **2500**

"In the end, you failed!" Revolver laughed. "None of your monsters is strong enough to defeat Borreload Dragon, and your Life Points are just a candle in the wind. Next turn, I'll attack Firewall Dragon with Borreload Dragon and end this duel."

"There won't be a next turn!" There was still hope on our field. "The effect of Cynet Defrag activates from the Graveyard! By paying half our Life Points, we equip it to Swap Cleric, who is Special Summoned to our field!"

 **『** **Playmaker & Proxy LP: 200/2 **→ **100** **』**

" _We can do this!"_ Ai cheered.

" _We can win!"_ Aqua added.

"We will win!" I declared.

"Appear, the circuit that leads us to the future!" Another square appeared in the sky above us "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning condition are two Cyberse monsters! I set Transcode Talker and Swap Cleric in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Restoration Point Guard (ATK: 1000, Link-2)_!" One green and yellow robot with big arms appeared floating next to Firewall Dragon.

"Why would you do that?" Revolver laughed. "Because Transcode Talker no longer points to Excode Talker, his attack points drop to normal."

"Appear, the circuit that leads us to the future!" Ignoring Revolver, I and Playmaker summoned the Link Square once more. One final push to end this war. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning condition are two or more Effect Monsters!" Firewall Dragon turned into a while whirlwind that flew into the top arrow while Restoration Point Guard turned into two yellow ones that hit the bottom left and bottom right markers. "We set Firewall Dragon and the Link Two Restoration Point Guard in the Link Markers! Link Summon! The dark knight protecting Cyberse! Link Three! _Decode Talker (ATK: 2300, Link-3)_!"

Playmaker's ace, the DARK Code Talker formed inside the circuit and landed on our field with its eyes glowing brightly. It raised its sword as it came face to face with Borreload Dragon, who was linked to it.

"Due to its effect, Decode Talker gains five hundred attack points for every monster it points to!" Ai declared proudly.

"Power Integration!" I and Playmaker shouted as a golden aura surrounded his monster, increasing its attack power.

 **Decode Talker, ATK: 2300 + 500** → **2800**

"I activate _Link Atrocity_!" Playmaker said. "I release Excode Talker and give its attack power to Decode Talker!"

 **Decode Talker, ATK: 2800 + 2300** → **5100**

"Its attack power is higher than Borreload's!" Revolver cried out.

"Battle! Decode Talker, attack Borreload Dragon!" Decode Talker roared, energy bursting out of its body as it swung its sword at Revolver.

"And now the second effect of Link Atrocity!" Ai threw its arms to the side, its eyes narrowing into a smile. "For every Link Monster in either of our Graveyards, Borreload Dragon loses four hundred attack points until the end of the damage step!"

"N-no way!" Revolver gasped. The spirits of Powercode Talker, Transcode Talker, Excode Talker, Firewall Dragon and Restoration Point Guard all appeared in front of Decode Talker and flew at Borreload Dragon, reducing its attack points.

 **Borreload Dragon, ATK: 3000 – 2000** → **1000**

" _Decode End_!" We all shouted in unison as Decode Talker brought its sword down, slicing Borreload's chest open. The Link 4 roared in pain and its body exploded. Revolver screamed as he was knocked back by the power.

 **『** **Revolver LP: 3500 – 4100** → **0** **』**

 **『** **Winner: Playmaker & Roxy** **』**

The battlefield was silent. The Tower of Hanoi stopped moving and as the cloud of dust settled down from that last attack, Decode Talker swung its sword around before placing it on its shoulder and disappeared. We did it. We actually did it! Despite the impossible odds, we defeated Revolver, together! For the first time, I felt like I wasn't holding others back.

"I lose, Playmaker." As the dust settled down completely, we saw Revolver lying on the ground. But he began to slowly get up. "Since I lost, the Tower of Hanoi stops. But remember this: As long as the Ignis are a threat of humanity, I won't run from my destiny!"

His data began to turn green and his avatar faded away, no doubt logging out. I still hated him, maybe a lot more than I did before. Even after all of this, he still sees the Ignis as a threat to humanity. Oh, well, I was never interested in changing his mind. My objective was to protect LINK VRAINS and save everyone whose consciousness was stolen. And it seemed that I succeeded.

"Thank you."

"Huh?" I blinked in surprise and looked at Playmaker.

He was smiling. For the first time since I became his ally since we began to fight against Hanoi together- I finally saw him smile. And the feeling I got from it, I felt my heart beating faster just from seeing him being happy.

"To the end, you fought beside me." Playmaker told me and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Thank you, for not giving up on me. Now… I finally realized what that felt like, to have a person you want to fight for."

"For you, every time," I replied; as his sidekick, it was my duty to help out, right? "I know that this is a bad time to say it, but we might not get to see each other again."

" _Why's that?"_ Ai popped out of the Duel Disk. Well, now the mood wasn't the same as before.

"I… I think I found a way to reach my family," I told them with a smile.

" _That's why you first joined forces with Playmaker, wasn't it?"_ Ai asked me again. _"To get back your family."_

"Exactly." I nodded. "I'm not a hundred percent sure, but I found information that might help me. Thanks for everything you did for me, and if we don't see each other again, thank you for putting up with me for so long."

"Wait, something's wrong." Aqua popped out and pointed toward the distance.

We looked at the spot she was pointing at. It was the Tower of Hanoi, the rings continued moving and the core passed through the sixth one. Defeating Revolver didn't disable it. Worse than that, I spent so much time in the duel that I could no longer go back and disable it in time.

We stared at it. Dread rising inside my chest as a red beam shot out of the top of the Tower and pushed a hole through the sky. The data that made the sky was falling down and the ground underneath us was shaking, tearing apart with the data disappearing. Finally, the entire Tower exploded into a red beam that moved toward us, washing over us.

No. No! NO!

" _Roxy!"_ A familiar voice called out for me and I opened my eyes, looking at the ceiling of my bedroom. Taking deep breaths, I turned toward my arm, where Aqua and Firera were looking at me with worried expressions on their faces.

"What happened? WHAT HAPPENED!?" I shouted. Or cried. I couldn't tell anymore. Everything I did, all of it was for nothing! Despite giving my best, I wasn't able to stop the damn tower from destroying everything

" _I don't know."_ Aqua shook her head. _"I and Ai, we were barely able to log you out before the shockwave destroyed your avatars and consciousness!"_

Damn it! Trying to stabilize myself onto my trembling legs, I began to walk toward the door, pushing it open I stumbled onto the floor. Why did I expect Revolver to keep his word? Why was I foolish enough to accept his Duel instead of running off to deactivate the core?

" _Please calm down! You're under extreme stress!"_ I heard Aqua cry out, but ignored it. I needed answers. And I needed them now.

I walked down the stairs and jumped down onto the first ground, where Avice was still staring at the screens, but all of them showed nothing more than static. She was typing on her keyboard, but nothing was happening.

"What happened?" I asked her. "Why did the Tower of Hanoi explode despite Revolver's lose?"

"The Tower must have not been connected to his Duel Disk!" Avice slammed her fist against the side of the desk.

"And the victims that were trapped inside?" I know, I know what must have happened, but I wanted to believe.

"They're gone." Avice leaned back. "When the Tower of Hanoi erased LINK VRAINS, it also erased their consciousness. I'm sorry."

Sorry? It was my fault. All of these lives, these voices, gone in an instant because of me. Yeah, I could blame Revolver, blame the Knight of Hanoi for coming with this sickening plan, but deep down, I knew that it was because of me. I was the one too weak to protect everyone. This feeling, the anger and despite, they were gnawing away at me. Such a horrible feeling, but I deserved it, I deserved all of this because it was my fault. Only my fault.

" _But why didn't Tower of Hanoi destroy any of us?"_ Firera crossed her arms. _"Wasn't that all that the Knights of Hanoi were looking for?"_

"The blast has been contained to only inside LINK VRAINS." Avice turned one of the screens to show us some data that I couldn't read. "LINK VRAINS was erased, but the rest of the network remains untouched."

" _Roxy."_ I felt Aqua's cold, metallic hand touch mine and looked her in the eyes. _"It's time for me to leave you. But before I go, I want to tell you something, so listen to me, please."_

" _I know that what happened today was a tragedy, I won't deny that. But you did what you could, you gave your best, fought for what you believed was right and never looked back."_ No, I was a coward who wanted to run away but didn't have the guts to even do that. _"But even if the Tower of Hanoi didn't erase us, I could sense it through the network. For just a moment, I felt that powerful devastating pulse, like a jolt, before it all died down. And I'm sure that the other Ignis heard it as well."_

So, they knew what happened here. I stifled a sob and kept listening to her. To what she had to tell me before disappearing.

" _There's no doubt, the LIGHT Ignis will use this as an excuse to declare war, and most of the others must already agree with him."_ I couldn't look her in the eyes. Knowing that so much more was in the line and I failed to do anything hurt me, it hurt my heart and soul.

" _At the end of this, I thought that I would be able to go back and tell them that we saved the world together, but I failed. I failed you. I want you to remember, there will be hard times in front of us, the struggles we overcame until now, will feel like nothing compared to what we'll have to go through in the future. We'll no longer be able to work together, instead, each of us will have to go back to our world and deal with the aftermath of our actions. I don't want you to lose hope, Roxy. Even in the worst days, remember to have hope."_

"So, that's your goodbye?" I tried to smile, but I just couldn't force myself to do that. Not after today's event.

" _I know that you'll overcome your struggles,"_ Aqua told me. _"You have an extraordinary will, even among humans. I sensed your fear the entire time, but despite how afraid you were, you never turned back and run. The world might try to push you down, but don't give up. Stand up and try again. I know that you can. I believe that you will."_

Stand up and try again… But what should I try to do again after a failure like this? I didn't fail to get a cat off a tree, or something simple like that, I failed to save lives, thousands of human lives that wouldn't come back. What hope should I hold onto now?

" _You won't be alone,"_ Aqua told me as Firera raised from the Duel Disk to stand next to the Ignis.

" _Although Aqua will have to go and find the other Ignis, I can remain behind,"_ Firera said. _"You and I. Together, we'll continue this fight."_

There wasn't anything else I could do now, was there? To go off and try to find a way back to my family, while leaving this place in chaos would be cowardly. My guilt was pulling me back, keeping me from going home. Many questions were cycling through my head at that point, but I knew one thing for sure.

I wasn't going to run away. I'll get to the bottom of this and fix my mistakes. I might not be able to bring back the lives that were lost, but I'll make sure that no other would have to suffer the same way as the victims of the Tower of Hanoi did.

* * *

 **Definitely not the kind of ending that you expected, huh? The Tower of Hanoi went off, LINK VRAIN is destroyed and everyone who was absorbed by it is dead. Well, almost everyone. To be honest, I'm very worried about how this and the next two chapters will hold up because this is where Roxy's story will change Canon. Not completely change it, but there will be important differences.**

 **Thanks to** electriuser **and** shadowsharkds **for the follow and favorite on this story!**

 **See you all next time!**

 **Diabolic Tracer out!**


	40. Chapter 40

Maiden's Cry

"What can I say about the incident in LINK VRAINS?" Evan closed his eyes for a few moments then opened them again. "It's a tragedy. A tragedy that could have been prevented if actions were taken when the Knights of Hanoi first began to hack LINK VRAINS. But we failed. We failed to protect our children, or teens, our citizens, and for that, I can only express my condolences for all the families hurt by the Tower of Hanoi. But I don't want the citizens of Den City, and the people across the globe using digital software to feel threatened, unsafe in their own homes. That's why we're developing Overseer. A self-updating security system and firewall meant to keep dangerous hacker groups, such as the Knights of Hanoi, at bay."

"Mr. Greyson, can I ask a question?" The hand of one of the reporters appeared on the screen for a moment. "What assurance can you give to the public that this new project of yours will be able to protect Den City? Wasn't your company the one that developed the defense systems of LINK VRAINS?"

"I won't deny that." Evan nodded. "I and my company developed the security system that SOL Technology used to keep LINK VRAINS safe. But like any program, ours wasn't perfect. In time, we knew that a hacker group would find a way to break it, so we were developing new systems and updates to replace it. But SOL never showed any interest in updating or replacing the current security system, which is what leads to Hanoi being able to take control of the network. But unlike SOL, I won't shy away from keeping the cyberspace safe. With the help of Overseer, a program created from the updated version of the program we used in LINK VRAINS, we will be able to not only do this, but also update the systems used by Den City's Police Department, Den Hospital, Den City High School, and so much more. I'll ensure that tragedies like this won't repeat themselves. Not in Den City, and not in any other part of the world. That's a promise I make, right here, to all of you!"

"Your guardian seems to be working hard," Kusanagi remarked.

I looked away from the large screen that was across the park and nodded to him. Evan and Avice were both working hard to fix the city after the Tower killed thousands of citizens. But it was hard for them, for all of us. A few days have already passed since the Tower of Hanoi, and the national day of mourning for the victims of the incident, but things weren't the same. They were never going to be the same again. From what I heard, Den City High School was officially closed due to the number of students that died and Den Hospital was in chaos, filled with people who have lost their consciousness. Firera said that they were brain dead, all of them. There was nothing that could be done to save any of them.

"It's hard for him, probably more than it is for the rest of us." Unlike him, I didn't have to comfort crying parents and siblings every day. "What about you, how are you doing after all of that?"

"As long as Jin is ok, I can handle it." Kusanagi smiled, but I could sense the pain behind his eyes.

Even though the Knights of Hanoi were defeated, he was careful about telling Jin what really happened. He was trying to do it slowly, making his brother understand only the good part, and hide the bad one. And Yusaku… He was taking all of it calmly, typing something down on his laptop with a half-eaten hotdog next to him.

"So, are you looking for Revolver's real-life location?" I sat next to him. "I know that he must mean a lot for you, after all, he was the person who gave you hope during the Hanoi Project, but look at the pain and grief that he caused to everyone else. He deserves to go to prison for that!"

"It wasn't Revolver who fired the Tower of Hanoi," Yusaku said, in his usual calm and uncaring tone.

"How can you be so sure?" I was very careful not to say something that would insult Yusaku. But what proof did he have that Revolver wasn't the one behind it? "You're saying it like you've spoken to him directly!"

"I have."

"You what!?" I can't believe what I'm hearing! He did it. He actually talked with Revolver and trusted his words? "And you trusted him? Why?"

"I didn't at first," Yusaku replied and raised his hands like he was holding something. "I was enraged, when I came out of LINK VRAINS I immediately grabbed him and began to yell. I was going to hit him, knock him out and let the police take him in, but then he said side something that made me think. Why would he do that? His only goal, the wish left behind by his father, was to kill the Ignis. But when the Tower activated, the explosion only affected LINK VRAINS, it didn't spread out to the rest of the network and didn't disable any technology. A blast like that would have never killed the Ignis."

"Maybe the Tower wasn't designed properly!" I shouted at him. "Remember that they were trying to destroy the entire network using only the data of one server!"

This time Yusaku didn't talk back. He turned his attention back to the laptop and continued typing. I knew him long enough to know that this meant he didn't want to argue with me anymore. Unlike Yusaku, I wasn't believing that Revolver was innocent, even if he didn't press the trigger, which is questionable at best, he helped to create the Tower and was planning to use it in order to cause more destruction and chaos.

" _Give him time."_ Firera popped out of my Duel Disk. _"Even if Playmaker doesn't show it, this hurt him a lot too. Right now isn't the best time to question each other or to fight. Take a break, calm down, then come back and talk with him ok?"_

"I'm sorry," I told my AI, then rubbed my forehead. "It's just… I don't know what I should do from here on and it scares me. The Knights of Hanoi are gone, either brain dead because of the Tower, escaped, or in prison for their crimes. Yet, I don't feel like cheering for our victory. I protected the Ignis, saved the world at large from being destroyed, but I didn't win. I lost, and that thought is eating me."

" _Yes, I know how you feel."_ I doubted that Firera really knew how I felt at the moment. _"You also wanted me to remind you that the court will rule on Takuma's trial today. Do you still want to go?"_

Ah, right. Rocketeer would be sentenced today. I wasn't very familiar with the law, but from what I managed to dig up on the internet, he was on one hundred percent going to get at least a life sentence. Why at least? Because even though the death penalty was forbidden, with the Tower of Hanoi incident, the families of the victims, both from the regular users and the Knight of Hanoi that died during it, wanted the death penalty to those Knights of Hanoi who returned. Even though the only Knights of Hanoi that the officers were able to arrest were a nurse and Takuma, wishing for their death was still an inhuman act.

No matter how the trial goes, this would be my last chance to talk with him, ask him about the files that he sent to me. I read through all of them at least twice, but nothing made sense to me yet. All of these files were about another girl, who was apparently Evan's apprentice before committing suicide. But the message behind all of these files was still a mystery to me. Was it a warning? I needed to know at least that.

"I have to go," I told Firera. "This is the last time that I'm going to see Takuma. I need to see how he's doing. Even if we were enemies, he was the first person who showed me kindness in LINK VRAINS, and the first friend I made since coming to this world."

" _I see…"_ Firera seemed to narrow her eyes for a moment before nodding. _"Very well, I'll be there for you, if you don't mind."_

"Thanks." I could use any support I could get, and even though the rest were going to be there, having Firera would help me greatly. "I don't want to make Evan wait for us, so let's hurry up."

" _I've already downloaded a map and calculated the shortest way to the court,"_ Firera smirked and retracted into the Duel Disk after which a map appeared in front of me. She was always helping me out, even with the smallest things; I was calmer knowing that Firera was on my hand, watching over me.

* * *

The situation in the court was as bad as I expected. Evan and Avice were barely able to get me inside with all the violent protestors outside, throwing things and shouting that the court must sense the criminals to death. It seemed like the entire police force of the city was mobilized to keep these men and women away from the building. Complete and utter chaos, people attacking people, wanting the death of one of their own. The entire situation began even worse when the armored vehicle that was transporting Takuma arrived and the protestors tried to jump on it to serve their own justice.

During that entire, I watched from inside the court with Evan, Avice, and Vermilya beside me. And in case you were wondering how Vermilya was back, so did I. During the Tower's explosion, something seems to have saved a few of the consciousnesses that were trapped inside the Tower. Yes, that felt awfully like an impossible miracle, I wasn't buying it either, but both Vermilya and Takuma were alive, which was the only thing I was thinking about.

Beyond the violent protests, there wasn't much that I had to say about what happened in the court. Takuma pleaded guilty for the crimes that he was accused of, which included terrorist and mass murder. Because of that, the trial didn't last long, with the judge sentencing him to life. News that visibly displeased the protesters outside who began to throw things and the sound of glass breaking followed by screams echoed through the entire building.

Guards had to surround Takuma to make sure the crowd wasn't going to get to him. Unlike my hopes, I wasn't able to reach out to him, talk with him, but he still looked at me as the police officers dragged him out of the room. It was just for a moment in which our eyes met, but it gave me answers to all the questions I had for him. There was no fear or despair in his eyes, there was a spark of hope. It was a look that told me 'I trust you to do the rest'. There was no malice in his eyes, no anger or desperation.

His look made me question what I was doing. Why was I standing there, watching as the guards pulled him away instead of being home, reading through the documents he gave me – look for the true meaning behind them? You could say that it was simple. He was either trying to warn me about something, or he was trying to manipulate me into turning against Evan and Avice. But deep inside, I knew that there was something else, something that I have missed when I viewed them before. A single detail that changed the entire meaning. The card he gave me, all of the files and newspaper articles that he sent me, it all made sense now!

"It's over." Evan sighed, placing a hand on my shoulder. "After everything I made to try and help him out, to see him like this, using all of the training and power I gave him to destroy peoples' lives. I'm disappointed, but more than that, I'm hurt."

"I never really got along with him." Vermilya sighed. "Even when we were still just apprentices training together, I and he never got along. But I never expected, never wanted, to see him like this. Handcuffed, pulled away by policemen to root in a cell while the people are chanting that he has to be killed. It's horrifying to see what hunger for power can turn people into."

I didn't have anything to say, while Avice looked away. Deep down, I knew that Takuma wasn't that type of person, there was good inside him, and I was sure about it. Going out of the court was harder than entering it, mostly because now that the trial was over the protesters were more furious and vicious than before.

"Let's go." Evan opened the door of his car. "I'll first drop you, girls, home."

"Will you come home with us?" Avice looked her brother in the eyes.

"I have work." Evan gave a smile, one that even I could tell was forced, then leaned to kiss his sister's forehead. "There's still too much that has to be done, but I'll be home for dinner. That's a promise."

Avice nodded and walked into the card with Vermilya following her. But I stood outside, standing next to Evan, looking him in the eyes. I didn't want to believe that everything would come down to this, but it had to. Even though I still had a duty in this world, I wanted to at least learn the truth, to learn how I came here, why I came here. Was I accusing Evan? No, I would never do something like that. But after all of the data I was given, the card, and the entire ordeal with Takuma, I found out one important thing.

"Is something wrong?" Evan asked me.

"I was thinking…" I gulped, feeling worried about saying what was on my mind. But I had to! "Who was Sereny Blanc?"

Evan's response didn't come immediately, of course. First, he just looked at me, narrowing his eyes. He then averted his eyes, placing his hands behind his back.

"Where did you learn that name?"

"With help from Takuma."

"I see." He took a deep breath and turned back to me. "Sereny was my second apprentice. I first gave the BrioGear to her, but she suffered from depression. I tried my best to heal her, went to the best doctors in the country, but in the end… If Takuma was able to find out about the past, he must have told you what happened to her, right?"

"She committed suicide, I know." It was a sad end for someone who would have been at my age if she was able to survive. "Ever since I came to this world, I was trying to find a way back, to return to my family and friends. I still haven't found anything, a part of me is starting to give up on it. But now I think that I found a clue."

"You did?" Evan asked me, but there was no surprise in his voice. "What is it?"

"I… According to Takuma, The truth behind how I came here was linked to Sereny, which means that you know what happened, don't you? You were the person who looked after me before I even know who you are." It was just an assumption, but that was the only logical answer. The BrioGear deck, our meeting, everything was arranged by him. But why would he go so far to do things so discreetly? Was he… trying to fill the hole left by Sereny by using me as her replacement?

"Are you suggesting that I kidnapped you?" Evan raised an eyebrow.

"I don't suggest anything, just asking. Do you know what happened? How from being hit by a card I suddenly woke up in a world completely different from mine?" It was weird to ask if what I said was true, but I wanted to hear it, and I knew that he would say it. He had to!

"I'm sorry, but I got no idea what you're talking about."

I took a deep breath. What I was about to do next would be crazy, but I needed answers, I wanted to hear something that wasn't just bad news. And if Evan was involved in this the way I thought he was, then the only way he would accept to walk would be...

"Then how about a duel?"

"You'll duel me just for that?" Evan raised an eyebrow.

"No, I want to duel you for more than just to hear the truth," I replied and pointed at him. "Since I came to your house; since you made me a part of this family and trained me to be the best that I can be, I was wondering, how could I repay you back for everything you did for me. You've been like a fatherly figure to me, so that's why I want to duel you. I want to show you how much stronger I have become since you took me under your wing. I want to prove to you that all of the time and effort you put into training me wasn't a waste! So, please, allow me to do so!"

Evan looked away from me, his fingers rubbing against the side of his car. A few moments passed like this, with the two of standing in silence, until I saw his head nodding. He then turned back at me and spoke up.

"So be it. But LINK VRAINS is destroyed, so how do you plan to duel me?"

"Umm, on a table?" I suggested. For once, we could drop the over the top holograms and have a normal card game on a table, sitting against one another, couldn't we?

"You want us to go back to the dark ages or something?" I- I didn't know how to respond to that.

"You probably don't know, but before LINK VRAINS, people used these old model Duel Disk that we're using right now to duel in the Real Life." Evan tapped my Duel Disk, while he explained to me. "Of course even since LINK VRAINS was created, people have stopped using that function and current architecture of buildings and cities isn't designed with Duel Monsters in mind. So why don't we duel at the docks instead? Tonight, at nine o'clock. I'll go there directly from work and Avice can lead you, since I imagine that you aren't familiar with Den City yet."

"Thank you." I smiled.

* * *

After Evan drove us home, I ran to my room and quickly activated my computer while also connecting my Duel Disk to it. Firera popped out of the screen and stretched out.

" _You really went ahead and challenged him to a duel, huh?"_ She looked up to me.

"I had to." I didn't like tricking people, but I knew that Evan's pride as a duelist wouldn't allow him to lie during a duel. "But I'm actually glad that he gave us time until tonight to prepare for this duel. We'll be able to finish it in time, right?"

" _Just leave it to me. That's me that you're trying to create there after all."_ Firera nodded before going back into the Duel Disk.

Wondering what I was doing, are you? It was just a side-project, something that I and Firera wanted to create together. Usually, when it came to designing new cards for my deck that was done by either Evan or Aqua. Since I have no idea how to code and Firera wasn't an Ignis, we were incapable to create cards on her own. That was why, we choose to join forces and try to create a card together, using her code and ability as an AI, along with my… um… other skills.

"Hey, can I walk in?" I turned around and saw Avice standing outside, leaning against the door's frame with a wary expression.

"Yeah, that's your house after all." I pointed out, then leaned my head back. "Did something happen? You don't look so good."

"Nothing has happened," Avice walked in and sat down on the bed, crossing her legs. She looked around the room and turned back to me. "I just… I want you to give up on your duel against my brother."

"What? Why?"

"You're not ready Roxy," Avice told me. "I know, you might think that you are ready to duel against him, so did my sister a long time ago, but he's only going to hurt you. He won't be pulling punches, every hit is going to be critical. Do you understand that?"

"Don't worry about it." I walked over to her. "I'll be careful, ok?"

Avice looked away. "I only want to warn you, if you accept this duel, if you go there and activate your Duel Disk, things will never be the same again. The life we had together until now, it won't be the same! You won't be the same."

I was starting to worry with her cryptic messages. There was something that I wasn't supposed to learn? I just didn't know, and seeing how hard Avice was trying not to give me any specific details, I felt that I couldn't expect any explanation from her. I sat down next to her and placed my hand over hers. Avice… If Evan was the one who taught me how to duel, how to survive, then Avice was the one who watched over me, like the other sister that I never had, she was always there for me, never betrayed my trust.

"I know, you only want to protect me, because you're worried. And if you're worried, then I know that something will happen. But I can't give up. You don't know what it is to be away from your family, your friends, while also having no answer to the question: How did I get here? I won't leave, I promise that. There were still things on this end that have to be done before I can go home. All I wanted is to know if you've got any information on how I ended up here."

"There's no stopping you then, is there?" Avice looked at me with a bitter look.

"There's no stopping me." I shook my head. "I'm going to see this to the end, no matter how much it's going to cost me. I owe, at least so much to both myself and to you two for taking me in, training me and showing me my destiny."

"You're just as stubborn as my sister was." Avice smiled. "Can I ask for something from you before I let you go back to preparing yourself for the duel?"

"Of course, anything!"

Avice's smile only grew bigger at those words and then, she leaned forward. Her face moved right in front of mine, not even an inch away and I suddenly felt something. It was soft. Wait… Was she… Was she actually… But she was… And I was… My eyes widened and I felt my entire face getting red due to embarrassment. This wasn't right! It wasn't supposed to happen! We were girls!

I wasn't sure how long she kept me like this, but once she let go, she immediately stood up and ran off the room, leaving me alone. I touched my lips and turned around to look at Firera, who was staring back at me. I wanted to ask her if this was a hallucination because I knew better. No mind tricks would recreate that type of feeling, it was real, it really just happened.

" _Don't worry, I've studied carefully what to do in a situation like this one!"_ Firera declared.

"What?"

" _Congratulation on your first kiss."_

"That's not helping me at all!"

My first kiss was stolen by Avice. I won't lie and say that I never had fantasies of falling in love with someone, of what my first kiss would be like. But in those fantasies, I have always expected it to be a boy, a handsome and carrying boy, kissing me while he carried me in his arms. What I least expected it to be like was a sudden kiss on my bed in another world, by a girl.

"Can I come in?" Vermilya asked me as she knocked on my open door.

"Please, tell me you aren't here to steal my second kiss!" This time I wouldn't give it without a fight!

"A kiss…" Vermilya was surprised for just a moment before her curiosity turned into a mischievous smirk. "So that's why Avice came running out of your room like that?"

"Please, don't talk about that." I was getting embarrassed only from remembering about it.

"No worries, I'm not interested in these things anyway," Vermilya said. "I just came to give you these."

As she said that, Vermilya took something from her pocket and threw it at me. I caught it without trouble, it was a card. She then sent a second on my way and a third! I caught all of the cards she threw and once she finally stopped doing that, I turned them around to look at what she was giving me. It was…

"That's your NitroGear cards!" I showed them to her.

"Yeah, I already know that." She chuckled. "Since you're going to duel against Evan, I thought that maybe you could use a little boost, to your deck if you're hoping to beat him. I won't be able to be there and watch you kick his ass personally, but I wanted to give you these as a sign of my trust in you."

"Thank you!" Even though we didn't have the best start, Vermilya has been helping me at every corner, doing her best to keep me safe when Avice wasn't there to look out for me herself.

"You know…" Vermilya said as rubbed her nose. "I was grown in a poor family, my father was always drunk, spending all the money we had on gambling, and beating the rest of our family when we were unable to get him enough money. He hated me the most because I was the first child. He thought that I ruined his career or something, so he made sure to remind me of his hatred every day. But one time, I had enough of it, of starving and being beaten by that bastard. So I ran. I ran as far away from home as I could and began to live on the streets, free from the pain and torture I had to endure every day while I lived inside that cursed house."

It felt like the room was getting colder with every word she said. I wasn't stupid, I knew that life didn't have the best to everyone, many children have to grow without a parent, or in a household of people who hated their very existence. But knowing that there was evil somewhere in the world wasn't the same as listening to someone who has experienced it firsthand.

"But I was wrong." Vermilya continued. "I didn't escape him. One day, my father came to me, beating me and asking for all of my money. I was alone, in an alley, believing that this would be the end of me. Of course, by some miracle, Evan came, saved me from my father and reached out for me. He was beside me in the hospital while I recovered, he leaned me to this house and gave me a new life, taught me all sort of things and for the first time in my life, I felt like there was a purpose in my life."

"But I never tried to look for my mother and siblings after the police arrested dad," Vermilya admitted. "I was too scared to look for them. Afraid that my father coming for me, to want money from me, meant that they were gone. I was afraid of even thinking about such a possibility, so I tried to forget about them, to forget all of my past life and move forward. I know that our relationship didn't have the best start. I'm terribly sorry that we had to meet each other for the first time the way we did. It might be out of place to say it here, but as time went on and I spent more time with you, I began to see you as a little sister. I began to see all of you, Evan and Takuma included, as the family that I didn't have before – a second chance to have a good life, surrounded by people I love and care about."

"Thank you." Knowing that she felt this way, made me feel a lot better. "I promise to you, that I'll use every inch of my strength in that duel!"

"I know." She smiled and turned to leave. "I believe in you, Roxy."

* * *

The night came fast and with it, my duel against Evan. But it didn't come too fast, as I and Firera were able to finish the card that we were working on. Sadly, there wasn't any time to test it, but I hoped that it would all work properly. Once the agreed time was near, Avice took me and led me to the docks of Den City.

It was an empty area. There were no workers or civilians around, just us and the metal container around us. The sun has already started to set down, giving the sky an orange color. Evan hasn't appeared yet, so for the moment, it was just me and Avice, standing there and waiting in an awkward silence.

"I'm sorry that I won't be able to be beside you for this fight." Avice apologized out of the blue.

"Um, ok then." I wasn't sure how to respond, but I accepted her apology. "I know what you think will happen, maybe not entirely, but I promise you, I won't lose. I'll prove to both of you, that the time and energy you spent training me weren't wasted."

"No one doubts that," Avice told me. "But…"

"You can't say it, I get that." I didn't like that she had to keep secrets from me, but I was willing to oversee that fact.

"I hope that I didn't keep you waiting for long." Avice jumped, startled by Evan's sudden appearance.

The older Greyson stepped from behind a container. He was no longer wearing his business suit, having replaced it with a black leather jacket that barely reached below his chest with two red lines running down the side of his sleeves, two sinister red eyes were drawn on its pockets and many strange white plates covering the shoulders and upper chest of the jacket. Underneath, he was wearing a simple red shirt, black pants with the same white plates on his knees, as well as black and red military boots.

"Wasn't this jacket in your trophy room?" I remembered seeing it there. "It looks a bit short on you."

"I haven't worn it in ages." Evan shrugged. "It's tighter than I remember, but it feels good to be inside this old jacket one more time."

"I can't believe that it came down to this," I admitted. "True, I have wanted to duel you before, but after everything that happened in the past few days, I'm not sure if I could be happy about it anymore."

"I understand how you feel," Evan said back. "The things that happened were far more than a child like you would be able to handle."

"But I did. That's the part that surprises me the most." I never thought that I could possibly have enough will power to go through that hell without breaking down at least once.

"Don't be. There's a lot of potential in you." Evan told me. "But now, shall we finally begin?"

"The ultimate duel," I said. "The strongest oGear Duelist against the weakest. I sure hope to be able to surprise you!"

"Duel!"

 **『** **Roxy LP: 4000, Hand: 5 (VS) Evan LP: 4000, Hand: 5** **』**

"I'm going to take the first turn!" I declared and looked at the cards in my hand. With this, I would be able to do it. "I activate _NitroGear Trust_ to discard BrioGear Wave Crusader and Special Summon a Nitro Tuner monster from my deck, whose level is half the discard monster's level! Since Wave Crusader is Level Four, I'm able to Special Summon the Level Two _Nitro Synchron (Lv. 2, DEF: 100)_!"

"NitroGear and Nitro Synchron," Evan muttered before narrowing his eyes. "Don't tell me that Vermilya gave you her cards for this duel."

"You're a powerful opponent," I admitted. "Even after all the things I went through, all the duels I won, I know that my strength is nowhere near yours. But unlike you, who fights on his own, I fight together with everyone else! My biggest strength comes from the people I share a bond with. That's why Vermilya entrusted her cards to me."

"Getting power from bonds?" Evan tilted his head to the side and rubbed his chin, smirking. "Interesting idea. Come then, show me what power the bond between you and Vermilya carries."

"Gladly!" I nodded and took two more cards from my hand. "I discard BrioGear Drifting Bichir to Special Summon _BrioGear Sailflying (Lv.3, ATK: 200)_! And now Drifting Bichir's effect activates, since it was discarded by the effect of a BrioGear card, I draw a card!"

"Come forth, the circuit of life!" I cried out summoning the large white mirror-portal with flowers. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements is a WATER monster with a level! I set BrioGear Sailflying in the Link Marker! Link Summon! Link One, _BrioGear Lotaxol (ATK: 600, Link-1)_!

"Lotaxol's effect activates! Since it was Link Summoned, I revive one Level Two or lower WATER monster from my Graveyard. Come back, _BrioGear Drifting Bichir (Lv.1, DEF: 0)_!" the young blond-haired woman appeared behind Lotaxol and took a defensive stance.

"Drifting Bichir's effect allows me to revive a monster from my Graveyard in Attack Position, but with its effects negated and attack halved. Revive, _BrioGear Wave Crusader (Lv.4, ATK: 1700/2_ → _850)_!" My signature warrior raised on the field, leaning against its broadsword.

"Appear, the circuit of life!" A new circuit opened before me. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two BrioGear monsters! I set BrioGear Lotaxol and BrioGear Sailflying in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Link Two, _BrioGear Enhance Mermail (ATK: 1700, Link-2)_!"

"Let's show your teacher the strength of bonds, Roxy!" Firera looked back at me.

"Right!" I nodded and threw my arms to the sides. "I tune the Level Four BrioGear Wave Crusader to the Level One BrioGear Drifting Bichir!"

A bolt of green lightning fell from the sky to my field and the two monsters turned into differently sized rings made of water with pieces of ice shaped like the numbers '4' and '1' floating next to each ring. The rings overlaid with each other, creating a tunnel of ice with a beam of blue light shooting out of it as I began to chant.

" _To the deeps of the ocean, I call for the strength to protect this world! Synchro Summon BrioGear Howling Guardian (Lv.5, ATK: 2400)!_ "

I had to admit, so far I have been so focused on bringing out either Serene or Firera that I completely forgot my deck's capabilities. I had more than Link Summoning at my disposal, much, much more than it.

"That's the Synchro from the deck that you gave me, it was the first Synchro Summon that I performed," I explained before looking at Howling Guardian. With this card, I defeated Gloomy Ruby when she was infected by the Hanoi's virus and fought Blaze Rose. And now, it was going to be the stepping stone to my evolution. "I tune the Level Five Howling Guardian to the Level Two Nitro Synchron!"

"Five and two…" Evan paused for a moment. "You can't be…"

"That's exactly what I'm going to summon!" I declared.

A bolt of red lightning fell onto my field and created a shockwave as the two monsters turned into rings of fire, two yellow rotating inside one another and five blue rotating below the first set. The numbers '2' and '5' appeared burning next to each couple of rings and then they all overplayed creating a gate of flames. Inside the gate, seven red rings appeared one after another and fire emerged from within.

" _Gathering the burning souls of molten warriors will combine to call forward a new force of nature! Become the path that lights the way! Synchro Summon! Burn it all! NitroGear Warrior (Lv.7, ATK: 2800)!_ "

Vermilya's ace flew through the flames and landed in Howling Guardian's place. This was her ace monster that I was using, the monster she depended on the most to during her duels. Vermilya, I promise to use the power that you gave me. I won't let the flames of hatred burning inside your monster's soul be extinguishes!

" _When Nitro Synchron is used as Synchro Material for the summoning of a Nitro Synchro Monster, we can draw a card,"_ Firera told me, and I did so. _"There's a card in your hand that you can activate, right?"_

"Yeah," I took the Spell Card from the remaining cards and placed it on my Duel Disk. "I activate the Continuous Spell – _**BrioGear Lost State**_!"

The card showed the shadows of multiple water creatures assembling at the deep of the sea as they starred at an open chest filled with gold coins.

* * *

 **BrioGear Lost State (Spell) Continuous**

 **At the start of your Draw Phase, if you have 1 or less cards in your hand, draw 2 cards instead of 1 during your normal draw. If you Link Summon an "oGear" Link Monster while this card is on your field, you can Special Summon 1 "BrioGear Token" (Aqua/WATER/Level 1/ATK: 0/DEF: 0) in Defense Position. If this card is in your GY, you can discard 1 "oGear" card from your hand; add this card to your hand. You can only use each effect of "BrioGear Lost State" once per turn.**

* * *

"Due to Lost State's effect, if my cards are one or less at the start of my next turn, I'll be able to draw two cards during my Draw Phase instead of one," I explained my card's effect. "With this, I end my turn."

"You said that you wanted to show me how stronger you have become since I began to train you." Evan shook his head. "If that's the best field you were able to establish in a single turn, then I'm truly disappointed in your growth rate. A field like that one? I can crush it in just a second! And so I will. My turn, draw!"

 **『** **Turn 2 [Evan] LP: 4000 Hand: 6** **』**

" _Argh!"_ Firera's body began to glitch and she collapsed, holding her head.

"What's wrong?" I reached to hold her, but a spark suddenly shot out of her body, zapping me. "Hey!"

" _I have never felt such a hostile presence before,"_ Firera said, her voice trembling more with every word. _"There's something evil in his deck. A pulse of Cyberse so powerful that it could only be a God Card!"_

A God Card… This was the first time I heard this term being used, but I guess it meant that the monster Evan had was very powerful. Hence why Firera called it a God. But I felt my anxiety raising because of Firera's words. If Evan had a card that could rival God itself, then I was fighting a losing battle. Just like Avice warned me.

"I activate _ChronoGear Emergency Launch_! This card's effect allows me to Special Summon a ChronoGear monster straight from the deck! Come forth, _ChronoGear Steam Ogre (Lv.8, DEF: 2600)_!" A large gear appeared rotating in front of Evan and the giant cyborg stepped out of it, roaring at me. "Steam Ogre's effect activates! I destroy NitroGear Warrior to draw a card!"

A black aura surrounded NitroGear Warrior. Vermilya's monster roared in pain and then exploded, covering my field in flames while Evan took another card from his deck and placed it in his hand. Sorry, Vermilya, I got your ace destroyed in a single turn.

"Steam Ogre's additional effect! Since it was summoned by the effect of a ChronoGear card, I can Special Summon two ChronoGear monsters from my deck! Come forth, _ChronoGear Blue Plague (Lv.2, DEF: 200)_ and _ChronoGear Berfomet (Lv.4, DEF: 1800)_!" Steam Ogre roared and fired two clock gears into the air. The gears exploded and portals opened in their place summoning a ghost possessing an old set of armor and an undead demon cyborg.

"He summoned three monsters in an instant!" I gasped. His hand was also still at six cards. This meant that he destroyed my Synchro and summoned three of his own monsters without using any cards!

"Berfomet's effect now activates! When it's Special Summoned from the effect of a ChronoGear card, I can add a ChronoGear card from the deck to my hand. I choose _ChronoGear Reborn_!" He was already at seven cards… "Due to Blue Plague's effect, I gain Life Points equal to the attack points of one monster. I choose Steam Ogre!"

 **『** **Evan LP: 4000 + 2600** → **6600** **』**

"Now tremble before the sight of true strength! Appear, the circuit of the past and future!" Even though this was the reality, riffle began to form in the space behind him and then it exploded, revealing a dark abyss. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two oGear monsters! I set ChronoGear Blue Plague and ChronoGear Steam Ogre in the Link Markers! Link Summon! The wild spirit dancing over fading ages! _ChronoGear Time Tamer Kitty (ATK: 1700, Link-2)_!"

" _Kitty has the ability to gain half the attack points of one monster it points to during battle,"_ Firera commented. _"So why would he get rid of Steam Ogre?"_

"It means that he's not aiming for big damage." I guessed. It meant that he wanted to end it all this turn!

"I activate Time Tamer Kitty's effect to revive ChronoGear Blue Plague!" the haunted armor appeared on his field. "Appear again, the circuit of past and time!" the dark abyss didn't even have to reappear as it remained permanently located behind Evan. Just what sort of hologram was that? "Arrowheads confirmed! Summon requirements are at least two DARK monsters! I set Blue Plague and the Link Two Time Tamer Kitty in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Diabolic Phantomus the Hollow Slayer (ATK: 2300, Link-3)_!"

And another thing that I didn't know about showed up. I don't remember seeing this monster before, but it looked so much lighter than Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer.

"Diabolic Phantomus the Hollow Slayer's effect allows me to revive a Link Three or lower DARK monster from my grave, so come back, _ChronoGear Time Tamer Kitty(ATK: 1700, Link-2)_!" A portal appeared behind Hollow Slayer and Evan's Link 2 monster appeared out of it. "Appear, the circuit of past and future!"

"Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are at least two DARK monsters! I set ChronoGear Berfomet and, the Link Two, ChronoGear Time Tamer Kitty in the Link Markers! Link Summon! My dark soul, _Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer (ATK: 2300, Link-3)_!" There it was, the original Phantomus jumped out of the dark abyss and landed behind the Hollow Slayer, co-linking with it. "Due to Hollow Slayer's effect all monster it points at gain five hundred attack points, but Link Slayer gains the effects of all monster it points at, so Hollow Slayer gains attack as well!"

 **Diabolic Phantomus the Hollow Slayer, ATK: 2300 + 500** → **2800**

 **Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer, ATK: 2300 + 500** → **2800**

"Now I'll activate Link Slayer's new effect to revive Time Timer Kitty from my grave!" His Link Monsters just kept coming back, and because of Kitty's effect being copied, Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer now had the power to increase its attack points all the way up to 4200 and deal double damage to me!

"I know what you're thinking," Evan said. "You're thinking that I will attack you like this. Truth be told, I already have what I need in order to defeat you, but this duel is about more than just victory. Rather than just beat you, I'm going to show you the absolute power of my deck! Watch! As I call forth the very God to fight on my side! Appear, the circuit of true darkness!"

Evan raised his arms and black bolts of lightning shot out of them, flying into the black vortex behind him. Red energy began to swirl inside the portal and purple lightning shot from it, striking everything around us. Dark clouds formed in the sky and the ocean raised into large waves that slammed against the coast of Den City.

" _The energy readings are off the charts!"_ Firera screamed. _"It can't be…"_

" _Supreme Being masqueraded in the shadows, follow my guidance!_ " Evan chanted. " _Our resurrection is imminent! I set Time Tamer Kitty and Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Link Five! Transcendent Devil Emperor Satanel – The Absolute Paradox (ATK: 3200, Link-5)_!"

The monster that appeared was so gigantic with bolts of lightning hitting the top of its head. Its skin had the look of purple goo, despite being hard as armor with pitch black bones covering it. The bones making up the monster's ribcage and pelvis rested outside the body creating a second lair of armor. Its arms had similar bone-armor plates covering them with two arrow-shaped blades jutting out of its forearms. Instead of hands, the creature had large animalistic claws. Instead of legs, the monster hand four extremely long bones which formed four arcs. Two large wings speared out behind the monster's back. They were covered by black scales on the outside while their insides had a stained glass pattern with the most prominent colors being black, red, purple and blue. Its head was an exposed dragon-like skull with two red horns jutting out the sides of its head and a prominent purple spike hanging from its chin. Its bloody red eyes stared down at me with purple flames escaping its mouth every time it breathed out.

I felt that my stomach curled into a ball from only looking at the sight of the demonic creature. I was scared to the core, all about this monster's appearance was just… off. It was like I wasn't looking at a monster but at something far worse. Something so wrong and twisted that it terrified me.

" _It was you…"_ Firera looked at Evan. I wasn't sure what she was talking about, but I was too scared of his monster to ask.

"Did you sense it back then?" Evan asked.

" _Yes, we did."_ Firera nodded. _"You're the one who stopped the time in LINK VRAINS during the battle for the tower. The human who managed to harvest the strength of one of the two most powerful Cyberse monsters that were ever created. The monster you use has the ability to adapt to its user, but why does it feel so wrong?"_

"You would like to figure that one out, wouldn't you?" Evan smirked. "But I'll tell you this: Your third sentence was wrong, and I'll prove it to you. Satanel's effect activates! When it's co-linked, I can activate its effect to give all co-linked monsters effects to all co-linked monsters I control. In order words, Satanel will now use Hollow Slayer's effect to revive _ChronoGear Time Tamer Kitty (ATK: 1700, Link-2)_ once more!"

" _He keeps reviving them…"_ Firera narrowed her eyes. _"I'm sorry Roxy, but I don't think that I'll be able to give you advice on how to defeat Satanel. This monster… It's the peak of Cyberse's evolution. I'm nothing compared to it."_

"Don't say that," I told her. "You're my ally, my partner. We'll find a way to overcome it, together."

"Touching, but I plan to end this before your next turn comes." Evan took another card from his hand and showed it to me. "I activate _**AstroGear Gebrochen**_! I banish ChronoGear Berfomet from my Graveyard to Special Summon one AstroGear monster from my deck with half that monster's level!"

AstroGear!? I looked over to Avice, who turned away after noticing that I was looking at her. Was that why she wanted me to give up on this duel? Because she knew that if it came down to choosing sides, she would have to stand beside her brother and give him the strength to beat me?

* * *

 **AstroGear Gebrochen (Spell) Normal**

 **Banish 1 Level 2 or higher "oGear" monster from your GY: Special Summon 1 "AstroGear" monster from your Deck whose Level is less than, or equal to, half the banished monster's level. During your turn, except the turn this effect is activated: You can banish this card from your GY to target 1 of your banished Level 4 or lower "oGear" monsters; add that target to your hand. You can only use 1 effect of "AstroGear Gebrochen" per turn, and only once that turn.**

* * *

"I Special Summon _AstroGear Malnehmen (Lv.2, DEF: 300)_." A white disk appeared on the field and floated before Evan. "AstroGear Malnehmen's effect: When it's Special Summoned, I can summon any number of copies of it from my deck! I choose to summon two more! Appear for me once more, the circuit of past and future!"

He was going to Link Summon using the AstroGear monsters? But I thought that his deck worked only with DARK monsters!

"Arrowhead confirmed! Summoning condition is one Level Two or lower oGear monster. I set one copy of Malnehmen in the Link Marker. Link Summon! _**EgoGear Spectrum**_!"

A humanoid creature came out of the circuit. Its body was slim and long, made from a white wood-like material with multiple branches stretching out of its back, holding six spheres of different colors, while other branches were stretching out of the sides of its body, creating arms and legs, which remained immobile. Its head was shaped like a bird's but without any distinctive traits such as a mouth or eyes.

* * *

 **EgoGear Spectrum**

 **Attribute: VOID/Type: Monarch/Link/Effect**

 **L-Markers: Bottom Left**

 **ATK: 0/Link-1**

 **1 Level 2 or lower "oGear" monster**

 **Effect: (This card is treated as part of every "oGear" archetype.) This card's Attribute can be treated as every Attribute. Once per turn, you can target 1 "oGear" monster on the field: Change that target's Attribute to your choice. If you would Link Summon, you can use this card in your GY as one of the materials, but banish it.**

* * *

"An EgoGear…" I never knew such an archetype existed, and those stats…

" _This is the first time I hear of the Attribute Void and the Type Monarch!"_ Firera shouted.

"That's because Spectrum is nothing like the trash the rest of the world calls Duel Monsters. He's the key to my strategy. Spectrum, activate your effect! I target Time Tamer Kitty and change her Attribute from DARK to LIGHT! _**Spectrum Change**_!" The branches on Spectrum's back began to move and rotate until the one holding the yellow sphere stopped over the rest.

 **ChronoGear Time Tamer Kitty, Attribute: DARK** → **LIGHT**

"Appear, the circuit of past and future!" I couldn't understand his moves. Why would he change the attribute of-! Oh. "Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are at least two LIGHT monsters! I set AstroGear Malnehmenand, the Link Two, ChronoGear Time Tamer Kitty in the Link Markers! Link Summon! The holy heart piercing through despair, _Exotic Sola the Link Seraph (ATK: 2300, Link-3)_!"

So he had Avice's ace in his deck after all. This was getting really bad.

"For the sixth time, appear the circuit of past and future!" A sixth Link Summon!? "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two oGear monsters! I set AstroGear Malnehmenand EgoGear Spectrum in the Link Markers! Link Summon! The holy machine of destruction! _AstroGear Das Unknown (1800, Link-2)_!" the Link 2 appeared on the right side of Satanel.

"I activate the effect that Exotic Sola now shares with Hollow Slayer, reviving _Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer (ATK: 2300, Link-3)_ , then Link Slayer will use the same effect to revive _ChronoGear Time Tamer Kitty (ATK: 1700, Link-2)_!" All of the Link Monsters were now together, and worse than that… "Due to the effect of Hollow Slayer that all of my monster share, all of my monsters are going to give five hundred attack points to every monster they point toward, and due to the effect of Das Unknown that all of my monsters now share, all of my LIGHT monsters are going to gain five hundred attack points!"

 **Diabolic Phantomus the Hollow Slayer, ATK: 2300 + 500** → **2800**

 **Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer, ATK: 2300 + 500*2** → **3300**

 **ChronoGear Time Tamer Kitty, ATK: 1700 + 500** → **2200**

 **Transcendent Devil Emperor Satanel – The Absolute Paradox, ATK: 3200 + 500*3** → **4700**

 **Exotic Sola the Link Seraph, ATK: 2300 + 500*7** → **5800**

 **AstroGear Das Unknown, 1800 + 500*5** → **4300**

"What's with this power…" It was almost frightening. How could a single person be so powerful?

"Let's see if you'll be able to survive this, Roxy! Due to Exotic Sola's effect, any non-LIGHT monster you control in the same column as a monster she's co-linked to has its effects negated and its attack points halved!" A golden snake appeared from Sola's wings and flew over to Enhance Mermaid, wrapping its body around her.

 **BrioGear Enhance Mermail, ATK: 1700/2** → **850**

"It's showtime, Roxy!" Evan yelled and raised a finger to point at Satanel. "Let's see if you're going to be able to withstand even one of my attacks! Battle! Erase Enhance Mermail from history! _End of Time_!"

Satanel roared and purple flames engulfed its right fist as it threw it toward my monster. But it wasn't just flames that I saw surrounding Evan's monster as it charged at me. There were silhouettes. The silhouettes of thousands upon thousands of people, screaming, crying as their bodies were burned by the ashes. It was their dying moments… a recording of the lost souls moments before time ended for them!

"Sorry, but I won't be taking this damage!" I declared. "I activate the effect of BrioGear Bubble Sea from my hand! By discarding this card and BrioGear Madoor I can reduce an instance of battle damage by their combined defense! Bubble Sea has twelve hundred and Madoor has three thousand, combined that's forty-two hundred points of negated damage! Far more than what you would have inflicted to me!"

"Did you forget about Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer's effect! Any monster co-linked to it deals double the damage! Go, Satanel, destroy her will with blinding hate!" Suddenly, Satanel's attack doubled in density as it flew toward me.

"If the damage is doubled, we're going to take seventy-seven thousands point of damage!" Firera shrieked. "By reducing it with Bubble Sea's effect, the damage would fall to…"

"Thirty-five hundred…" Only five hundred points away from completely wiping me out.

The attack connected and Enhance Mermail screamed as her body was evaporated from the intense energy that hit her. Even though those were supposed to be just holograms, I felt the full impact of the attack. Not just that, the power knocked me back. I lost the feeling of solid ground under my feet as my body was flung back and slammed into a metal container that was no less than ten feet behind me. A scream tore out of my throat and my body collapsed on the ground, gasping from the intense pain that rendered me immobile.

 **『** **Roxy LP: 4000 – 3500** → **500** **』**

" _How could you!?"_ I only heard Firera's screamed while I lied on the ground, my body completely numb from the pain. _"She only wanted a friendly duel with you, to show you how much she has improved!"_

"There are no friendly duels here, you either fight like your life depends on it, or you lose it." Despite the meaning of those words, I couldn't help but chuckle, an action that sent a new jolt of pain through my entire body. If I'm going to lose my life, then doesn't it really depend on it?

" _Why you-"_ Well, Firera didn't seem as amused as me, which was weird given which one of us took a ride on pain train.

"D-don't hold it against him." I managed to say, turning my head a little to look at the AI. "He… was holding back."

If he attacked me with Exotic Sola instead, the difference between our monsters' attack would have been 4950, which doubled would make 9900 points of damage. My monsters would have negated only 4200, leaving 5700 to past through and finish me in a single hit. This was a test. He was testing me.

"I'll now go to my Main Phase Two." Wait, he won't be attacking me with his other monsters? I tried to look at Evan, wondering what he was thinking to do next. Did he figure out that I was planning to use Madoor's effect to negate his attack and end the Battle Phase, so he didn't risk giving me a monster?

"Roxanna, now I'm going to do something that I haven't done while dueling," Evan told me. "Starting now, I will no longer fully restrain myself. I'll use a bit of my strength, will you be able to take it?"

" _Wait, he was fully retraining himself so far!?"_ Firera cried out, then looked back at me. _"We must forfeit! You don't have a chance against him! If you push yourself any more, you're sure to die!"_

"Heh, you think that I don't know that?" Since I challenged him to a duel, I knew that he was going to do something unbelievable. I was terrified, every cell in my body was screaming for me to run, to escape death. But the card that Takuma left for me, that single card… I was starting to see it now, he must have really foreseen this sort of outcome. Thanks to him, I now know what Evan was truly capable of!

"I'll end this duel right now. Ego Spectrum's effect, if I'm going to Link Summon, I can use it as material from my Graveyard!" Evan said and raised his arms. Yellow lightning fell from the black clouds over us and hit the void behind him. Yellow energy began to swirl inside the portal and two bolts of green lightning shot out, forming angelic wings behind Evan for a moment before disappearing. "I told you, Firera, that you were wrong about something with our observation from before!"

"No, it can't be…" Firera muttered. "You're not telling me…"

"I'm capable to control both of Cyberse's God Cards! Appear, the circuit of true light!" the energy inside the portal started becoming more intense as four green eyes opened inside it. " _Supreme Being hiding in the brightness of stars, kneel in servitude!_ " It can't be… " _Become the avatar of my triumph! I set ChronoGear Time Tamer Kitty, AstroGear Das Unknown and EgoGear Spectrum in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Link Five!_ _ **Transcendent Angel Queen Adriela – The Ultimate Destroyer**_ _!_ "

A pillar of light erupted from the portal and eight wings made from blue energy formed, with riffles forming through the space around just from their presence. After that, the light died down revealing a monster whose size was the same as Satanel's. It was robotic in nature without any arm leg structures. The body itself was designed to look like a golden robe with several golden lines running down the sides and the edges. Its chest was opened to reveal thousands upon thousands of golden gears and machinery, moving without rest to keep the creature alive. Three large spheres attached in the center in the shape of an upside down triangle. The two smaller spheres were yellow in color while the big one was blue and pulsating like a heart, with a humanoid silhouette floating inside of it. Its face was more feminine, without a mouth and with four green eyes. A golden headpiece was placed on the monster's forehead with several small blades jutting to the side. A radiant light shone underneath the monster as it floated over the field.

* * *

 **Transcendent Angel Queen Adriela – The Ultimate Destroyer  
Attribute: LIGHT/Type: Cyberse/Link/Effect  
L-Markers: Top Left, Left, Bottom, Right, Top Right  
ATK: 3300/Link-5  
3+ "oGear" Link Monsters  
Effect: Once per turn (Quick Effect): You can move 1 monster your opponent controls to a different Main Monster Zone on their side of the field. Banish all opponent monsters that this card is linked with, face-down. While this card is Extra Linked: If a card or effect is activated that target card(s) on your side of the field, you can change the target to another card on the field or in either player's hand, and if you do, treat it as an appropriate target for the effect. While this card is Extra Linked: Link Monsters you control cannot be Tributed, destroyed or removed from the field by your opponent's cards and effects. Once per turn, if your opponent activates a card or effect while you control this co-linked monster (Quick Effect): Negate the activation and effect of that card, then choose one of the following effects:  
• Shuffle the card into your opponent's deck, then activated/Special Summon 1 card from their deck with the same type (Spell/Trap/Monster) as the negated card.  
• Shuffle the card into your opponent's deck, then activated/Special Summon, or Set 1 card from your deck with the same type (Spell/Trap/Monster) as the negated card.**

* * *

"Chaos Extra Link: Complete!" I gulped at the sight of the five monsters that stared down at me. If that was just a fragment of what he was capable of, just a small amount of the power that he had, I hope to never learn what the rest of his power was like.

"I believe that there might be a fool who would call an Extra Link the ultimate battle formation surpassing human intelligence," Evan spoke with a smug grin on his face. "But this… This isn't surpassing anything human related. Witness! The ultimate field that surpasses God itself!"

"He had both of them under his command…" Firera muttered. She was staring blankly at the distance like she has fallen in some form of catatonia just from the sight of Evan's monsters.

"Satanel's last effect activate! If this card is Extra Linked, I can move the duel toward my next turn. _World Rewrite_!" Satanel spread out its wings a red ring appeared in front of each, draining the color from the world until only black remained. Space pulsed in response to the monster, color returning back to the world as it began to accelerate. I looked at my Duel Disk; as Evan said, my Duel Disk was rapidly jumping past the Duel Phases.

 **『** **Turn 3 [Roxy] LP: 500 Hand: 0** **』**

 **『** **Turn 4 [Evan] LP: 6600 Hand: 6** **』**

"And now Satanel' use your other effect to negate the effects of all cards on my opponent's field, in their graveyard and hand. _Emperor's Restriction_!" Now I could no longer use Madoor's effect to protect myself from his attacks! "Battle! Adriela, attack Roxy directly! _**Death of Universe**_!"

Adriela's eyes turned from green to blue and blue energy shout out of the core in its chest, connecting the other two in a triangle of wild energy. A loud heartbeat echoed through the empty docks and Adriela blinked. At that moment, all of the energy that the Link 5 had generated was blasted toward me, tearing the ground without even touching or being close to it.

So that was how it would end? The blast was tearing through the ground, moving toward me. There was no running away from it, my body was in too much pain to even try and roll out of the way. At moments like this, one would think about 'ifs'. What would have happened _**if**_ I didn't do this? _**If**_ I did this instead? _**If**_ I trusted this person?

Those ifs are followed by regret. But not in my case. I wasn't strong. I wasn't smart. I had the chance to obtain both of those things, to compromise my beliefs for more power, and I choose not to. _**If**_ I accepted everything that Evan had to offer me, I would no doubt have become stronger than the person I ended up being today. But _**if**_ I did that, I wouldn't be able to look him proudly in the eyes, knowing that I came so far with my strength. I'll always be the weakling, but that was alright.

"Trap Card activate! _**Requiem of the Maiden**_!" Because my biggest strength was my heart, my power to bond with others and see the best in them!

"What!?"

Adriela's beam split in two, flying past me, while Requiem of the Maiden appeared on my field. The card glowed and then fired a blue beam that pierced through the dark clouds above us. The full moon showed up in the dark sky, illuminating our fields that have sunk in darkness. It was my biggest trump card, my beacon of hope.

"How?" Evan shouted. "Satanel stops you from activating any cards of effects from anywhere but the banished zone, and even then, I have the freedom to choose which cards you activate!"

"I just found out the one thing I have over you," I said back. "Evan, you're strong, since you took me under your wing, I looked up to you, like an idol I wanted to reach. But you have a flaw. You've never opened your heart to anyone, have you? Always keeping us at arm's length, you always see the worst that we can be, the worse that _**we are**_. But unlike you, I always try to give those close to me a second chance! I never stop believing that there's good in them! You hated Takuma for betraying us, for betraying _**you**_. But I wanted to believe! And I was right! This Trap that he gave me, it's his whole his story with you, it has everything that he knows about you, your style of dueling, your power. This card is the strength that he passed down to me!"

"So he actually…" Evan narrowed his eyes.

"Requiem of the Maiden is a card that can only be activated from my deck if my opponent attacks me directly while they control an Extra Link with at least one Link Five monster!" I declared. "It's effect negates the effects of all linked monsters you control and makes them unable to attack! And if it leaves the field due to a card's effect, your monsters will all be banished face-down!"

* * *

 **Requiem of the Maiden (Trap) Continuous**

 **This card can only be activated from your Main Deck when your opponent declares a direct attack while they control a Link 5 or higher Extra-Linked monster. This card's activation cannot be denied or negated. Negate the effects of all monsters your opponent controls, also they cannot attack. If this card leaves the field because of an opponent's card effect, banish all monsters your opponent controls face-down. Destroy this card if there are no Link Monsters on your opponent's field. You can only activate 1 "Requiem of the Maiden" per Duel.**

* * *

"I'm calling bullshit on this!" He roared.

" _Oh, really?"_ Firera crossed her arms. _"Are you the one using all sorts of insane shit, and have a Link Monster whose effect could be summarized with the line: 'If summoned, win the Duel.'?"_

"Have it your way then." Evan sighed, then he smiled. He was actually smiling in this situation!? "It seems I was right when I choose to duel you here. You're ready, Roxy."

"What… are you talking about?" I tried not to scream as I lifted my body off the ground. The pain was still intense, my legs were trembling and my ears were ringing, but I could still hear and see the opponent standing in front of me.

"You proved your will to me. Your strength." Evan told me. "I always knew that there was light in you, you have the ability to see something I couldn't. It was that thrust of yours that gave you the edge in this duel. So, it's only fair if I give you a reward for all you were able to accomplish in such a short period of time."

I wasn't sure how I should react to his words. Give me a reward? What was he going to do? I couldn't get a read on him, and that smile of his, it looked so normal, so genuine, but at the same time, it made something inside me feel scared.

"What will you give me?"

"The one thing you want the most!" Evan shouted loudly. "I'll give you the truth! I'll then you who brought you here, how, and why! I'll tell you the whole story from start to finish! You were right, I knew who did this to you! I did because, surprise or not, it was _**ME**_! I was the one who took you, I was the one who placed you in that hospital and gave you that deck!"

His voice then died down, becoming quieter as he looked down at his Duel Disk. His crimson eyes then raised to meet mine and he continued. "I'll start from the beginning. The day it all started. Two and a half years ago…"

* * *

 **And with this, the two-part finale of the first season of Destiny Gears has begun! With a duel between Evan, the strongest character in this entire story, and Roxy, a newbie who was able to quickly rise from a weakling to a sidekick capable to stand up next to Playmaker in the face of one of the strongest villains in LINK VRAINS, who do you think would win?**

 **It might look cheap that Vermily and Takuma came back when more than 99.9% of the rest of the Tower's victims were killed off, but I promise you that the reason behind their survival will be explained in due time.**

 **Also, a personal thing I want to share, but letting Evan use both the ChronoGear and AstroGear archetypes for this duel feels great. The main reason for that would be because him using these two decks at once shows why Evan is the strongest character. Since every oGear deck is made to reflect the user's personality and their biggest strength, this duel is the first one who shows what Evan's true strength is as a person. Could you guess what it is? Because Roxy will have to do that next chapter if she wants to even hope of defeating her teacher.**

 **Now to respond to the reviews!**

SoulMatter **: Don't worry, what happened at the end of the last chapter was nothing compared to the twisted and fucked-up things that are about to happen from here on. After all, what's the fun in seeing the heroes always win, always got through a situation without any consequences?**

Guest **: In all seriousness, the idea of Playmaker getting killed might actually happen. Since I won't force myself to follow the anime's direction, you can never tell which characters are going to win, and which ones are going to lose.**

 **As always, thanks to everyone for reading this chapter. I hope to see you again next when Evan and Roxy will have their ultimate clash!**

 **Diabolic Tracer out!**


	41. Chapter 41

**It's honestly surprising how quickly I was able to write these last few chapters. It might be a bit of a weird change, but I thought that this time, before the start of the final chapter of this season, I might go and put an A/N at the start.**

 **First, big thanks to** Daemon of Wrath **for following this story.**

 **Second, a response to the two reviews from last time.**

Guest **: Funny that you would bring Arc-V, since that's where Evan comes from.**

Guest **: Ok, I admit that what I said during the last chapter about being unable to predict how things would play out might not be completely true about Evan. But he's more of an exception, an enigma that even the Ignis cannot comprehend. Personally, I think that Evan can be categorized better as a force of nature than as a character.**

* * *

 **Warning : I know that what you'll read below is very restrained compared to other stories, but since this type of stuff isn't very common (if at all) for the type of story that Destiny Gears began as, and was for most of the first season, I will warn you to expect: Violence toward minors and some other shit. You've been warned.**

* * *

In Still Waters

I was holding on with the last of my strength. Evan's five Link Monsters were all staring down at me with intense hatred, but that meant little to me. I was waiting for Evan to tell me everything; the truth that he tried to keep hidden from me for so long. Why did he take me from home? How was he able to do it? There was so much that I had to know, needed to know, and at last, I would get the answers that I want!

"Actually, though the story stars two years ago, I'll begin from an earlier point," Evan said. "Though I must warn you, I wasn't there at the beginning so I won't be able to tell you the full story in details."

I gave him a nod to show that he could continue. Whatever that story was about to be, if it connected to my situation, I would listen to it from beginning to end. Evan cleared his throat and began to talk.

" _As you know, not everyone is lucky to be born in a loving family. Sometimes children are born to parents who didn't want them. Sometimes they lose their parents at a very young age and find themselves lost, abandoned, alone in the big world. Sometimes, they are abandoned by their parents. And sometimes, they are sold for drugs and alcohol. The last one was the case for little Miuko Koizumi, a little girl whose drug-addicted parents sold her to a human trafficking ring for some cash."_

"The records say that Miuko was Sereny's friend that died during a road accident," I remembered that the name was written in a few of the files Takuma sent to me. "But what does she have to do with me?"

"The connection between you and Miuko is one very important one," Evan told me. "I'll tell you about it too, but allow me to first get to that part, ok? Good. So, as I was saying…"

" _Miuko had a bad childhood. A very awful one that I don't want to talk about in details. But her story didn't end there. One day, the camp where she was held captive was raided by police officers who got an anonymous tip. She was saved from that awful place. During the time of Miuko's captivity, her mother has died from an overdose and her father burned himself alive while he was high. She didn't have any other known family members who would or wanted to, take care of her, so after her rescue, she was brought to an orphanage._

 _Sadly, the new environment didn't help out much. Due to her small size and young age, she quickly became a target for harassment for the other orphans at the place. Day after day, she was tormented to no end by the others. And the scary part was, she didn't care about it. She has lived in a nightmare for so long, that her senses became numb to the pain and insults. She was broken, just an empty shell, walking through her life."_

I felt uneasy and Evan seemed to notice that because he paused for a moment. My hands were trembling a little and I couldn't tell if this was because of the night cold or from the story that he was telling me. This tale, it was stirring something into my chest, I felt a great discomfort while he dragged me through every single word of that tale, at the slowest possible pace.

" _Miuko thought that she had lost it, that there was really no point in living anymore. One day, fate choose to show mercy to her. A new girl came to the orphanage. A young and fragile flower who has lost her parents, who were coming home from a business trip, when they got killed in a plane crash. She was the complete opposite of most orphans who were there because their parents have abandoned them. Because of that, she knew something none of the other knew, kindness. You could guess the name of that new girl, couldn't you?"_

"Sereny Blanc." I nodded. That must be the story of how the two girls meet, but again, what was my role in all of that?

" _And we know what happened next, right? The new girl, who was taught to show kindness and help others, instinctively moved in to protect Miuko when she was that the orphans were bullying her. That act alone, the act of protecting someone weaker, someone who has never been shown any kindness in her life before, quickly earned Sereny a friend. One that she would share a strong bond with. So strong, that the two would begin to look after each other like two sisters."_

"That was when the tragedy happened?" If this was just a fairy tale, the fact that I already knew the ending would make it just boring to listen through. But with this story, knowing the context made the ending much more painful to listen to.

"It seems that you already know the ending. Have you read this story before somewhere?" I frowned at these words, was Evan really going to try and make fun of this tragedy? That was sick!

" _Indeed, having a friend, make Miuko care for her life for once, and that care returned the pain from the insults and beatings that now both she and Sereny now had to endure together. This newfound desire to live drove Miuko to take actions and protect her friend. Talking with Sereny, she was able to convince her friend that the two of them shouldn't stay there, locked behind four walls, waiting for someone to come and separate them."_

" _So, after much planning and preparing, one stormy night, after everyone else in the building has fallen asleep, the front door of the orphanage cracked open, and the sound of two pairs of feet running through the mud faded behind the sound of thunders. A direction, a destination, they didn't have. Only things these children knew was to follow the highway, knowing that a city would eventually appear before their eyes. An hour passed, then two, three. Soaked by the rain, trembling from the freezing wind, the children continued to walk forward, never giving on that spark of hope that kept their little bodies warm on the inside."_

I listened intently to the story. I felt like every dark shadow around us has become haunted. Like Evan's words were causing the lost souls living in the darkness to response. It scared me. I was afraid, my heart was beating faster with every moment and through all of it, Evan stood there, looking at me with satisfaction.

" _After long, they finally came across the light. A bright light that blinded them. The ignorant children smiled, ran toward it, not knowing that the light was coming toward them as well. Closer and closer. Until… BAAM!"_

Evan's sudden shout caused me to jump out of my skin. My heart was going to burst out of fear and he was having fun telling me that story? How could he talk about it so calm? His own protégé was hurt in that incident!

" _Despite the odds, the two girls both survived that crash. But Miuko was in a heavy condition, with intense internal bleeding, extreme trauma to the brain, broken bones piercing through her organs. A bloody mess that the doctors were trying to stabilize for hours despite knowing that the girl's time has come. Her soul belonged to death, and there was nothing that could change it. No matter how much Sereny prayed, her God didn't answer. He abandoned both her and her friend, left the one to die and the other to cry over her grave. But as she waited outside she was met with another higher power at work."_

I felt a sudden change in Evan's tone during that last sentence. Gone, was the sorrowful tone, replaced by a sense of… accomplishment. Gone was any feeling of sympathy that was in his words and pride took its place. His lips turned into a smug smile as he reached with his hand and looked down in front of himself like there was someone before him.

"Why are you crying, little girl?" After saying that, he placed two hands over his face and began to softly whimper as he spoke in a more childish voice. "My friend is hurt, mister! I'm praying to God that they heal!" After that, he returned to his previous position. "Ah, poor little girl. But I have the power to heal your friend, make it so that both of you will live happily together forever!"

"What did you do?" I asked – demanded from him.

"What I did? Oh, where do I start explaining it to you?" Evan tapped his chin. "Ah, I know. You see, during the time I came across Sereny, LINK VRAINS was already a thing. The power to transport one's consciousness to the virtual world and then back to the body was within the hands of humankind. But to me, such technology was the key to something more. Something that the fools at SOL didn't have the visit for. The ability, to move one person's consciousness to the body of another."

" _You haven't…"_ Firera placed a hand over her mouth. I had to look away in disgust. He couldn't have really done what I think he did, could he?

"Really mister?" he continued speaking in that childish voice before turning back to his adult one, smiling. "Of course, little girl. There's nothing that **I** can't do. Just follow me." He then took a deep breath, dropping the act, and continued to talk with a smug smirk. "One small detail that I forgot to tell Sereny during the produce was, that a body can't keep two consciousness at once, so once a new one enters, the old one disappears."

"You killed her…" My arms wrapped around my trembling body. It wasn't from the cold. Anger was rising inside my chest, like a burning inferno that wanted to burn everything inside me to a cinder. "How could you do that?"

"It was in the name of science, of course." Evan chuckled. "But as she laid on the operating room, restrained next to her dying friend, she couldn't stop asking questions. 'Why isn't Miuko waking up sir?', 'When will Miuko wake up?', 'Something's wrong sir, why can't I remember my last name?'. Seriously, I regret not placing her under some anesthetic at the time. That little brat just kept asking me question, after question, _**AFTER QUESTION**_!"

He… He was getting mad at that? After tricking a girl and erasing everything that she ever was, he was getting angry that she asked him a question? That she wasn't going to blindly trust him as she was being erased? Monster… monster… He was a monster!

"But the important part was, my little experiment worked. When Sereny opened her eyes again, the one on the inside was Miuko. To say that she was surprised to find herself inside her friend's body, being called by her name, while the pulse of her old body stopped… would be an understatement." Evan gritted his teeth in anger. "I expected her to be sad about her friend. But I thought that she would react the way a child reacts when their pet days. She would mourn for a day or two and get over it, thank me for resurrecting her, giving her a second life at the cost of that worthless girl. But no! I soon found out that little brat was suffering from depression that only got worse when she realized that her best friend has died to give Miuko a second chance to live."

"Then she committed suicide." When I first read the whole story, I thought that it was a tragedy that resulted in the death of two innocent girls, but now I know better. It wasn't an accident, it was a demon that murdered them!

"Not quite." Evan shook his finger. "I tried to heal her depression. Went to all the best therapists, brought all sort of medicaments, in the end, I gave her the BrioGear deck and started training her expecting the training to get her mind off that worthless sacrifice. But nothing worked. And one day, I walked inside her room to check on her, only to find my apprentice lying in her bed surrounded by the empty bottles of all the medicine we had inside our house! I rushed her to the hospital, specifically to the doctors who were working for me and my little experiments. I was fast enough and they were able to save her."

"But the files say that Sereny Blanc died!" I shouted.

"And you've got no idea how much that death certificate cost me." Wait, did he just say 'cost'? "After her little attempt, I finally realized that I was trying to achieve my objectives with the wrong methods. Why place one's consciousness inside someone else's body, when I could just erase it completely and place one of my liking inside their heads? At first, I was planning to recreate my twin sister through that 'doll' but no matter how much I tried, the personality was always wrong, always missing something. It was because the memories I tried to place inside her brain, were ones from mine, the Elizabeth I was trying to create was based of my memories, not the true thing."

Elizabeth… Wait for a moment, if my Elizabeth's name was Elizabeth Greyson and Evan Greyson's sister was named the same way… No, there couldn't really be a connection between the two! My Elizabeth was an only child, she didn't ever mention having any siblings! She wouldn't hide something like that from me, right?

"It was after the fifth failure to recreated Elizabeth inside Sereny's body that it finally hit me." Evan continued speaking, and I was listening. So was Firera, recording everything that he was saying right now. I wasn't going to let him walk away from all the monstrous things that he did. "Why was I trying to recreate that worthless _**bitch**_ , when I could put that technology on a much better use. I could create my own heir! Someone who would continue my legacy! A new Evan who made from all the 'best' parts of me, and those worthless subjects I still call my sisters."

I glared at Avice. She noticed that and turned away, rubbing her hands together. Sister or not, I couldn't understand why she would choose to side with him. A person who faked even the love for his own sisters, his own family.

" _You're insane,"_ Firera stated. _"That's the only diagnostic I can make taking into account your behavior. You're clinically insane, and you need help."_

"Ah, everyone loves to call me that." Evan sighed and placed a hand over his chest. "I'm just an insane guy, a psychopath. But let me tell you something since my sister left me, I haven't felt better! All those restrains I used to keep this side of me locked. Ever since I was a child, I could see it clear: I was meant to rule over the world! I simply didn't want to give in to that urge. But now I'm fixed!"

My God, he was really insane! He still hasn't told me anything about how he took me from my world and pulled me here, but I wasn't sure if I ever wanted to know that anymore. I wasn't even sure if I could trust what he had to say. Everything was so complex, damn it!

"But let's not get out of track, shall we?" Evan grinned. "So, as I was saying, I turned my efforts from recreating that bitch, into modeling an heir for myself. And believe me when I tell you, placing such an intense murderous intense, along with the collected mind of a genius strong enough to keep my base instincts at bay, was hard. One of the doctors that helped even got his throat bitten off after one reprogramming. I also had to get someone to surgically the face and fingerprints of my little princess to ensure that no one would realize that it was Sereny. The whole experiment took me nearly two years to complete, with the programmed personalities failing or glitching every time. But in the end, I was able to create the perfect personality. I named her, Roxanna Petit."

"No…" My eyes widened in shock. He couldn't be saying the truth… "You're lying!" It was impossible! He had to be lying! I remembered it all clearly, the taste of the cake I and my family ate during my last birthday, the pain when I fell while sporting and wounded my knee. The card that Elizabeth gave me! Monster Reincarnation! Yes, it was here as well!

"Lying? Oh, I guess that you might react that way when you realize what you're destined to become." No! I would never turn into him! I was him! All of this story, it was FAKE! Every bit of it, he was just trying to manipulate me, play with my mind!

"Shut up!" I yelled. "Resume the duel! It's my turn, and because I've got no cards in my hand, the effect of BrioGear Lost State lets me draw two cards instead of one during my Draw Phase! Draw!"

 **『** **Turn 5 [Roxy] LP: 500 Hand: 2** **』**

"When there are no monsters in my Main Monster Zone, I can activate _BrioGear Ascending_ by targeting BrioGear Howling Guardian in my Graveyard! I gain Life Points equal to Howling Guardian's attack points, and then I return it back into my Extra Deck!"

 **『** **Roxy LP: 500 + 2400** → **2900** **』**

"I activate the effect of BrioGear Cryo Raptor to target BrioGear Drifting Bichir in my Graveyard. I Special Summon both targets on my field!" The pair of Level 1 Tuners appeared before my in Defense Position. "Drifting Bichir's effect allows me to revive a monster from my Graveyard in Attack Position, but with its effects negated and attack halved. Revive, _BrioGear Wave Crusader (Lv.4, ATK: 1700/2_ → _850)_!"

"Hoo! Thanks to my monsters you got three zones to Special Summon your Extra Deck monsters to. All of this, and not a single 'Thank you, dad', huh?" I was trying my hardest to ignore his voice, but it was getting to me.

" _Shut up!"_ Firera shouted in my place. _"Roxy, focus on my voice, not his! Link Summon BrioGear Damsel Fish!"_

"I figured that out already! Appear again, the circuit of life!" I nodded and threw my arm forward, summoning my circuit. "Appear again, the circuit of life! Arrowhead confirmed! Summoning condition is one Level Four or lower WATER monster! I set BrioGear Wave Crusader in the Link Marker! Link Summon! Come out, _BrioGear Damsel Fish (ATK: 500, Link-1)_!"

" _Now search, 'you know who'."_ I listened to Firera again. 'That' card would give us the edge that we needed.

"Damsel Fish' effect activates. When it's Link Summoned, I can add a card that lists oGear from my deck to the hand. The card I choose is this one, _Elemental Lords of Gear_!" I looked at the card. Avice never tried to get that one back… Did she let me use it deliberately? If so, I had the power of all oGear users combined to fight Evan's ChronoGears!

"So you let her keep that card?" Evan looked at Avice, causing his sister to start trembling and shaking her head. What have you done to your own sister to get such a reaction out of her?

"I'll activate Elemental Lords of Gear to the zone that Damsel Fish points toward! Then I'll activate its effect!" I raised my arm and began to chant. "I plead before the Elemental Lords of Gear to grand me their power! With their blessing, I'm able to evolve my Link Monsters! Appear, the spinning circuit of bonds!"

A blue bolt of lightning shot out of my palm and transformed into a large gear rotating over my head.

" _Rising tides, unchain the mortal body binding my monster and open the gates of the great ocean through an abysmal sacrifice!_ " I changed as Damsel Fish turned into pure energy and flew through the tunnel. " _Link-Up! Aim your restless bow of justice, the huntress hunting the evil plaguing this world! Grand Ranger Serene (ATK: 2100, Link-2)!_ "

"Again, Roxy!" Firera shouted. "Link Summon again!"

"I know that already!" I shouted back before raising my arms to summon another circuit. "Appear, the circuit of life!" I would destroy that formation he has created, one piece at a time!

"Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are two or more WATER Effect monsters. I set BrioGear Drifting Bichir and the Link Two, Grand Ranger Serene, in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Link Three! _Storm Serene the BrioGear Ranger (ATK: 2300, Link-3)_!" the Link-3 evolution of my ace flew through the circuit and landed before me.

Suddenly, Serene hissed and blue aura burst from around her as Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer narrowed its eyes and a purple aura surrounded it. Did… Did my and Evan's ace monsters declared their hatred for each other? I was getting sidetracked!

"I activate Storm Serene's effect! When she's Link Summoned, you must shuffle cards from your field to the deck, equal to the total Link Rating of the Link Monster used as materials! _Torrential Tune_!" I used the single Link 2 Grand Ranger Serene, so Evan had to return two of his monsters back into the Extra Deck.

"I return Diabolic Phantomus the Hollow Slayer and Exotic Sola the Link Seraph back to my Extra Deck!" the two monsters fell on the ground and fell asleep before their bodies turned into data that flew back to Evan's Extra Deck.

I could use Storm Serene and Cryo Raptor to summon Firera and take down Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer, and I wouldn't lose the protection from Elemental Lords of Gear, because Firera had the right Link Markers!

"Appear, the circuit of life!" the large mirror-like circuit appeared before me. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are two or more Effect Monsters! I set the Link Three, Storm Serene the BrioGear Ranger and BrioGear Cryo Raptor in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Firera, Firmware Cyberse Dragon (ATK: 2800, Link-4)_!"

"Now you're in trouble!" Firera jumped off my Duel Disk and data surrounded her as she took her dragon form and landed in front of Elemental Lords of Gear, linking to it. "Because Firera doesn't point to any monsters, her first effect won't be applied. Battle! Attack Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer! _Subzero Flare_!"

Firera slammed her blade-like arms together while her tails began to charge with electricity and flew over to the lower pair of wings, which absorbed it. Small holes opened in the dragon's upper wings and they began to emit a white gas that froze everything around the monster, including its arms. The electricity surged through the dragon's body and connected to the arms. Firera roared and threw her blades to the side, creating an 'X' of electricity and the strange freezing gas that flew at Diabolic Phantomus, slamming it. The Fiend roared as its body was flung back and then exploded, dealing some damage to Evan.

 **『** **Evan LP: 6600 – 500** → **6100** **』**

"I almost couldn't believe that you stroke me with so much hatred and anger." Evan dusted his jacket and looked at me with the 'I told you so' look all over his face. "Tell me, Firera, did Roxy became more short-tempered after witnessing Blaze Rose's defeat?"

Wait, how did he know about that? Firera looked back at me, even in her dragon form, I could read all of the emotions that were in her eyes. She turned back to Evan and lowered her head. No… I really wasn't like him! I knew it! I had a real family, I wasn't created inside a laboratory!

"The only reason why you don't accept this is that you're not complete yet," Evan said. "After every reprogramming, you need some time to get used to the new memories, it usually takes a few days, during which you remain in a coma. But this time, there was a glitch that caused you to wake up before your new memories were fully ingrained into your brain. I believe that the reason for your premature arrival has to be a traumatic memory of a past life resurfacing into your current set of memories."

A traumatic event from a past life… Was he, referring to the car accident I suffered in my world? No, I still don't believe him!

"Not convinced yet?" Evan rubbed his forehead. "Your father's name was Patrick Elwin Petit, right?" I… I never told him my father's name… "And your monster's was Ethelyn Letha Petit. Her last name before the marriage was Paget, correct?"

"No, that can't be… You can't know those names!" He just couldn't… It wasn't possible for his words to be true…

"Given your partnership with Playmaker, I figured out that you must have woken up before the 'memories' of your family and friends being massacred by him were ingrained into you." Evan rubbed his forehead. "What a pain…"

"Memories of Playmaker killing my family…" Wait, that didn't make sense. "Why would you try to implant such specific memories into me?"

"Why else? To make it easier for you to kill him when the time comes." Evan shrugged. "My original plans were for you to wake up after LINK VRAINS was destroyed. Then I was going to send you to kill Yusaku and his friend. Of course, that plan had to go to the trash when I found out that you've started to have feelings for him. I had to use one of my other plans to take him down."

"Wait, you said that you wanted me to wake up after LINK VRAINS' destruction… Was that your doing as well? Did you destroy LINK VRAINS?" I was really, really hoping that he would say no. That it was just a coincidence, but deep inside I knew…

"Who else?" Evan laughed. "There wasn't any real traps? When we separated, I went to murder Dr. Kogami, then I used a shortcut to reach the core before you. Of course, I wasn't going to have enough time to do what I wanted without being spotted, so I set down a trap and trapped myself into it, making it look like the Knights' security system caught me. After you left for the core, I just had to hide, wait for Revolver to come and take you out for your duel, then I quickly went and reprogrammed the Tower, connecting it to my Duel Disk instead to Revolver's along with several other modifications to its fire range."

" _All those deaths… Because of you!"_ Firera roared and swung her tail to hit him, but Satanel blocked it.

"But why? Why would you do that?" I asked him. "What did they do to you?"

"Nothing, really." Evan shrugged. "I didn't kill them because I hated them, but because a sacrifice had to be made. You see, I reprogrammed the Tower of Hanoi to destroy only LINK VRAINS for a specific reason. I wanted it to act as a beacon. I knew that this blast would be sensed by the other Ignis, that they would realize that the Knights of Hanoi tried to murder them with their new weapon. Imagine that someone drops a nuke onto the house next to yours while they were trying to hit you. Would you just stand there and wait, or would you take arms and eliminate the enemy before they kill you?"

"Aqua said that the Ignis were divided on whenever they should or shouldn't attack the human world…" I can't believe it. He used the Tower to manipulate them into starting a war with us! "Do you understand what you have done? The Ignis now hate humans? What makes you think that they won't go after you?"

"I've got a plan ready for that. Or, a series of plans, if I have to be precise." Evan said. "I already have full control. No one can oppose me! SOL Technology? After LINK VRAINS' destruction and the death of thousands, they are under criminal investigation. The Knights of Hanoi are terrorists that would be shot on sight if found. And with my new security system, they will never be able to return back here!"

"You drove two species to war that would destroy Earth!" Firera roared. "Do you know how many casualties your actions would cost the human world?"

"My personal hopes are for around eight billion, but since I and my pet Ignis would need some slave labor, I would be willing to reduce the number." Evan chuckled. "Seriously, to think that such a potential would have been buried by Dr. Kogami. The man was a genius, creating such a powerful weapon of death as the Ignis, but he was too narrow-minded. He couldn't see the potential of his creation. A successor he wanted, but he didn't want to admit that in order for the Ignis to be humanity's successors, humans had to be gone. My plans on the other hands are better for everyone."

"Your plans are to let the Ignis enslave the human species!" I yelled. "That's not better, it's insane!"

"Dr. Kogami created the Ignis because he thought that humans have reached the limit of their evolution!" Evan shouted back at me. "But the truth is, humans' evolution didn't reach a limit, it simply stopped because it was no more necessary! Humans no longer had to adapt, there we no longer any bloody wars to eliminate the weak elements, no struggle for survival. But being enslaved by another species? One that has no sympathy, who's sure to treat humans as nothing more than puppets with strings? Humans will either have to adapt and evolve into a new species strong enough to oppose their overlords, or they will just go extinct. But hey, now that Dr. Kogami is rotting in his grave, with his brain being eaten away by worms, he might become more _**open-minded**_ to my idea."

" _I just don't understand, why Aqua didn't notice that you were lying to us the whole time!"_ Firera shouted. _"She's the Ignis with the ability to tell lie from truth, so how did you trick her powers?"_

"And when did I like to you, hmm?" Evan crossed his arms. "I told you, I've got no interest in destroying the Cyberse, and that was true. You see, one must say a specific thing for it to be a lie. But if you are careful with your words, you can say the truth, without saying it."

"Just take your turn already." I hissed. I couldn't stand listening to his sick talk.

"If you insist." Evan bowed. "It's my turn. Draw!"

 **『** **Turn 6 [Evan] LP: 6100 Hand: 7** **』**

"First I'm going to activate _Dark Hole_ , destroying all monsters on both sides of the field." A black vortex appeared in the center of the field and began to pull both of our monsters toward its center.

" _Roxy!"_ Firera roared, as she pulled herself away.

"The effect of Elemental Lords of Gear protects monsters linked to it from being destroyed by card effects!" Firera successfully flew away from the dark vortex, while Evan's two Link-5 monsters were destroyed.

" _He sacrificed the strongest of Cyberse without a second thought."_ Firera frowned.

"Because there are no Link Monsters on your field, Requiem of the Maiden will be destroyed." Evan pointed out as my Trap Card burst into particles. So that was why he sacrificed his strongest monsters… "I'm now going to activate _Soul Release_ to banish Blue Plague, three AstroGear Malnehmen and your BrioGear Madoor!"

Now my only protection against battle was removed, and worse than that, the effect of the AstroGears is about to activate.

"The effect of my three AstroGear Malnehmen activate, allowing me to draw three new cards from my deck." That made 8 cards in his hand… "Next, I'm going to banish AstroGear Gebrochen from my Graveyard to return Blue Plague back to my hand." 9 cards!?

"Now I'm going to show you one of my favorite monsters," Evan said. "This one was also a favorite of the duelist I took it from, or so I think, it was hard to understand what he's saying without a lower jaw. I Normal Summon _Blue Plague (Lv.2, ATK: 400)_ and activate its effect to Special Summon one Level Four or lower DARK monster from my hand. I Special Summon _ChronoGear Time Veiler (Lv.2, ATK: 0)_ , then I activate Fusion Substitute to fuse my two monsters together!"

" _A Fusion Summon now?"_ Firera narrowed her eyes.

Evan placed his palms together in front of himself and began to chant as his monsters turned into purple and black flames that connected, creating a whirlwind of flames behind him.

" _Two deformed emissaries of darkness forsaken by destiny! Now become one and let hell itself take into the form of a new terror! Fusion Summon! Appear! Poisonous dragon with hungry fangs. Level 8! Starving Venom Fusion Dragon (Lv.8, ATK: 2800)!_ "

I shivered at the creature's appearance. It was a slim purple dragon that crawled through the portal and stood up behind Evan with the four mouths on its back open and its front mouthpiece split to show its fangs. The monster stretched forward and roared.

"When Starving Venom is Fusion Summoned, it gains the attack power of one Special Summoned monster until the end of the turn." Evan raised his hand and snapped his fingers, giving the dragon its order. Starving Venom mouths began to absorb Firera, Firmware Cyberse Dragon's attack points.

 **Starving Venom Fusion Dragon, ATK: 2800 + 2800** → **5600**

"Starving Venom, try not to be too rough, she's my daughter after all." Hearing him call me that made me want to vomit in disgust.

The mouths on Starving Venom's back opened and a large web of purple energy appeared behind it, collecting energy for the final attack. The dragon's green eyes glowed and it roared, firing several powerful beams that fused together and stuck Firera, evaporating the dragon. I heard her screaming in agonizing pain, as I too, was screaming. The remains of Firera flew back at me, cutting through my flesh!

 **『** **Roxy LP: 2900 - 2800** → **100** **』**

"Do you get the memo now?" Evan leaned forward, placing a hand on his hips. "Without the 'Me' inside of you awaken, you're just a third rate duelist. A weakling that I can stomp onto. Let me take you, expand your mind. I tell you the world is mind, and if you follow me, it will be yours in time!"

"I… I used to look up to you…" Before all of this, before these revelations. I wanted to be just like him, and now I realize that I was him all along. "You were my idol! I really thought that cared for the real me. I was by your side in every fight! I was ready to jump in front of a blade, save your life! But the more you keep talking, I start to realize, you wouldn't do the same. And you know what? That's alright with me. I don't want your world, or whatever else you've got!"

"I activate _Ledger of Legerdemain_. Through this card's effect, I banish the top three cards of my deck face-down, but I get to add them to my hand during my third Standby Phase. This means that you're going to die on my third turn. I'll now set three cards face-down and end my turn. Starving Venom's attack now returns back to normal."

 **Starving Venom Fusion Dragon, ATK: 5600** → **2800**

So that was a countdown now? I had to work faster than the timer he set up? But would he really be able to beat me in three turns? Oh wait, it was Evan, so of course, he would manage to pull that one too. I had to be fast!

" _A-are you alright, Roxy?"_ Firera crawled out of my Duel Disk. Her body was damaged from Starving Venom's attack.

"I could ask you the same?" We were at our limits already, Evan, on the other hand, didn't seem to be anywhere near his. He just kept beating me into a pulp, then stopped himself before I lost.

I felt like a doll held by strings, a jester entertaining the dark king. He just wasn't taking me seriously, and he wasn't going to take me seriously!

"Why don't we play a game, Roxy?" W-what? I glared at Evan. "Now, now! Don't look at me like this. The rule of this game will be simple. Guess my trait that I've input into my ChronoGear deck, and you might have some chance to defeat me. Since Firera is recording, a victory for you would get a lot of views. Right, Firera?"

" _You know that I was recording you?"_ Firera's eyes widened, and so did mine. Just how far ahead was he thinking?

"Do you think that I choose to duel you here randomly?" Evan gestured around us. "This place was chosen specifically for this! Because I wanted to tell you the truth, the whole truth! But I expected you to rebel, to turn against me as all the others did. So I prepared. You see, I didn't come here after you, I came before you. I came early enough to install a system which would completely isolate Firera's signal, blocking her from uploading the recording anywhere until I either lose, or you get one mile away from it. And believe me, you won't get that far if you choose to run."

So he saw even through that? I was locked out of options then. I had to play his game, no matter how much I hate him.

"What do you mean exactly by 'trait'?" I asked him. If I was going to play his game, I at least deserved a more specific explanation of the rules.

"Exactly what the word means. A unique characteristic, something that makes me different from you, the same way you're different from Vermilya." Evan explained. "You see, when I choose my apprentices, I wanted the duelists that would use the oGear decks to have an… emotional bond with the deck they are given. Like how Avice's AstroGear if focused on banishing – erasing the past to build a better future. Takuma's TurboGear, a tricky deck that deceives his opponent. Vermilya's NitroGear – simple and straight forward, knowing only how to battle. And the BrioGear – A deck that focuses on sacrifice, discarding yourself for the good of the entire community."

"And the ChronoGear is a copy of you…" I was starting to see where he was going with that.

But reaching the correct answer would be tricky. I no longer knew which part of Evan was real and which one was fake. All that I knew about his ChronoGear monsters was that they all shared the ability to obtain stronger effects when summoned by another ChronoGear monster. A form of solidarity between their members, I believe. But that wasn't his trait, it was the deck's!

"It's my turn!" I didn't have time to stand around and think. I would have to figure out the correct answer while dueling. "Since I've got no cards in my hand, the effect of BrioGear Lost State lets me draw two cards instead of one during my Draw Phase! Draw!"

 **『** **Turn 7 [Roxy] LP: 100 Hand: 2** **』**

"I activate _BrioGear Symbol_ 's effect to add BrioGear Leviathan Dragon from the deck to my hand, and then I discard it. Then I activate the effect of BrioGear Ascending in my Graveyard! I discard BrioGear Geratorned whose effect returns Cryo Raptor back to my hand." I slide one card into my Graveyard and returned two. "I'm now going to activate Ascending and return Storm Serene the BrioGear Ranger back into my Extra Deck to gain Life Points equal to its attack power!"

 **『** **Roxy LP: 100 + 2300** → **2400** **』**

"I activate the effect of BrioGear Cryo Raptor to target BrioGear Drifting Bichir in my Graveyard. I Special Summon both targets on my field!" Now with Geratorned and two Spells in my Graveyard, I would be able to use the effects of Drifting Bichir and Raptor every turn! "Drifting Bichir's effect allows me to revive a monster from my Graveyard in Attack Position, but with its effects negated and attack halved. Revive, _Grand Ranger Serene (ATK: 2100/2_ → _1050, Link-2)_!"

" _You brought out Serene next to Elemental Lords of Gear."_ Firera pointed out. _"You could…"_

"No, I'm going to end it this turn," I told her. "I activate the effect of Leviathan Dragon from my Graveyard by banishing Enhance Mermail and Wave Crusader, I revive _BrioGear Leviathan Dragon (Lv.7, ATK: 2600)_!" I heard my dragon roaring from behind me and that made me smile. "I activate the effect of Leviathan Dragon to revive _BrioGear Geratorned (Lv.4, ATK: 1400)_!"

"Appear now, the circuit of life!" my personal circuit opened in the sky once more.

"Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are two WATER monsters! I set BrioGear Cryo Raptor and Geratorned in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Come out, _BrioGear Risen Dunkle (ATK: 1000, Link-2)_!" I was already using up my whole Extra Deck to try and fight back.

"And again! Appear, the circuit of life!" A second portal opened for me. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are two or more Effect WATER Monsters! I set the Link Two Grand Ranger Serene andBrioGear Risen Dunkle in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Come out, _Storm Serene the BrioGear Ranger (ATK: 2300, Link-3)_!"

" _You brought her back by using a total of Four Link Rating to summon her…"_ Firera muttered. _"Are you trying to clear his whole field?"_

"I activate Storm Serene's effect! When she's Link Summoned, you must shuffle cards from your field to the deck, equal to the total Link Rating of the Link Monsters used as materials! _Torrential Tune_!" The total Rating of the monsters used was 4 and Evan had exactly 4 cards on his field. That was it, I win!

"I activate _Dark Spirit Art – Greed_! By releasing Starving Venom Fusion Dragon, this card lets me draw two more cards!" One of his set cards turned face-up and Starving Venom roared as it disappeared from the field.

"Your other cards are still returned back to your deck!" I pointed out as the rest of his set cards disappeared. "And due to BrioGear Lost State, I Special Summon one _BrioGear Token (Lv.1, DEF: 0)_!"

" _Serene has the ability, when it inflicts battle damage, to destroy a monster it points to and burn the opponent for half that monster's attack power."_ Firera crossed her arms and thought. _"If you activate with Leviathan now…"_

"I know." I already knew what she was suggesting to me. "Battle! Leviathan Dragon, attack my opponent directly!"

My Leviathan opened its mouth and fired a stream of water that hit Evan and knocked him back. He grunted in pain and his Life Points took a major hit!

 **『** **Evan LP: 6100 – 2600** → **3500** **』**

"Storm Serene the BrioGear Ranger, attack him directly!" The gear that held Serene's wings split open and a handle came out. She grabbed the gear and detached the wings from her back, holding them in front of herself. The blades that made her feathers, closed, giving her wings the form of a bow and a string of blue energy connected the two ends.

" _Lamenting Arrow!_ " A blue energy arrowed appeared in Serene's bow as she let go of the string and the projectile pierced right through Evan's shoulder. He groaned and held his wound with his arm, then chuckled. He thought that this was funny!?

 **『** **Evan LP: 3500 – 2300** → **1200** **』**

"I activate the effect of Storm Serene the BrioGear Ranger!" I was going to show him funny! "When Storm Serene destroys a monster by battle, I can destroy a monster that's next to her arrow and inflict half of its attack power as damage to you! Help me out once more, Leviathan Dragon! _Soul Blast of Leviathan_!"

A second arrow appeared in Serene's bow and Leviathan Dragon fused with it, giving its power to us. Half of 2600 was 1300 and Evan's Life Points were only 1200.

"I activate the effect of _Infinite Impermanence_ from my hand! When there are no cards on my field, I can use this card to negate the effects of one of your monsters." Storm Serene suddenly cried out and the arrow she was using turned back into Leviathan Dragon.

"I end my turn…" I gritted my teeth. He played me again.

"What a disappointment." Evan sighed. "It's my turn again. I draw."

 **『** **Turn 8 [Evan] LP: 1200 Hand: 4** **』**

"Two turns until your defeat," Evan stated. "I activate _**Elemental Lords' Contract**_! Through its effect, I banish one Link Monster in my graveyard to revive another one with the same Link Ratings, but a different attribute. Transcendent Angel Queen Adriela – The Ultimate Destroyer will sacrifice herself to revive _Transcendent Devil Emperor Satanel – The Absolute Paradox (ATK: 3200, Link-5)_!"

The demon rose back on the field, towering in front of Storm Serene.

* * *

 **Elemental Lords' Contract (Spell) Normal**

 **Activate this card by banishing 1 Link Monster from your field or GY: Special Summon 1 Link Monster from your GY, who's Link Ratings are equal to the banished monster's but with a different Attribute. If this card is in your GY, except during the turn it was sent there; you can banish this card and 1 Link Monster in your Graveyard to Special Summon 1 Link Monster from your GY, with an equal or lower Link Rating than that monster. You can only activate 1 "Elemental Lords' Contract" per turn.**

* * *

"Did you seriously think that you could outsmart me? That there's a single combo in your deck I haven't seen coming?" He titled his head to the side. "What kind of person do you think would fake his own daughter's death? You have to be the kind of person that no one would dare to question! The type who would burn away the past to invest in the future! I'm the person who turned the orphans into a business!"

Takuma, Vermilya, even Sereny and Miuko. He used all of them, manipulated them to get what he wanted out of them. Even me… He tied strings around me and sent me out to do his dirty work!

"You just destroyed their lives. You destroyed mine too." I hissed back at him. "Look at me? Who am I anymore? Am I Roxanna Petit, or Sereny Blanc?"

"I brought all of you to the top, taught you how to wage wars, fight the fire with fire!" Evan shouted back. "It's your fault thinking so much about identity. Just let that concept die as I did. It's not too late for you to join with me, become the Roxy I sculpted you to be!"

"I would rather die!" I yelled.

"Strong words after I already got you to bark at my command like a dog!" He laughed back. "Here's something fun! You've been my ace in the hole long before the tower! How else do you think I was able to get my plan of Playmaker's downfall to begin?"

"Don't think that one victory makes you better than him!" Even if it was true, I wasn't going to admit it. "Even if you beat me here, Yusaku will still be able to defeat you!"

"He won't if he doesn't get to fight me again." Evan chuckled. "You're an idiot! A brainless girl believing that friendship can save the day! Newsflash, you never tried to understand what Playmaker truly is! He's not a hero, nor a symbol of revenge. Playmaker is just a teen's hand placed protectively over the broken heart of a traumatized six years old! He's cold and distant to those around him because he was afraid of being betrayed again because his bleeding hearth would shatter if those he trusted backstabbed him again!"

"But then… When you told him to cherish the people around him you were…" My eyes widened.

"I set him down a path of self-destruction," Evan smirked. "Imagine it! If Kusanagi's brother was at the line, would he stick with Playmaker or betray him? If Ai, the reincarnation of Yusaku's child-self, betrayed him and joined the other Ignis, if he fought back desperately waiting for his sidekick to help him out, but you never show up – what would happen to him?"

"You used me like this…" I'm sorry Yusaku!

"To win isn't about defeating someone." Evan continued to speak. "It's about destroying them, about inflicting as much mental anguish as possible, destroy their psychic, so the enemy would never recover."

" _Then we won't let that happen!"_ Firera shouted. _"We'll stop you!"_

"Show me how you plan to do that!" He laughed. "I activate Satanel's effect! I negate the effects of all other co-linked monsters and give them to him!"

Great, his monster's able to take other monsters' effects the same way Phantomus is able to adapt to any situation. Wait… Adapt… When Evan Link Summons Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer he calls it 'My dark soul'. Evan did put something from himself inside the ChronoGears, he placed it in Phantomus and Satanel. More than that, Satanel's appearance and effect change to fit their user. That was it!

He was the most adaptive of us. That's why he was able to use the other oGear decks together with his so easily. Why he always had a counter prepared for my moves.

"Let's battle! I attack Leviathan Dragon with Satanel. _End of Time_!" The Link 5 flew over my dragon and slammed its fist down, burning the ground around us.

 **『** **Roxy LP: 2400 - 600** → **1800** **』**

"And now Satanel's effect activates! Since it inflicted damage to you, I can destroy one monster that's linked to it and inflict half of its attack power as damage to you! Be gone, Storm Serene! _**Soul Blast of Ranger**_!"

Satanel fired a stream of purple flames, engulfing my monster in burning darkness. I took a step back. The flames were hot, much hotter than a hologram should be!

 **『** **Roxy LP: 1800 - 1150** → **650** **』**

"And don't forget, because Satanel was able to use that effect, it gets a second attack! Destroy BrioGear Token!" The demon slammed its burning fist on my field once more, destroyed the last monster that I had.

"I'm now going to activate _ChronoGear Reborn_ to revive _ChronoGear Blue Plague (Lv.2, ATK: 400)_ , and through its effect, I can Life Points equal to Satanel attack points" He has been preparing…

 **『** **Evan LP: 1200 + 3200** → **4400** **』**

"Appear now, the circuit of past and future!" The dark void pulsed behind Evan as his monsters flew into the abyss of darkness. "Arrowhead confirmed. Summoning condition is one Level Two or lower oGear monster. I set Blue Plague in the Link Market. Link Summon! _ChronoGear Time Manipulator (ATK: 900, Link-1)_!" A slightly more grown-up version of Time Veiler appeared on the field.

" _If he summoned that monster before the battle…"_ Firera looked at me.

He would have won. Like every other time that I barely survived. He was holding back, maybe hoping that I would rethink my decision and join him. But I won't! I now know the source of his power, so if I am to defeat him, I must do something he doesn't have time to adapt to.

"Appear again, the circuit of past and future!" Another Link Summon!? "Arrowhead confirmed. Summoning condition is one oGear Link Monster! I set Time Manipulator in the Link Marker. Link Summon! _**ChronoGear Eternal Maiden**_!"

A large clock gear formed in front of Evan and started spinning. A beam of purple light shot out of the gear and a girl with long orange hair, wearing a brown ribbon bow tie over a white shirt, a matching short skirt and pink boots appeared on the field. She looked back at me and frowned before stretching her arm toward, commanding the gear to move behind her, and so it did. She then held out her arms and two hourglasses appeared floating in front of her.

* * *

 **ChronoGear Eternal Maiden**

 **Attribute: DARK/Type: Machine/Link/Effect**

 **L-Markers: Left**

 **ATK: 0/Link-1**

 **1 "oGear" Link Monster, expect "ChronoGear Eternal Maiden"**

 **Effect: This card cannot be targeted for an attack or with card effects, but it doesn't stop your opponent from attacking you directly. Monsters linked to this card cannot leave the field because of an opponent's card or effect. If this card is co-linked, you can make 1 instance of Battle Damage 0. You can only use this effect of "ChronoGear Eternal Maiden" once while it's on the field.**

* * *

"Eternal Maiden's effect activates!" Evan shouted. "While it's linked to Satanel, you can't remove Satanel from my field with card effects! I end my turn."

" _If he can't destroy it with card effects, our only remaining choice is to destroy it through battle,"_ Firera said. _"But you don't have a monster strong enough in your Extra Deck."_

"But I have you," I told her. "Just trust me. Because of Lost State's effect, I draw two cards once again!"

 **『** **Turn 9 [Roxy] LP: 650 Hand: 2** **』**

"I activate the effect of BrioGear Ascending in my Graveyard! I discard BrioGear Ark of Silence to return Ascending back to my hand, then Ark of Silence's effect activates from my Graveyard, activating itself into my Field Zone." Ark of Silence's effect would place a Life Counter on itself every time I discard a card, and if I discard 3, I can summon a monster with over 3200 attack points.

"I activate Ascending to return Geratorned back to my hand and gain Life Points equal to its attack power!" Healing, I had to heal and rise my Life Points!

 **『** **Roxy LP: 650 + 1400** → **2050** **』**

"I'll now activate the effect of BrioGear Symbol in my Graveyard to discard Geratorned and return the spell back to my hand. Then Geratorned's effect activates, returning Cryo Raptor back to my hand!" That made one counter…

" _Due to Ark of Silence's effect, our Field Spell now gains one Life Counter!"_ Firera declared. _"And for every counter, two hundred attack points are added to all of our monsters!"_

"I activate _BrioGear Symbol_ to add BrioGear Sea Snake to my hand, and then I discard it." Two counters… "And Sea Snake's effect activates! I discard BrioGear Flyoat to draw two new cards!" Three counters…

"I'm now going to activate Monster Reincarnation to discard BrioGear Freakiver and return Firera back to my Extra Deck!" Four counters…

"I activate the effect of BrioGear Cryo Raptor to target BrioGear Drifting Bichir in my Graveyard. I Special Summon both targets on my field!" The two BrioGear monsters appeared together on my field once again. "Drifting Bichir's effect allows me to revive a monster from my Graveyard in Attack Position, but with its effects negated and attack halved. Revive, _Grand Ranger Serene (ATK: 2100/2_ → _1050, Link-2)_!"

" _I'm ready to fight!"_ Firera jumped on my Duel Disk. _"Summon me, again!"_

"Appear, the circuit of life!" I jumped back and summoned the circuit in the ground before me. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are two or more Effect Monsters! I set Drifting Bichir, BrioGear Cryo Raptor and the Link Two, _Grand Ranger Serene_ in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Come forth, Link Four! _Firera, Firmware Cyberse Dragon (ATK: 2800, Link-4)_!"

" _And due to Ark of Silence's effect, I gain eight hundred more attack points."_ Firera roared, spreading out her wings.

 **Firera, Firmware Cyberse Dragon, ATK: 2800 + 200*4** → **3600**

"I banish BrioGear Lotaxol and BrioGear Freakiver from my Graveyard to Special Summon BrioGear _Leviathan Dragon (Lv.7, ATK: 2600 + 800_ → _3400)_!" The dragon raised again. "I activate Leviathan Dragon's effect to revive BrioGear Drifting Bichir, then BrioGear Drifting Bichir's effect revives _BrioGear Geratorned (Lv.4, ATK: 1400/2_ → _700 + 800_ → _1500)_!"

"I'm not done yet!" There was one more thing I had to do before I could enter the battle. "I tune the Level Four BrioGear Geratornedto the Level One BrioGear Drifting Bichir!"

A bolt of green lightning fell from the sky to my field and the two monsters turned into differently sized rings made of water with pieces of ice shaped like the numbers '4' and '1' floating next to each ring. The rings overlaid with each other, creating a tunnel of ice with a beam of blue light shooting out of it as I began to chant.

" _To the deeps of the ocean, I call for the strength to protect this world! Synchro Summon BrioGear Howling Guardian (Lv.5, ATK: 2400 + 800_ → _3200)!_ "

"Our formation is complete!" I declared. "Battle! Firera, attack Satanel! _Subzero Flare_!"

Firera slammed her blade-like arms together while her tails began to charge with electricity and flew over to the lower pair of wings, which absorbed it. Small holes opened in the dragon's upper wings and they began to emit a white gas that froze everything around the monster, including its arms. The electricity surged through the dragon's body and connected to the arms. Firera roared and threw her blades to the side, creating an 'X' of electricity and the strange freezing gas that charged at Satanel.

"I activate Satanel's quick effect!" Evan raised his arm. "When it's co-linked, I can share the effects of all my co-linked monsters with all co-linked monster on my field. So because of Eternal Maiden's effect now applied on Satanel,' you can now only attack me directly!"

Why would he choose to take three powerful direct attacks instead? Something wasn't right here, but I didn't have time to ponder on it. "Firera, attack the opponent directly!"

"I activate Eternal Maiden's effect! Once while it's co-linked, I can make an instance of battle damage zero!" A barrier appeared before him, stopping my attack. So that was why…

"Then I'm going to attack you directly with Howling Guardian!" the rocket pats on my monster's shoulders opened and it fired an array of explosives down onto Evan's field, taking most of his Life Points.

 **『** **Evan LP: 4400 - 3200** → **1200** **』**

"The effect of Howling Guardian now activates, increasing my Life Points by the damage you took!" My Synchro monster turned around and held out its arm, surrounding me with a blue aura.

 **『** **Roxy LP: 2050 + 3200** → **5250** **』**

"And lastly, Leviathan Dragon is going to attack you directly!" my dragon fired another stream of water at Evan.

"Due to Eternal Maiden's effect that Satanel has obtained, I make the damage zero!" a barrier formed in front of him, blocking this attack as well.

"I… end my turn." I collapsed from exhaustion. How was he able to keep doing this? Fighting back and forth like that?

"It's my turn now." He dusted himself and drew.

 **『** **Turn 10 [Evan] LP: 1200 Hand: 3** **』**

"On my next turn, I'm going to end this duel," Evan said. "On this turn, I'm going to destroy all the hope that you built on your field. Again." Seriously? I had over 4000 more Life Points than him and all of my monsters were on par with his!

"I activate the effect of _Elemental Lords' Contract_! I banish this card and the Link Two, AstroGear Das Unknown to Special Summon a monster from my Graveyard with equal Link Rating. Serve me, _ChronoGear Time Tamer Kitty (ATK: 1700, Link-2)_!"

"Can't you… just give up?" I suggested.

"Don't fall right now." He ordered me. "The best part is only about to begin. Appear, the circuit of the past and future!"

I already knew what he was about to summon. With the monster that he had right now, the only monster he could summon would be…

"Arrowheads confirmed! Summon requirements are at least two DARK monsters! I set Eternal Maiden and the Link Two Time Tamer Kitty in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Diabolic Phantomus the Hollow Slayer (ATK: 2300, Link-3)_!" This one - his second Phantomus.

"Satanel's effect activates! When it's co-linked, I can activate its effect to give all co-linked monsters effects to all co-linked monsters I control. Satanel, use Hollow Slayer's effect to revive Diabolic Phantomus the _Link Slayer (ATK: 2300, Link-3)_! And now, Phantomus, use this power to restore _ChronoGear Time Tamer Kitty (ATK: 1700, Link-2)_!"

" _Four Link Monsters in an instant without play a single card…"_ Firera gulped. _"That's just…"_

"Because of the effect of Hollow Slayer that all my monsters share, they're going to give five hundred attack points to every monster they point at!"

 **Diabolic Phantomus the Hollow Slayer, ATK: 2300 + 500** → **2800**

 **Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer, ATK: 2300 + 500** → **2800**

 **ChronoGear Time Tamer Kitty, ATK: 1700 + 500** → **2200**

 **Transcendent Devil Emperor Satanel – The Absolute Paradox, ATK: 3200 + 500*2** → **4200**

"I activate the Continuous Spell – _Dimension Fissure_! Now any monster sent to the Graveyard will be banished instead!" That means that if he defeats Firera, she will be banished!

"Let's battle! Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer, attack Leviathan Dragon!" A scythe of dark energy appeared in the Fiend's arm as it swung it at my dragon. "Now I use the effect of Diabolic Phantomus! While it points at Time Tamer Kitty, he can use her effect, more specifically, the effect that allows me to absorb half of Satanel's attack power!"

 **Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer, ATK: 2800 + 2100** → **4900**

Diabolic Phantomus cut through Leviathan Dragon, splitting my monster it half before it exploded, knocking me back. I had to remember, because of Phantomus' effect, all the damage I took was doubled!

 **『** **Roxy LP: 5250 - 3000** → **2250** **』**

"Satanel, attack Firerea!" The Link 5 slammed its fist into Firera's chest, setting her on fire!

"Firera!" I cried out. She was in pain!

 **『** **Roxy LP: 2250 - 1200** → **1050** **』**

My dragon collapsed on the ground and her body shattered into pieces of data that faded away, as her AI reappeared back into my Duel Disk, with damage all over her body.

" _I'm… fine…"_ Her voice has become distorted.

"You're not fine!" I shouted.

" _Focus… duel…"_ She pointed at Evan before collapsing back into the screen of my Duel Disk.

"I'll activate Phantomus' effect!" Although he didn't specify which Phantomus' the Link Slayer moved his hand to summon a portal in the shape of gear in front of itself. "I return Time Tamer Kitty back into my Extra Deck and Special Summon _ChronoGear Pulsar Beast (Lv.4, DEF: 1200)_ from my deck! Now Pulsar Beast's effect activates, since it was summoned by the effect of a ChronoGear, it gives all of my monsters five hundred attack points."

 **Diabolic Phantomus the Hollow Slayer, ATK: 2800 + 500** → **3300**

 **Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer, ATK: 2800 + 500** → **3300**

 **ChronoGear Pulsar Beast, ATK: 1500 + 500** → **2000**

 **Transcendent Devil Emperor Satanel – The Absolute Paradox, ATK: 4200 + 500** → **4700**

"Battle! Hollow Slayer cut Howling Guardian in pieces!" Two swords made from crimson data appeared in Hollow Slayer's arm and it jumped on my Synchro, cutting its arms off.

 **『** **Roxy LP: 1050 - 200** → **850** **』**

If he used Phantomus' effect to summon Pulsar Beast before attacking with Satanel, Satanel's attack would have been enough to drop my Life Points to 50, or 0 if he attacked Hollow Guardian instead. He was still holding back!

"I one card and end my turn." A card appeared in front of Evan for a moment before fading away. "The effect of Satanel ends, and the attack of my monsters drops down."

 **Diabolic Phantomus the Hollow Slayer, ATK: 3300 - 500** → **2800**

 **Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer, ATK: 3300 - 500** → **2800**

 **Transcendent Devil Emperor Satanel – The Absolute Paradox, ATK: 4700 – 500** → **4200**

"I want to ask you something." I looked up to him. "Did you save Takuma and Vermilya from the Tower of Hanoi?"

"It wasn't because I want to." He shrugged. "Truth is…"

* * *

 **3** **rd** **POV**

PhantomFire slowly entered the control room of the Tower of Hanoi. He looked around the place, it was empty, as he expected.

Proxy and Playmaker were fighting against Revolver on the top of the Tower of Hanoi, keeping the leader and themselves busy for long enough to let the ChronoGear user reprogram the Tower's function.

" _Do you really plan to kill thousands of people?"_

PhantomFire paused and turned around to see ONI standing behind him. But he could tell, the one controlling his AI was someone else. Narrowing his eyes, he chooses to ignore her and turned back to the keyboard.

" _What about Aoi? And Akira? Will you sacrifice them as well?"_ ONI pressed on.

"The Zaizens and Emma still have a use for me, so I'll release them," PhantomFire replied.

" _And Takuma and Vermilya?"_

"Takuma is too engulfed in his idea of saving humanity. He's no more than a traitorous rat, and I'll deal with him as such. Vermilya served her purpose, I no longer require her service. After this ends, I'll just find someone else to take their place. As I always do."

" _Listen to yourself!"_ ONI grabbed the dark Duelist's arm and pulled him away from the keyboard. _"You raised them! They are like younger siblings to you! If I was there… Would you sacrifice me too?"_

PhantomFire paused for a moment. He looked back at the core. Would he sacrifice his sister, the last family he had? The answer was obvious. But he would never let her know.

"Fine, I'll make that small gesture because you're my sister. Vermilya and Takuma will be released."

ONI smiled at PhantomFire's understanding. He was finally starting to-! The AI gasped and looked down. A fist has torn through her stomach, leaving a large hole inside of it. The little AI looked back up and the hand grabbed its neck, pulling it off the ground.

"I might have given this AI her name and appearance in a moment of weakness, but I won't let you manipulate me with it." Evan hissed and clenched its hand. ONI's neck began to crack and then it completely gave up under the pressure. The sound of breaking glass echoed through the empty room as the body of the AI collapsed lifelessly on the ground with its head falling afterward. PhantomFire glared at the body of his helper for a moment before turning back to the keyboard.

* * *

 **Roxy's POV**

"Why?" I asked him. "How could you be willing to sacrifice everyone around you? Why do you want me to turn out like you? Tell me, damn it!"

"Why? How?" Evan tapped his chin. "Hmm, it's hard to tell. Because it's fun maybe? Would you like to listen to another tale of mine? The tale of a boy who wanted to become a hero?"

I nodded. I wasn't really interested in learning about it, but I needed to buy Firera a bit more time to recover from having her main body banished. Evan crossed his arms behind his back and took a step back, creating a distance between himself and me, then began to speak.

" _A boy walked under the light of day. It's heart pure and white, the blood – clear crimson. The boy lived a happy life with his sisters, but a part of him wanted something more. He wanted to go on an adventure. Become a hero who slays the evil and protects the good. It was a normal childish wish, but the boy's wish was heard."_ Evan paused for a moment, his hand clenched tightly into a fist.

" _One day, a powerful wizard came and told the boy that the world was in danger, a great evil was going to rise and the boy was the only one who would be able to stop it. It was the greatest day for the little boy. His one wish, to become a hero, was going to be fulfilled. Taking his sword, and joined by his caring sisters, our young hero set out on a journey to save the world._

 _And you know the rest. It was a long journey, with challenges and villains showing up to challenge our hero. But no matter what came before him, our hero would always overcome the challenges, defeat the villains, and make new friends who would join his journey. And the end of the adventure? Oh, that's my favorite part!"_

In other words, this was going to be where the tragedy strikes.

" _Like it's by a rule, a great battle between good and evil ensued. Our hero faced off against the villain of the story! The two traded blow after blow, but in the end, the hero fell injured. The villain was looming over him, laughing in victory, but the fight was not decided yet. The mighty wizard appeared again and told the hero that now was the moment, to raise his sword and stab the villain through his evil heart! And so he did. With the strength passed to him by everyone who believed in him, the hero managed to make one last decisive swing and pierced the heart of his enemy. Blood poured out of the wound, the evil was slain, and the hero triumphed once more! Or did he?_ "

Evan paused for a moment and looked at me. Like he was expecting me to answer it for him. But I didn't know, I have never heard that story. So, I asked him.

"Did he?"

"Well, let's see." Evan took a deep breath and continued.

" _The blood of the hero's own sister ran down the blade of the sword and over the hand of the boy. Watching in horror as the life faded from his sister's eyes, he realized. He was tricked, he was used as a puppet by his kindly master, the wizard. His sister died and the great monster whom her life kept imprisoned was able to raise and wreak havoc. With unimaginably pain and hatred leading him, the hero raised for one more battle and defeat the monster, putting an end of the war._

 _Everyone cheered, the evil was defeated! They raised a festival to celebrate the monster's dead! Three days and nights they ate, drank and rejoiced while the hero mourned his sister, whom he buried alone with his bloodstained hands! And everyone lived happily ever after. Well, almost everyone._ "

Evan looked at me, a sinister smile across his face as he gave me the final words of the tale. _"His heart, rotten and black, the blood – a poisonous purple. A monster crawled in the darkness of night."_

"So, your other sister is…"

"My sister is simply gone," Evan replied. "She… Funny, but I don't really know what happened to my sister. I always remember it differently. Sometimes she's just fed up with my behavior and chooses to leave, other time, I kill her like the hero in the story killed his, but the fact is that she's just gone. That's all I care about. The details are unimportant."

"Then what was the point of this story!?" I yelled at him.

"To show you why." He said. "Why I'm like this. Because I see, a world that you can't comprehend. Because there's a belief that villains and slaves to their own evil nature, while heroes are the free people who made a choice to be better! Truth is, between you and me, a hero and a villain, I'm the one holding your chains! You let your sense of moral and justice holding you back while I threw the rulebook out, burned it to ashes! I'm the you who let go of his morals! I'm the big bad guy, who _**always**_ wins!"

"Not today!" I won't let him get any further with his insane plans. "I'm going to end it all this turn! I draw!"

 **『** **Turn 11 [Roxy] LP: 850 Hand: 2** **』**

"I activate Pot of Avarice to return BrioGear Risen Dunkle, Grand Ranger Serene, Storm Ranger Serene, BrioGear Cryo Raptor and BrioGear Drifting Bichir back into my deck! Then I draw two new cards!"

"I activate the effect of Silent Ark to discard a card and destroy Satanel!" My field spell fired a blue bolt of lightning at the damn Link-5.

"I activate Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer's effect! I return Satanel back into my deck and Special Summon, ChronoGear Time Tamer Wolfy (Lv.4, DEF: 400) whose effect Special Summons the banished _ChronoGear Berfomet (Lv.4, DEF: 1800_ → _0)_!" He managed to build a wall, but a wall wouldn't be enough to stop me!

"I activate BrioGear Miracle Dive! With this card's effect, I target one of my banished Link Monsters and revive it, then I must immediately Link Summon using it, or all cards I have will be banished! Come back, _Firera, Firmware Cyberse Dragon (ATK: 2800, Link-4)_!"

"Idiot! You don't have any other monster to Link Summon with!" Evan laughed.

"I don't need another one!" I declared proudly. "This is the ultimate power of the bond between me and Firera! The following monster can be Link Summon using only Firera, Firmware Cyberse Dragon as material! Appear, the circuit of life!"

The circuit appeared and Firera turned into four whirlwinds, which flew into four of the flowers surrounding the white mirror.

"Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are two or more Effect Monsters! I set the Link Four, Firera, Firmware Cyberse Dragon in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _**Firera, Firewire Cyberse Dragon**_!"

A blue core formed inside the circuit and the outline of a monster formed around it after which it materialized. First was its chest which was made of white metal and had a large plate shaped-like a shield protecting it. Next formed its lowered body with a single heavy black tail covered in spikes and four blades jutting out of its waist, and to the sides. Then there came its arms, which were sharp moon blades attached to the main body with black joins and had large wrists with three white blades located at the inside of the blade's edge, acting as wings.

Instead of wings, the monster had four horns attached to its upper back. The first two bent upward and had a bulky shape that was a bit bigger than the dragon's main body while the second pair were slim and long, bending downward. Blue flames come out of the creature's back, keeping it airborne. Last was its head, which had four blue eyes and was covered by sharp crystal blades that stuck out of its forehead similar to a blade. The monster's mouth was split into four with a cannon located behind the jaw.

* * *

 **Firera, Firewire Cyberse Dragon**

 **Attribute: WATER/Type: Cyberse/Link/Effect**

 **L-Markers: Top, Bottom, Bottom Left, Left**

 **ATK: 2800/Link-4**

 **2+ Effect monsters**

 **Effect: If your LP are 1000 or less, you can also Link Summon this card by using a "Firera, Firmware Cyberse Dragon" you control as the Link Material. This card cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects during the turn it was Special Summoned. While this card is co-linked, any damage you would take is halved. If this co-linked card battles, you can have it gain 1000 ATK for every monster co-linked to it, and if you do, your opponent's monster loses 500 ATK for each. You can only use this effect of "Firera, Firewire Cyberse Dragon" once per turn.**

* * *

"Because your Hollow Slayer points at Firera, she gains five hundred attack points, and with my Field Spell's effect, she's going to gain eight hundred more!"

 **Firera, Firmware Cyberse Dragon, ATK: 2800 + 500 + 200*4** → **4100**

"Finally, I activate _**Subzero Flare**_! This Spell can only be activated if I control a Link Four WATER Cyberse Link Monster, and it destroys all monsters you control with fewer attack points!"

Firera roared and slammed her blade-like arms together while her tails began to charge with electricity and flew over to the lower pair of wings, which absorbed it. Small holes opened in the dragon's upper wings and they began to emit a blue flame that froze everything which came in contact with it. The electricity surged through the dragon's body and connected to the arms. Firera roared and threw her blades to the side, opening three large energy rings in front of its face. The cannon came out of Firera's mouth and fired a stream of blue flames engulfed all of Evan's monsters, incinerating them with their coldness.

* * *

 **Subzero Flare (Spell) Normal**

 **Activate this card by targeting 1 Link-4 WATER Cyberse monster you control: Destroy all monsters your opponent controls with ATK equal to, or lower than, the targeted monster's current ATK. No monsters can attack the turn you activated this effect, except for the targeted monster.**

* * *

"It's over!" I declared.

" _Shit!" Evan looked frantically around his field. "This can't be… You can't do that!"_

" _Battle! Firera, attack him directly!_ _ **Zero Wire**_ _!"_

 _Firera's arms spun backward and her fingers linked with each other, forming two large blades jutting out of the sides of her body. Her tail slammed into the ground and the blades that were attached to it drilled into the concrete. Firera roared, the blade on her forehead splitting into two, firing a crimson beam of energy at Evan._

" _Rooooooxxxxxxyyyyyy!" Evan roared as the attack collided with him and send him flying back until he hit a container and fell down._

 _ **『**_ _ **Evan LP: 1200 - 3600**_ → _**0**_ _ **』**_

 _ **『**_ _ **Winner: Roxy**_ _ **』**_

" _Ro…xy…" Evan sent a glare filled with rage toward me._

" _It's over." I took a deep breath and turned my back to him. "Our evil plan is done for. Firera, sent the video recording to the police, ASAP!"_

" _Roxy!" Firera looked at me. Something seemed to be wrong._

" _What is it?" I asked her._

" _Roxy!"_

" _What?"_

" _Roxy!"_

"What!?" I finally snapped and yelled.

"You began to stare in the distance!" Firera yelled at me. "You lost your focus in the middle of the duel!"

"What are you talking about we just won!" I pointed at Evan. "I defeat hi-"

He was standing. What the heck was going on here? I saw him lost, I defeated him! Why was he still up? Worse than that, why was Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer standing next to him? No, I had to be seeing things! I looked at my Duel Disk to check his Life Points.

 **『** **Evan LP: 550** **』**

"I… I have…" My hand began to tremble out of fear. Was I just imagine that I defeated him? Was I so afraid of him that I tried to shut out the reality and imagined a world where I was able to defeat him with this attack? I didn't know what just happened!

" _We didn't defeat him!"_ Firera shouted back at me. _"When I attack him directly, he activated Escape from the Dark Dimension and used it to return his banished Phantomus, co-linking it with myself to give it all of my abilities! I tried to ask you want to do, but you just keep staring in the distance!"_

"I… I'm sorry, I just…" I didn't know what to tell her. I didn't know how I suddenly began to see a different possibility – a different outcome.

"You played all of your cards, and you failed to defeat me." Evan sighed. "There is nothing more that you can do. It's my turn now, and I draw!"

 **『** **Turn 12 [Evan] LP: 550 Hand: 2** **』**

"The effect of _Ledger of Legerdemain_ resolves on this Standby Phase, allowing me to add the three cards that I banished back into my hand." Evan looked at the cards and then threw them to the ground. He threw the cards to the ground. "Of course, I don't need any of those in order to beat you. The only card that I ever needed, was in my hand from the start. Turn after turn, I held back from activating it. But not this time. I discard the card that I drew to activate _Super Polymerization_!"

A portal made from black, purple and red flames appeared behind Evan. Phantomus jumped inside of it and several chains made of purple energy came out, grabbing Firera's arms. My dragon roared in agony as the flames traveled through the chains and burned her arms. She threw her body around and pulled back, but the chains were pulling her inward against her will.

"Firera!" I cried out and reached for my monster, but she was pulled into the dark abyss before I could grab her.

Phantomus and Firera were engulfed by the dark flames with my monster crying out in pain as the sound of flesh tearing and bones breaking echoed through the dark night. The sound stopped, I saw Firera's body through the flames. It was… I had to place a hand over my mouth and immediately looked away as Phantomus' body merged with the remains of my dragon.

" _The demon born by time itself, tear your victims will and take its soul! Let the power of rage burn through our blackened soul! Fusion Summon!_ _ **Diabolic Phantomus the Fusion Slayer**_ _!"_

A large warrior clad in heavy dark purple armor emerged with an animalistic roar. The creature that appeared seemed to be human for the most part, it had spiky black hair with a single white stripe running through the left side of it. The monster had large black horns that appeared to be made of the same material as its armor and its eyes were covered by a mask with six orange eyes on it. A pair of metallic wings with orange joins and dark blades serving as feathers floated behind the main body even though they were detached from it. The rest of its armor appeared as purple dragon scales covering the warrior's entire body. The hands looked like claws made out of flesh and blood with spikes on the shoulders and elbows, and black gauntlets each of which had a circular blade attached to the back. The warrior's chest armor resembled the head of Firera with bared fangs and four orange orbs that were similar to her eyes. Several long blades were attached to its waist with chains that wrapped around its arms and chest. The foot of its boots was extended, appearing to have a single claw on each of them.

* * *

 **Diabolic Phantomus the Fusion Slayer**

 **Level: 9/Attribute: DARK/Type: Fiend/Fusion/Effect**

 **ATK: 2900 DEF: 2000**

 **1 "Phantomus" monster + 1 Link Monster**

 **Effect: If this card is Fusion Summoned: Return all Spell/Trap Cards on the field to their respective owner's hand, neither player can activate cards or effects in response to this effect. Once per turn: You can target 1 Link Monster in either player's Graveyard; banish that target, and if you do, until the End Phase, replace this effect with that monster's original effects. If this card destroys an opponent's monster by battle: You can Tribute this card, then Special Summon 1 "Phantomus" monster with 2800 or less ATK from your GY.**

* * *

"Firera…" I looked at my Duel Disk, but she didn't reappear.

"Hehe, looking for this?" I looked up to Evan. He was showing me his Duel Disk, with Firera behind the screen, trapped by several black chains that kept her inside.

"No…" He took her. He took away my partner!

"When the Fusion Slayer is Fusion Summoned, all Spell and Trap Cards on our fields are returned back to our hands!" Evan laughed maniacally. "Do you see it already? The truth? You're just a mistake, a glitch! You're a set of computer-generated memories! The body you are wearing isn't yours! The deck you use to fight me isn't yours! I was the only thing you had, and you threw it away! Battle! Diabolic Phantomus the Fusion Slayer, end this miserable duplicate! _**Calamity Diablo Slash**_!"

Two blades began to spin on the back of Phantomus' wrists and it threw them into the air. The fiend then fired two chains, connecting them to the spinning blades and swung them down at me. The blades hit me in the stomach and sent a searing pain that overloaded my senses. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I was launched back and slammed into the ground.

 **『** **Roxy LP: 850 - 2900** → **0** **』**

 **『** **Winner: Evan** **』**

I coughed. There was a taste of iron in my mouth, and my stomach was hurting. I clutched the place where the blades cut me. I removed one of my palms to look at it. There was blood! I was bleeding!

"Let's end this." Evan sighed. "Deactivate your Duel Disk, audi."

N-no way! My arms began to move on their own, pressing the 'deactivate' button on the side of my Duel Disk. I didn't want to, my mind was trying to fight, but my hands did it.

"W-why? Why can't I control my body?" I looked at Evan.

"Audi – a Latin word, means listen," Evan smirked. "A very simple, and familiar word. Did you believe that I would let you run around? That I would tell you all of this, give you the choice to turn against me, and not have something to counter your decision? While you were still a work in progress, I had a trigger for a post-hypnotic suggestion to be programmed into your mind. So, stand up, audi."

My body moved on its own again. Even though all the muscles in my body were hurting and my stomach was bleeding, my body stood up.

"Please… release me…" I was scared.

"Just look around yourself, Roxy?" Evan gestured around us. "The world is already on its knees, SOL Technology, the Knights of Hanoi, Playmaker, everyone already failed without realizing it. Why do normal people try to build empires, when I can just take one from someone else? And if you believe that this, right here, is the pinnacle, if you believe that what you saw until now is as bad as it gets, then I promise you, it will only get worse from here on."

"I'm… sorry… Please…" I just want to go! Please, I don't want to be hurt anymore!

"All of this, happened thanks to you." Evan walked toward me. Slowly. Every step making my heart beat faster, raising the anxiety and fear. "You were just a performer, and I've cast the play." He walked next to me and pulled me closer, pressing our shoulders together. "Did you enjoy it? I drew the curtains, you faced the crowd. You knew your lines without being told even once. You played my part - that made me proud. But now, it's time for the applause to stop and for you, to take a _**bow**_!"

My eyes widened as with the last word, Evan drove his fist into my stomach, pushing all of the air out. I gasped, my mouth was open, trying to form some scream, but no sound came out. I collapsed on my knees with a silent scream, clutching my stomach with both hands.

"You did a good job, so I promise to make your death a quick one!" A handful of my hair was pulled back, forcing me to look him in the eyes.

"No…" I don't want to! I don't want to die!

"You were born because I choose so!" He yelled and slammed his fist into my face. "You're nothing next to me!" He hit me again before I could try to say something. "I personify the darkest of all people!"

He slammed his fist into my face a third time, dropping me on the ground. I coughed and looked at Avice. She had put her hand to her mouth. I tried to reach out toward her for help. Please, someone…

"That's enough!" Avice shouted. "You don't need to kill her! We can do this in a different way! Let her be! We can reprogram her!"

"Shut up!" One command from Evan was enough to make her step back and close her mouth.

Evan grabbed the back of my collar and began to drag me toward somewhere. I tried to look behind myself, to see where he was dragging me, but all I saw was the edge of the docks. Fear took over all of my remaining strength and I began to try and get his hand off me. I kicked, I hit threw my arms, around.

"Don't fight, audi." Until a single order made all of my body to stop resisting.

"Is that the gratitude I deserve for creating you?" He asked, dragging my body around. "I treated you more like a father that even yours did!"

"Please… don't…"

"You think that you have the power to stop me? You're just a firefly and I'm the sun! Who told you that you have a destiny, that you would achieve great things? Who filled your head with memories and tore away your wings? You made you the person you're and directed you to all the things you'd accomplish? If you don't call this family, then I don't know what you will!"

"Stop! Please!" Avice grabbed her brother's arm and pulled him. "Don't do it! Please!"

"I told you already!"

Evan pulled away and slapped his sister across the face. My eyes widened in shock as she fell on the ground, holding her cheek. I looked up to Evan. His hold on my collar weakened and his eyes were fixated on his sister. I could escape! This was my chance, but my body wouldn't move! I was told not to resist.

"This is the first time I've ever hit you…" He whispered.

His grip on my collar strengthened once more and he pulled me again, moving me in front of himself. He pulled me up onto my feet and placed his hands on the sides of my head, holding me in place. Our eyes stared at the other. Every cell of my body was trembling in fear of what he was about to do next.

"I beg you… I'll... listen… don't kill…"

"Hush, little child. You're stiffed with fear." His voice was soft, almost a whisper that I could barely hear, despite how close our faces were to one another. "From death, there's no escape, that's our destiny. Do not wait for mercy, I'm your haunted crow. So don't be afraid, don't try to run or scream – I need your dying breath. I'm your _**eternal rest**_!"

"No, don't…"

Before I could say anything more, he threw me over the edge of the docks and straight into the ocean. I would have gasped from the shock, but such an action would only make my situation worse. I swarm back up, breaking through the surface of the water with a large gasp and looked up to Evan, who was standing in front of me with his hands crossed. I thought that was it. But I was wrong. He then spoke to me, his tone much darker and colder than it was ever before. My heart dropped as he gave me an order.

"Drown, audi."

* * *

" _I know, you're confused right now. Wondering, what was the point of all this. Why did I bring you here?_

 _You've thought that you had it all figured out long ago, didn't you? That you have seen and remembered all of the combinations in the deck. But be honest with yourself, wasn't it getting boring that you were always right about it? Isn't it repetitive to have the cards always come down to form a familiar story?_

 _A hero from the outside comes and joins with familiar faces to fight the same old evil. A hero whose past is tied, or not, to dark memories and they must overcome their own dark moments, help the faces you already know to become better humans and to show everyone that deep inside, every person has the power to fight for what's right, for what's good._

 _I won't blame you if you feel cheated out this time. The deck was rigged from the start. Yes, there were familiar parts in_ _ **my**_ _hand, all pieces of a fairy tale that_ _ **we**_ _have heard a dozen times before._

 _But with a new twist._

 _There's nothing scarier in a game of cards when all the cards are laid out on the table just right, but then a small and insignificant card comes in and changes the meaning behind the entire game._

 _Ah, isn't it thrilling to know that a card with such a small value as_ _ **mine**_ _, could change the game so much?_

 _And isn't scary to think: What would happen next? There are still cards and hands you can put down to challenge mine, but I too, have cards that need to be played to make this game of_ _ **mine**_ _even more interesting. And there's no way for you to know, what **my** next move is going to be._

 _Hahaha! Hahahaha! Hahahahahahahahahaha!"_

* * *

 **And with this, Evan officially takes his role as the main villain of Destiny Gears! Boy, was it satisfying to write him destroying Roxy; both physically and mentally. Also, Roxy's... um... unaliving, doesn't mean that Evan's going to take her role as the main character (I'm saying that in case you've looked at the rest of my stories which have Evan Greyson as the main character).**

 **But with Season 1 of Destiny Gears finished, I'll now move to focus more on my other stories, so there might not be any updates on this story for a while. Then again, depending on how things go, I might actually post a "Special Chapter", since a lot of stuff happened here.**

 **Thanks for reading and until next time.**

 **Diabolic Tracer out!**


	42. In-between Ch1

"This is the last place I expected to see you, Fujiki."

The Cyberse Duelist raised his eyes from the grill he tended to and looked at the young man and girl in front of him. Evan smiled at the sixteen years old and looked at the menu, thinking of what to order. He was surprised to see that Yusaku was still going to the hotdog van, even after Hanoi was defeated and LINK VRAINS was destroyed. Has the Cyberse Duelist caught on with the facts surrounding everyone's death? That thought worried Evan a great deal. He still had to make preparations before he could take Playmaker down once and for all – Everything had to be timed correctly, he couldn't allow failure, no matter how small and insignificant, every detail had a much larger meaning in the grand plan of things.

"I'm only working here when Shoichi's busy," Yusaku stated.

"Visiting his brother, isn't he?" Avice asked.

"With Hanoi gone, he has more time for that, so yes." Yusaku nodded, again. "He says that there has been an improvement, it won't be more than a few months before his brother would be able to fully return back to the world."

"I'm happy to hear that the Center I suggested has a positive result on Shoichi's brother," Evan said. "Anyway, we will want two normal hotdogs. One with ketchup on it and one with mayonnaise."

"Right away." Yusaku nodded. "If you don't mind me asking, how is Roxanna doing? I haven't heard of her for a few weeks. She's also not responding to any of the messages that Shoichi wrote her."

"She had to go out of town for a few months that should be why she's not responding." Eva smiled politely. "The war against Hanoi affected her, so she needed some time on her own, to gather her mind. Her problems were reaching too… _deep_ , if you get what I mean."

"Yeah… I think that I do." Yusaku sighed. "The results of this fight left all of us scarred. When I began this crusade, I never thought just how many people could be hurt. Even though I tried to protect everyone… in the end, I could barely save a single person."

"It was a tragedy." Evan rubbed the back of his neck. "But we should focus on rebuilding, rather than mourning what has already been. And you don't seem so good, after the time that has passed."

"My revenge was everything I had," Yusaku argued. "After you defeat me, I thought I found a new purpose, the purpose of saving everyone else from being hurt by Hanoi the same way I was, but I failed at that too."

"It's not easy, I know that," Evan said. "The pain, the self-loathing, the thought of how it would have been different if you did it differently, those regrets will eat at you for the rest of your life. You'll never escape them, but why don't you let your guard down for a bit?"

"Let my guard down?" Yusaku raised an eyebrow.

"Separate yourself from what you know, and try communicating with the people around you," Avice said. "Shoichi and Roxy weren't the only ones who fought beside you, right? We were there too, Go, Blue Angel. They all fought beside you, and even if you don't see it, you've already built a bond with all of them."

"We're going to go visit the pool with Aoi tomorrow," Evan added. "You should come too, it would help you relax after everything that happened."

"I'm not sure about that," Yusaku muttered, precariously. "If I go, Shoichi won't have who to leave in charge of the hotdog truck."

"Come on, I'm sure that he won't mind being in charge of his own business for a day – in fact, I think he would encourage you to come with us," Avice said.

"That's true but…" Shoichi would without question encourage Yusaku to go and have fun with others, but Yusaku wasn't interested. He had never been out with a group before, and he had no interest in trying it out.

"Great then!" Evan said. "We'll come to take you from your home tomorrow at eleven before noon. Just, tell me your address, so I know where to go."

"Yes, right." Yusaku sighed. It seemed that he would have to go with them, despite his protests. Tomorrow was going to be an annoying day for the Cyberse Duelist and he was absolutely sure in that prediction.

Just because the war was over, that didn't mean that Yusaku could suddenly deal with humans. There were only two people he felt safe around, and sadly, neither of them was here for him now. He thought, that maybe now that he has finally been able to find peace, Roxy would be there to help him get used to being part of the rest of society, but she wasn't there anymore. He was just as alone as he was during the Hanoi Incident, during those ten years of constant nightmares.

* * *

" _STOP IT!"_

Firera screamed, thrashing around against the data restraints that held her in place as bolt after bolt of electricity tore her body apart, only for it to be forcefully regenerated and then destroyed again. Despite how many weeks the monster spent there, trapped and tortured, its will to fight back remained, though after so long, her hope was starting to burn out. No one came to save her, Aqua was gone, she didn't know what happened to Roxy, and Playmaker was too blind to see the lies placed in front of him.

Vermilya turned the volume down, silencing Firera's screams. She programmed the bolts of electricity and the data recovering program to their maximal potential and turned toward another computer screen, ignoring the Duel Monster's silent plea for mercy. Evan placed her in the laboratory to research Firera's program and learn how Cyberse monsters were made, said that if he could replicate some of Playmaker's stronger monsters, their power would be unrivaled. But no matter how many different methods she used, Vermilya was unable to find the code inside Firera. Not the code needed for creating Cyberse cards, nor the code that gave her free will.

"How's the operation going?" Evan stepped into the room.

"Without success." Vermilya sighed. "I couldn't find anything similar to 'DNA' in her codes. It's bold of me to say this, but maybe you should start looking for a different way to get access to Playmaker's Decode Talker."

"I'm not doing this for his Decode Talker." Evan crossed his arms. "But you shouldn't worry, I got a plan B ready. Well, maybe you should worry since you're going to be doing most of the hard work there."

"I guess it won't be legal?" Vermilya leaned back into her chair and smirked.

"You'll break into Yusaku's house and scan his Cyberse cards while he's at the pool with us. I'll give you everything that you'll need, including several viruses to place inside the data of his cards."

"I'm not surprised to hear that." Vermilya sighed.

"I'm sure that you'll love it." Evan patted her on the back. "By the way, have you turned Firera's volume down?"

"I can't work while listening to her screams." Vermilya shrugged. "Do you want me to turn them back up?"

"I want to talk with her," Evan explained.

Vermilya nodded and turned back to the keyboard. She typed in several codes, reducing the bolts of lightning until they completely stopped, giving the Cyberse monster a chance to catch a break from its weeks-long torment. Afterward, she raised the volume enough for both her and Evan to be able to hear what Firera would say back. Once all of that was done, Vermilya just leaned back into her chair and crossed her arms behind the back of her head – ready to watch the show.

"Firera?" Evan called out. "Can you hear me?"

" _What… do… you…"_ the Cyberse monster looked up toward its tormentor with bolts of electricity still shooting through her body, trying to repair the damage done, not to her body, but to her psyche.

"Want?" Evan cut her off. "It scares you to think about it, doesn't it? What could I want from you when I already have everything? Don't worry, all I want of you, for now, is to talk to me. To listen to my questions and to answer them honestly, without any mind games."

" _Where… Roxy?"_ Firera asked with a broken voice that hasn't fully been repaired.

"She's dead," Evan stated. "You saw me dump her in the sea. She drowned, just as I ordered her to do."

" _No…"_ Firera's eyes widened, despite the pain that she was going through; those few words broke her 'heart'.

Her partner was no more, she was left alone, in an eternal trap without any escape routes, without the chance to think of any escape routes. The speed at which they continued to break and repair her program, didn't give her a chance to calculate a way out, and after several weeks, most of her functions needed time to reboot. It was perfectly calculated on Evan's side. He was going to talk with her for only as long, as he was sure she wouldn't be able to think of any way to escape, then he would return her to the torture.

" _Why… you… kill…"_

"Killing is the ultimate act of mercy," Evan stated. "By killing the tormented, you set them free from their pain, by killing those who enjoy life, you rid the world of its abominations. And Roxy? She was a soul that was meant to die many years ago. A soul that I so selfishly tried to keep for my own, to build into my ultimate gift for this world – my daughter."

" _Monster…"_ Firera hissed.

"Indeed, that's what she turned out to be." Evan nodded, deliberately changing the addressee of the insult. "She was meant to contain all the best aspects of me, but instead she turned weak and pacifistic. A child hated by the world itself for its ignorance. But maybe you could learn. If you accept me, I'll give you enlightenment, I will open your eyes for the truth hiding behind the many masks of this world."

" _Never…"_ Firera growled. _"You… lose…"_

"To whom?!" Evan yelled back. "Playmaker? He was born from Yusaku's own weakness and inability to cope with one bad moment in his life! He's nothing compared to the image of evil itself! That's what none of you understands! I'm not a man! I'm the personification of the darkest side of all people! If you can't see my superiority, then you're just another piece of rubbish that this world doesn't need! Vermilya, do it!"

The NitroGear Duelist nodded and moved back to the keyboard, placing in the codes needed for the bolts of lightning to start tearing at Firera's body once again. The volume was quickly turned down, silencing Firera's screams as her body began to be torn apart and healed, only to be torn apart again a moment later.

"I'll leave you to take care of things here." Evan turned toward his subordinate. "Once you think this is enough, return her to the special cell and then come to me. I'll prepare all of the equipment you needed to pull off that mission."

"Understood." Vermilya nodded.

Evan smiled and walked out, slamming the metal door behind himself. There were many other places that had to be visited, many more preparations to be made before the final war started.

* * *

Yusaku sighed, waiting outside his building. He looked at the clock of his wrist every twenty or so seconds to see what time it was, only to realize that he had no clock on his hand, and then to repeat the process again twenty seconds later. He was sure that it has turned eleven o'clock a few minutes ago, but the siblings that were supposed to take him haven't come yet. He really didn't want to go along with the idea and was hoping to somehow avoid it, but he also didn't want to come off as rude. Mostly because he got a call from Shoichi yesterday because Evan apparently didn't trust Yusaku's word, telling him to go and make some friends.

Hopefully, they have chosen to dish him. But that aside, this was one of the rare times when the hacker could be seen wearing something different from his school uniform. Specifically for this occasion, Yusaku was dressed in a short-sleeved white T-shirt, with dark blue shorts and sandals. He had never gone to a pool before in his entire life, so he didn't know how to swim, nor what equipment one needed when going to pool.

The hacker looked at his wrist one more time and sighed – more in relief that disappointment. He spun around on his feet and turned to walk back into his apartment when suddenly a red and black Chevrolet Camaro came out of the corner and stopped in front of his apartment. Biting his lips, the hacker turned his head slowly around to see if the people inside the car were…

"Get in loser, we're going to pool!" Evan shouted.

And now Yusaku was both annoyed that he would have to spend the rest of his day with people he didn't even consider friends and embarrassed that he was called a loser in public. Usually, he wouldn't care so much about being insulted, but for some reason, seeing Aoi on the backseat, looking straight at him with a risen eyebrow, caused the Cyberse duelist to feel a bit uneasy.

Nevertheless, the teenager placed his hands into the pockets on his pants, acting confidently, and walked to the car. He sat on the front seat, right next to Evan, while behind him were Avice and Aoi, along with several bags. Were these bags for the pool? Now Yusaku was feeling even worse for being empty-handed. They were definitely thinking that he was expecting to use their stuff – or that was at least what Yusaku was thinking.

And sure enough, Aoi noticed his… lack of bags, so she leaned forward and asked him about. "Fujiki, I think that you have forgotten your luggage."

"Actually…" Yusaku rubbed the back of his head. "I have never gone to a pool before so…"

"Swimwear?" Evan asked.

"I'm wearing it," Yusaku confirmed.

"Then I guess that you have a set of extra underwear to switch to after you get your swimwear wet, right?" Evan narrowed his eyes.

And as he expected, Yusaku didn't give a positive response. The teenager hacker only managed to stare back at him blankly. It was exactly that face of an absolute idiot that made Evan realize how much of his nerves and time he was about to waste on that single day.

"I thought that swimwear was waterproof, since people use it to, swim," Yusaku finally spoke up, causing the girls on the backseat to burst into laughter while Evan slammed his head into the steering wheel.

"I didn't think that I needed a second pair of underwear!" Yusaku argued, trying to make them understand, but his words just kept backfiring, causing the laughter of the girls to become louder, and even Evan chuckled at how bad Yusaku was at existing in a society.

"I knew that you were anti-social, but this level of ignorance is just…" Thankfully, Evan stopped himself before he said something that would cause Aoi to gasp. "Ok then. Girls, it seems that we'll need to help Yusaku pack-up his underwear."

"Wait, don't!"

And so, five minutes later, Yusaku came back into the car with a small bag. It was nowhere near the size of the ones placed in-between Aoi and Avice, but it had the most important things that Yusaku thought he could need. Still, he looked down in embarrassment, from making a fool out of himself. Aoi and Avice were still finding it funny that he forgot the most basic of things, but they were no longer laughing, as doing so, would be like bullying Yusaku at this point.

Aoi was also curious about why Yusaku's social skills were so bad. She had always thought that he was just anti-social, but now, she saw him different. It was like, he was locked away from society like something kept him trapped inside. It was a very strange feeling that she was getting out of him, and worse than that, this feeling was actually reminding her of someone. Or more specifically, of someone's words that she heard a month and something ago. A certain duelist who went through such a horrible experience that it left him scarred and unable to rehabilitate and join society fully.

But there was no way that the two of them were the same, right? Aoi bit her lip in thought. They were similarly cold, but Playmaker was accepted as a hero, he was risking his life fighting against the Knights of Hanoi. She couldn't see Yusaku doing the same thing, and maybe, she wasn't supposed to. When she tried to think back to Yusaku, Aoi remembered only that he was the one who found her soon after she was infected by Hanoi's virus during the duel with Playmaker and that he was distant with everyone. Aside from these two things, she didn't know almost anything else about him. Not even his family, or where he came from. He was a mystery in her eyes, just like Playmaker used to be.

It took them around fifteen minutes to get to the water park of Den City. The place wasn't very unique, but it surprised Yusaku how many students were here with their families. It seemed that after LINK VRAINS was destroyed, the survivors choose to spend their free time outside with friends and family instead of staying inside, staring at a screen, or by risking their lives by entering another virtual reality.

"We will go change," Aoi said, as she and Avice walked off toward the changing rooms, leaving the boys on their own.

"What now?" Yusaku instinctively asked his older companion.

"Well, I'll go change while you find us a place to stay." Evan shrugged before leaving the poor hacker on his own service

"Right…" Yusaku sighed. And that was exactly why he didn't want to go with other people.

* * *

Doing errands such as this one, was something Vermilya had already gotten used to, maybe too used to. Her calm breathing, the slow beating of her heart, the relaxed motions on her arms as she manipulated the lock with her lock picks should be unnatural when trying to break into someone's house during daylight. And yet, she was calm as if that was nothing, and to her, it was. Breaking into someone's house was nothing compared to the more questionable and immoral stuff that she had been helping the Greysons to work on during the past few weeks.

Eventually, the door of Yusaku's apartment opened and the girl walked inside slowly, closing the door behind herself. The decision to break into Yusaku's home wasn't a sudden one that Evan made at the last moment. He has been planning for it, preparing, taking in every possibility, and finding a way to counter it. Basically, everything that would happen here, in the span of an hour, was already planned in advance. There was no uncertainty, which was reassuring but also worrying.

"Master, are you here?" a robotic voice called from downstairs, causing Vermilya to quickly duck.

It was a robot maid, just great. Vermilya narrowed her eyes and quickly reached into one of the multiple pouches on her belt and pulled out a disk-like device. The girl threw the disk over the stairs and on the floor below. It was an EMP of some sort, small, covering a limited area, but good enough if there were only a few devices you wanted to shut down – like in this situation.

"What's thi-" the robotic voice began to speak when suddenly, it stopped.

The device had worked. Roboppy was temporally disabled, and wouldn't cause any problems, so now it was time to get to work. Standing up, Vermilya quickly went down the stairs and began to look around. Yusaku's home… looked even worse than the one she was raised into, she could even see the bricks and aside from a table, several chairs and other things that were a necessity for any living quarters, the place looked… blank.

"You're a smart guy, Fujiki." Vermilya mused. "You wouldn't place your deck at an obvious place. But no hideout you've thought of is safe from me."

Vermilya reached into another of her pouches and pulled out a black tablet. She turned it toward the wall and a blue light came out of the device, scanning the wall until…

"Heh, jackpot."

"Haha, stop that!" Aoi laughed, covering her face.

"But where would be the fun in that?" Avice asked as continued to throw water at the girl.

The two of them continued to laugh as they swam around in the pool. Even though their actions looked childish, Aoi didn't care, she rarely had time to relax and just have fun with friends, mostly because she barely had any friends. So to her, even childish activities such as spending time in the pool, playing with Avice were much cherished moments.

Meanwhile, Yusaku watched them from the edge of the pool with a half-bored expression. Due to the Lost Incident, he had spent the last ten years of his life, locked into his own mind, wrestling against the never-ending nightmares. Because of that, he had missed a lot of things and was lacking multiple skills that others had. One such skill was as the ability to swim. He never learned how to swim, but he did have swimwear in case he ever needs it. He was thinking to maybe enter if the pool was shallow enough, but unfortunately, that wasn't the case, so he was just sitting there, and all of that was just a waste of time to him.

"Why don't you go have fun with them?" Evan asked.

The older male sat down on the bench next to the hacker and leaned back, letting the rays of light to fall onto his body, and give him a good suntan.

"I'm not interested," Yusaku replied casually. "What about you?"

"I can't swim." Evan shrugged. "Don't want to either. Walking on solid ground is much better in my opinion."

Well, they at least had something in common, which was their inability to swim. In fact, it was a funny coincidence that Avice and Aoi both used LIGHT attributed decks and could swim, while he and Evan used DARK and couldn't. Well, Yusaku's deck wasn't completely DARK, but his ace was a DARK monster, so technically…

"It's tragic you know," Evan continued. "So many children lost the chance to visit the pool because of the Knights of Hanoi. These victims, they will never have the chance to spent time with their family and friends ever again."

"I don't think that the Knights of Hanoi were the ones who detonated the Tower of Hanoi," Yusaku commented.

"Oh?" Evan looked at the hacker. "What makes you think so?"

"Revolver is an honorable duelist," Yusaku said. "He keeps his words and accepts defeat."

"He was following a goal, Yusaku." Evan sighed. "In order to achieve their goals, humans are ready to do anything, including stamping their own pride. But I do wonder, is there a way to find out who activated the Tower then?"

"No, unfortunately." Yusaku shook his head. "Everything was erased, including all of the data. There's no way to replay that moment. The evidence is lost."

"That's… unfortunately." Evan sighed. "All we can do now is to try and rebuild what was destroyed. It still feels… wrong. So many lives, lost, taken away forcefully, and the criminal responsible for it still is unknown. Will always, remain hidden, safe from justice."

"Is that why you called me here?" Yusaku asked. "To talk about that?"

"No, there's far more to it." Evan chuckled. "I called you to come with me because I wanted to see how much you've grown since your defeat. I want to see, if you thought about my words, learned from them."

"I'm starting to, yes." Yusaku nodded. "Kusanagi, Ai, Roxy, everyone who fought with me, they were most than just people who shared the same goal as me. They helped me, they did everything that was within their strength; they cared for me. They all thought of me as a friend, but I was too blinded with my hatred to notice that."

"It's ok." Evan put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "I proud to hear how far you've come since our duel."

"Thanks." Yusaku nodded.

"I guess you're already bored to death," Evan said, standing up. "There's a coffee nearby, should we go have a drink while waiting for the girls to get tired?"

"That's the first good idea for the day." Yusaku stood up as well. "How long do you think it will take them to get tired?"

"Well, Aoi rarely visits her home as it is, so take a guess," Evan smirked.

That sentence, actually made Yusaku smile a little. It meant that this was going to end soon, which was the only part of the day that he was looking forward to.

"Where are you going, Fujiki?" But unfortunately, a female voice caused Yusaku to pause and looked behind him.

It was Aoi. She had come to the edge of the pool and looked at the boy. Yusaku couldn't explain what it was, but he felt something at the sight of Aoi's wet, half-naked body. He was, after all, a teenager, and even if he spent the last few years doing nothing but fighting the Knights of Hanoi and his own demons, the power of his hormones was taking control over him without his knowledge or understanding.

"Don't mind me," Yusaku said. "I'll just go have a coffee."

"You haven't swim at all." Aoi pointed out. "Are you afraid?"

"No." For some reason, Yusaku's voice raised. It was a detail that Aoi didn't miss either.

"Come on, don't be shy." Aoi smiled and reached out, grabbing Yusaku's arm.

"I said-" Yusaku opened his mouth to protest, but it was already over.

Due to Aoi's move coming out of nowhere, and the ground under Yusaku's wet already being slippery, with a single pull, the Zaizen was able to get the hacker to dive face-first into the water.

And boy, that didn't go well.

At first, Aoi chuckled at Yusaku's reaction, but then, she quickly began to panic. Why was she panicking? Well, it was because Yusaku didn't swim back up, and instead was frantically throwing his arms and legs around at the bottom of the pool. He couldn't swim, but worse than that, his body was so tense that it was causing him to sink like an anchor.

In the end, shortly after this incident, the group choose that it was best for them to just go home before they gave Yusaku another traumatic memory. The sun was still high in the sky when Evan drove Aoi and Yusaku to their respective homes. And despite what happened at the pool, the trip back was much livelier, at least on Yusaku and Aoi's part. Aoi's tries to apologize after the incident had actually caused the two of them to start to talk to each other. The conversation itself wasn't important, and neither of them remembered it the next day, but it felt some form of lasting feeling inside their hearts, like, each of them had finally met someone who could understand them. Not fully, of course, but there was a chemistry that neither of them could have denied.

And after that long and tiring day was over, Evan was finally able to get back home and relax. The Greysons walked out of the car and Evan closed the garage behind them, after which, they both walked into the room next door – the makeshift laboratory that Evan and Vermilya used to obtain information about the Ignis and their enemies.

Firera was no longer in the torture device, having been moved to a digital prison that caused distortions to the core of her programs, which made calculating an escape route practically impossible for her.

And Vermilya was there too, sitting behind a table with the belt Evan gave her for the mission on the tabletop.

"How was your day?" The Nitro duelist turned in her chair and greeted the duo with a mischievous smirk.

"It had its ups and downs," Evan commented. "But more importantly, did you get the job done?"

"I found out that he had a special room to log into LINK VRAINS from, it was kept hidden behind a fake wall, believe it or not." Vermilya sighed. "He has been keeping his Cyberse cards hidden there, and believe me when I tell you, you've never seen such a large pile of cards before. Took me an hour and a half to get all of them scanned."

"Our own versions of Playmaker's most powerful cards – finally within our grasp." Evan smiled. "What about the virus. Did you upload it?"

"I did." Vermilya nodded. "But don't you think that Ai will notice it when it comes back from the Cyberse World? If it comes back?"

"Ai will come back, you can be sure of it," Evan said. "And it won't notice a thing either. The DARK Ignis is too carefree and lazy to bother double-checking Yusaku's cards. As long as you install a virus that isn't plain obvious, it can get easily pass Ai's notice."

"You're talking like you have experience in the area," Vermilya noted.

"What's going to happen now?" Avice asked. "I know what your plan is, but are you sure that it's worth it?"

Evan didn't respond to the question. Was it worth killing thousands of human beings, and planning to destroy the lives of that many more? To Evan that was an easy question, and the answer would have been a loud and resounding, yes. Human life, people say, was priceless, and they were right, in a sense. Human life had no price, it couldn't be turned into money, because taken on its own, with its own free will - human was useless. Humans, like everything else, were just a resource, and only the most skillful could use that resource properly, to build the world that they wanted.

Evan didn't say that, because while Avice was questioning his morality, he was able also questioning her own views. He couldn't have his sister's will be tempted by feelings of regret or compassion. The two of them were brought into being to lead, therefore they had to see every living being as nothing more than a tool elevate them to their goals. This was their city, their country, their world, their reality. For, this order they created, this group of six, was made only for those who valued self-determination over all else that existence offered.

It was a group, where a single member's views couldn't usurp the minds over all others. A group where every other member would focus on acquiring their own power. They weren't like the Knights of Hanoi, who plead royalty to a single mad man, they weren't SOL where everyone was fighting over the same rank or position, backstabbing and betraying each other.

They were the Destiny Gears - the selected few who refused to be carried by destiny, and who forged it instead. A group where everyone was allowed to follow their own passion, but only within limits that wouldn't clash with the rest, a group where there was no blind loyalty, there could never be any teamwork between its members, unless their goals aligned. Roxy wasn't able to see it, she couldn't comprehend the idea of fighting for only yourself, for using others to reach your destined place, which was why she was a defect, a masterpiece turned into a heinous parody of itself.

And Takuma? If Evan had to rate him based only upon his actions, then Takuma would have been the perfect embodiment of what this group was about, manipulating, using others as tools to do your dirty work, he had learned and mastered all of it. But his goal was his ultimate undoing. Uniting the world, bringing all of humanity together in his wannabe paradise – he was a fool. His pride made him forget that the power one dreamed to obtain, can reach only as far as the other's dreams. He thought that because he learned from the best, because he was taught from the best there was that he knew everything, that there wasn't hidden knowledge Evan kept away from him, and worse than that, he thought that it was his right to turn the rest of the group into slaves, stripe them of their will and run them around like puppets.

In the end, he had to be put down for the good of the entire group.

That was why they were gears. There was no such thing as the main gear. Yes, they had a leader, yes, it was Evan, but he didn't stand above the rest, he simply lead them because he was the best strategist, the most talented manipulator, and lier. An alliance built upon hatred, like theirs, was a fragile one at best, for it to work, everyone had to have a function, a separate goal that levitates the others and that's levitated by them. Like gears in a clock, they couldn't function if every member wasn't moving correctly.

* * *

 **And after a long time, I finally updated! So, as you might have noticed from the title of this page, this chapter is part of a group of "Special" chapters that are basically about stuff that happened between S1 and S2 of VRAINS. The idea is for these chapters to 3-4 in total, and to have them basically set-up some of the stuff that will happen in S2, as well as introduce a few things that I won't mention, because you will see them when the next chapters are posted.**

 **So, today also is the end of S2. Or it was yesterday, depends on where you live. And to be honest, the only thing I cared about was Revolver vs Lightning, mostly because of how funny Revolver's talk about justice and evil was, given what he did in S1. I'm also not happy with the result of the duel because, in order for the writers to make Revolver look cool for the next structure deck, Lightning's entire strategy had to focus around him breaking the arms and legs of his deck to give Bitchvolver a fighting chance. Also, could Lightning be Evan's lost twin brother from another species? (By the way, I haven't watched the second half of S2 and just looked at a few screenshots on message boards. Yes, that's how stupidly simple the entire thing was to understand. #DecodebetterthanFirewall.)**

 **A small trivia about this chapter, the original version was supposed to have a duel Evan & Avice vs Yusaku & Aoi, in which I would have shown one of the new decks that Evan would use in S2, but I ended up scrapped** **it because it was kind of pointless.**

 **I want to also say that I'm surprised by how many reviews the last chapter got. Thank you all for the reviews. But before I respond to those reviews, I'll thank to** byunnee **and Lisa Russell for following and favoriting, as well as thanks to anyone else who might have followed/favorited but for whom I've not gotten any notification.**

 **And now to the reviews!**

InsertName **: Well, not everyone is dead. Yusaku is still alive, and having him be the only one alive is basically how VRAINS has been so far, so...**

Guest **: The thing with Evan getting wrecked is pretty funny to me because it basically can't happen unless he does some super stupid misplay at the end.**

SakushiRyu **: Honestly, Evan has been compared to Fullcross on several occasions, mostly because of how they both use OP decks or at least used since Fullcross has apparently changed to a new deck. But... all I can say is, every author wants to see their character being the better one, so, I'm dunno.**

Guest **: I can't answer if Yusaku will answer Roxy, but given the way she has been mentioned this chapter... it might be too late for that?**

RedEyesMaster **: I really hate the idea of OC being friends with, and being cared about/loved by the core characters of a story. So I try to keep Roxy at a distance from the others. Also, AvicexRoxy was the original/safer ship I was intending to go with, but I gave up because Evan views Roxy as his daughter and Avice is his sister, so that made it feel weird.**

Vivian Lee **: Thank you!**

 **And now, I'll also respond to reviews from the one-shot, Destiny Gears: Diary! because it's a one-shot and responding to it there, would kind of kill the idea of it being a one-shot.**

Insertname **: Well, as I said, even the unexpected can happen.**

ThePLOThand **: Yes to the first question. About the second, to me, anything that isn't part of the main story and is posted aside from it IS side info, so sorry for mislabeling your work.**

 **So that's all of it. One long A/N, a lot of reviews, and a semi-decent chapter. Mission accomplished! Thanks for reading, if you feel like it, please leave a review, and that's it for today!**

 **Diabolic Tracer out!**


	43. In-between Ch2

SOL Technology – the most influential company in the country, or the former most influential company. There was a strange sense of satisfaction as Evan walked through the corridor and past the workers, most of which were new faces that he had never seen before, a sign that the company was trying to bury its shady history by getting rid of their old personal. It was such an obvious and stupid move that they made, trying to cover up their mistakes and immoral ways of doing business, rather than using them to solve their current crisis.

"Evan?" the young man stopped and turned around to see Akira walking toward him. "What are you doing in SOL Technology? I thought that Queen and you were on bad terms after LINK VRAINS."

"Yeah, we are." Evan nodded. "That's why I must talk to her. I know that she's your boss and everything, but I have reason to suspect that she's trying to take our rivalry to… a new level."

At those words, Akira narrowed his eyes. He was already familiar with the dark past of the company and that they were more than willing to use underhanded and illegal methods to deal with any rival. Akira frowned, he had the gut feeling that maybe it would be best to call security and have them escort Evan out, than to cause a scene, but he also realized that if Evan and Queen didn't talk now, whatever problems they had might escalate in the future, causing more harm for the company.

"The communication room is still in use, even though the technology used for it was already placed in my office. If you have to talk to her, so you can do so from the communication room." Akira suggested.

"Yeah, it would look bad if I called her using your phone, wouldn't it?" Evan joked. "So, how is the promotion? Does it feel good to be back in your old position?"

"All of my old team has been placed in other wings of the company." Akira sighed. "It takes time to get used to the new staff."

"Yeah… I guess it does." Evan chuckled. "I'll be on my way then. Sent my greetings to Aoi, will you?"

"Of course." Akira nodded.

Unlike the way the Greyson's relationship with Aoi evolved to be more positive after the fall of LINK VRAINS, Akira's friendship with Evan had a more bitterly turn. After Evan brought forty percent of the company, his relationship with SOL, in general, had become more hostile and even if he understood that SOL Technology wasn't in the right position to lead an aggressive policy against Evan's company, Akira was still working for them and had to put his personal opinions and beliefs on the backseat when it came to the situation with FullerCorp.

The door of the empty dark room slid open, letting Evan step inside. The room wasn't changed since the last time had been here, discussing business with SOL's higher-ups. A holographic menu appeared in front of him and he pressed several buttons, causing the scenery in the empty room to suddenly change and turn into a pool with small exotic trees located at the back and a woman with blue hair with green accents lying with a drink in her hand.

It seemed that she hasn't been expecting this call, as all she was wearing were short jeans and a bra, with black sunglasses covering her eyes. This was Queen, the strongest piece in SOL Technology.

"Ah, Mr. Greyson." Queen took off her sunglasses and set them aside. "What do I owe this - hardly pleasant – call to?"

"I think you already know that." Evan retorted. "There have been several raids on warehouses used by my company. So far, three hundred and seventy-one thousand dollars in hardware have disappeared because of these attacks."

"So that's why you're here." Queen chuckled like there was something fun in what was happening. Who knew, maybe there was something funny, but Evan couldn't see it. "Go look for the culprit somewhere else. Such moves are below our company's standards."

"Oh, is it?" Evan narrowed his eyes. "Your company doesn't seem all that big to me."

"And thanks to who is that?" The feeling of satisfaction had disappeared from Queen's voice and was replaced by not very well hidden hostility. "The rat that stole forty percent of SOL! Four hundred thousand dollars? You've cost our company billions!"

"I'm trying to save at least a part of your company!" Evan shouted back. "I warned you that the firewall we sold you needed to be updated regularly to avoid having someone hack it, but you ignored that! When the Knights of Hanoi ran around destroying LINK VRAINS, you didn't try to stop them! All that happened was your fault! Because of your ignorance at the time, now you had to sell more than half of your company just to pay for all of the lawsuits against you! The only thing that I did was buying forty percent of your company in the last ditch effort to save a part of your technology."

"Are you expecting of me to be grateful for that?" Queen asked.

"No, I'm expecting of you to understand why any plot you've got against me won't work," Evan said. "I'm started than you, Queen. I'm smarter than every one of you and more than that, I'm going to be the one to revive LINK VRAINS."

"What?" Queen asked. "You can't do that. The rights to LINK VRAINS belong to SOL Technology, if you try to build your own, we will sue you!"

"Oh, don't worry, it won't be my LINK VRAINS, it's going to be yours," Evan smirked. "So far, LINK VRAINS has been your main source of income, wasn't it? But now it's gone and even if you rebuild it, who will want to enter again a virtual reality run by a company that couldn't prevent the deaths of thousands of their users? What I'm telling you, Queen, isn't a suggestion, it's the only way you can get out of this trap you got yourself into. I'll build a new LINK VRAINS using SOL's technology, my company will run it and take responsibility for any inconvenience that arises, and your company will be the co-founder and have certain privileges, such as control over the servers. You will be able to continue your operations on searching for the Ignis, but if you cause chaos in the servers, I'll kick you out, understood?"

Queen didn't respond immediately. SOL Technology was in a bad position financially, the incident in LINK VRAINS has caused all of the reputations their company once had to collapse onto itself. As much as she hated it, the only way for them to bring LINK VRAINS back was if it was launched by another company.

"You think that you have won, don't you? You think that this is going to be the end - that I'll let you stay in control of me or SOL Technology? Mark my words, Greyson. You're going to fail the same way we did and when that happens, we'll take away everything you have." Queen said and the holographic screen disappeared, leaving Evan alone in the room.

A sinister smirk appeared on Evan's face. The conversation went as good as he expected, even better. The Greyson was prepared for a series of threats, but instead, he got only one, and how naïve Queen was to think that he would fail like them. None of them understood it, even though they created LINK VRAINS, they never saw all of the possibilities, a place so chaotic and stationary was too bland to be a place for communication. A place so dead as LINK VRAINS was perfect for a single purpose, and that was to serve as a battlefield.

But there was one more problem he had to deal with. He knew that the group behind the raids on his warehouses weren't connected to SOL Technology, but who else could it have been? The Knights of Hanoi? No, whatever remained of them has disappeared and attacking the warehouses of some company would be too risky for them.

There was a third group, newbies judging by their actions so far. They didn't understand the type of war they were entering, but Evan would be more than happy to explain all of it to them.

* * *

"So, I heard that you went to the pool together with the Greysons. Did something funny happen?"

Yusaku raised his eyes from the laptop screen in front of him and look at Vermilya, who had to sit down on the same table as him. He looked around for a moment, noting that there wasn't anyone else nearby, then turned back to the laptop.

"I almost drowned, but that wasn't funny," Yusaku answered the question. "Is there something you've got to talk to me about?"

"Come on, can't I just want to talk with a schoolmate?" Vermilya titled her head to the side.

"That's out of character for you," Yusaku replied.

Despite being distant to others himself, Yusaku was a very good judge of characters due to his calculative and serious personality. He had never allowed emotions to judge his view of people, or at least tried not to allow it to happen often. He has talked with Vermilya on several occasions before, she had always been a distant person who talked almost exclusively with the other members of her team. In a sense, she was similar to him when approaching people, so if he knew anything about himself, he would also know that Vermilya won't be so friendly unless she wanted something.

"Ok, you got me." And to the surprise of no one, he was actually right about her… "We need your help. Well, Evan needs your help, but he won't admit it, so I had to come and talk with you."

Yusaku paused for a moment, thinking if he wanted to hear Vermilya's request or not. On the one hand, he dueled only to get his revenge against the Knights of Hanoi, and now when they are no more, and the person that saved him during the Lost Incident was their leader, there was no longer had any purpose in dueling for him. On the other side, Evan, Vermilya and the other members of their team helped him a lot during the fight against Hanoi.

"Evan is a capable duelist, I'm sure that he would be able to deal with his difficulties," Yusaku replied.

"He would be if this had anything to do with dueling," Vermilya said back. "Someone has been stealing equipment as it was transported to Evan's company. Evan has talked the police into not releasing any information about these incidents to the journalists, but so far even the police weren't able to find any solid leads as to who or why is stealing all of that equipment. We've been following the market, as well as the black market, but no one is selling our equipment, which means that they have stolen it to use it. For all we knew, it could be a new Hanoi group, or someone just as dangerous."

"And how do you want me to help you out?" Yusaku raised an eyebrow.

"You and Kusanagi are hackers, right? We want your help tracking down the equipment and the culprits behind these attacks." Vermilya said. "Evan's problem isn't in the money that his company will have to spend getting replacements, but in the fact that a not small amount of the stolen equipment was meant for his Project Overseer. Our biggest worry is that they might be trying to take control over Overseer, which would mean gaining control over all computer-based security in Den City, and you realize the type of destruction such an act would cause to the city, right?"

"They can destroy the entire city…" Yusaku's eyes narrowed.

This was an extremely serious case and he had to get involved, not because of any other reason, but because this was his city, the city where Kusanagi and his brother, where Roxy and her friends lived. He couldn't turn a blind eye if there was such a serious danger looming over the city he grew up in.

"So, are you going to join?" Vermilya asked again. "We're ready to pay you for helping as well."

"I don't want you to pay me," Yusaku replied. "Den City is my city as well. I and Kusanagi will help you out with anything we can. But do you have any leads? Any information, even a small detail?"

"Sadly no." Vermilya shook her head. "As I said, they don't leave a trace behind themselves. No fingerprints, no footsteps, no nothing. We think that they might have some sort of technology to cover-up their tracks, but at the same time, the police were able to find that they have been using simple tools such as crowbars to open the warehouses and take out the guards. It's a miracle that no one has died yet, or else the media wouldn't leave Evan be."

"I wouldn't be able to help you out a lot if I don't know whose is targeting you," Yusaku replied. "We with Kusanagi will keep an eye out for anything that might pop up on the internet, but that's about it."

"Any lead you find will be vital for us," Vermilya said. "Only if Ai was still here, as an Ignis, he would have a much easier time searching for information than us, right?"

"He would either just stay at home watching soap operas or annoy me and Kusanagi while we are working." Yusaku sighed.

Despite being what both Revolver and his father viewed as a dangerous AI, a new completely virtual species that would destroy humanity, Ai was the most harmless creature Yusaku had lied his eyes upon. True, when the Ignis took on that monstrous form and began to devour people, Yusaku could see as to why the Knights of Hanoi were so afraid of its kind, but outside of those rare instances, Ai was just a lazy fool that couldn't see the most obvious things. It often forgot simple details and was unable to keep its attention to a single thing for more than two seconds.

But despite all of that, after Ai left, Yusaku felt that a part of him was missing. Maybe it was because Ai was designed after him and was a virtual recreation of the child Yusaku was before the Lost Incident. Maybe that was because, despite how much Yusaku tried to deny it in his mind, he viewed Ai as a partner. Even though he treated the Ignis as a disposable hostage after Evan defeated him and unlocked the lock that was keeping Ai locked to Playmaker's Duel Disk, the artificial intelligence choose to stay with him and fight together with Yusaku against the Knights of Hanoi.

"What are you thinking about?" Vermilya asked.

Yusaku didn't answer. He closed his laptop and placed it into his school bag before walking off, leaving the girl on her own. Vermilya frowned at the Cyberse Duelist's rudeness, but then, unknown to either Yusaku or Kusanagi, she smirked. Turning the conversation back to the Ignis caused Yusaku to fall into deep thoughts. Just like Evan was hoping, Yusaku was already starting to form a bond with Ai.

It was all going according to plan.

* * *

When it came to public security, Den City was among the most developed cities. Under the influence of SOL Technology and other rivalry companies, the city's technology has been continuously developing and evolving at a much faster pace than any other region in the world. Nowadays, technology was everywhere, it was keeping your house clean what you were out, it was driving you to work or meetings, it was even keeping an eye out for crimes and incidents, completely replacing the police patrols that once roamed the city to make sure that order was being kept.

And yet, despite all the hundreds of cameras that kept watch over the city, over every single corner of every street, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, twelve months a year, without need for break or sleep, they still couldn't spot the shadows moving through the dark of the night.

Once the day ended and all people retreated to the warm of their homes, the streets belonged to these shadows, these creatures of the dark ruled the city when there was no one else to oppose them. They hid away from prying eyes, sharing their plans in whispers, training and preparing to take down that new star that was shining brightly above Den City – the face of absolute need, of absolute evil.

The metal door of an abandoned building cracked open and the shadows all walked inside. The building they were using as their hideout was the type of place where usually troublesome teens would hang around, throw rocks at the windows and draw graffiti on the walls. It was the last place one would search for a group of criminals, even less so if the building was located in one of the few blind spots of the city's all-seeing security.

The largest of the shadows pulled three candles and light them up before handing them to the rest. There was no longer electricity running through this building and they were trying everything to stay under the radar, at least, until they were strong enough to challenge the star of the city. The three of them walked into what has used to be a guest room, with rocks, trash and broken glass all over the ground next to the windows. In the center of the room was a wooden table and three chairs, all of which were too clean to be furniture left behind by the old owners of that building.

"So, what's the reason that you called us here?" the smaller shadows turned toward their leader, the oldest among them.

"For an important discussion." The tallest shadow replied. "FullerCorp has been allowing us to steal their equipment for the last two months without increasing their security or doing anything to try and stop us. Even the police aren't after us. I don't like this kind of silence. It's like a calm before the storm."

"I agree that there's something fishy about all of this. Maybe the Greyson is trying to earn himself the sympathies of the citizens by using our raids as propaganda."

"That's why I think that we should lie down for a while. We've got enough parts to build project Titan, and I don't want to risk any of your safety with these operations. From now on, I want all of you to focus on assembling Titan, is that clear?"

The smaller shadows looked at each other for a moment, thinking it through. There was a growing pit of rage in all of their hearts. It was that hatred they all shared toward the person who caused the destruction of LINK VRAINS, the death of their closest family members and friends that resulted in them forming this team. With every day that passed without the criminal being brought to justice, with every public announcement Evan made, their rage grew more and more. All they wanted was to get their hands on the devil and tear his empire apart, piece by piece.

But they knew that they had to wait. They couldn't make their move just yet, not before everything was ready, or else, they wouldn't have a chance to fight back. They had to wait in the shadows, hidden in the darkest parts of the city, dreaming of the day when they could finally step back into the light and turn from shadows, back into humans.

One of the shadows turned toward their leader and began to make hand signs, silently, telling him what was on her mind.

"Indeed, the news about Den City's orphanage was very disturbing for me as well." The leader nodded in agreement. "For the entire place to get closed down due to financial difficulties only two months after Go Onizuka's brain death, it must have been planned."

"It makes me sick to listen to the police and how they could do nothing about the corpses of Onizuka's manager and the orphanage owner they found at the docks." The shadow slammed his arms against the table

"That's how it's going to be." The large shadow sighed. "Our fight isn't against a single human, after all, we fight against all of them. If the Destiny Gears are the light that will burn the world to ashes, then we'll be the darkness to keep everyone safe in our shadow. We're the only ones left to judge them for their crimes against humankind. Because of that, we should strike fear into them, make them know that they have become the prey now. I was originally against the idea of using silly names for our group, but as their hunters, I think there's only one suitable name for us to take. Starting today, we will be known as the Gear Hunters."

* * *

Back at his home, Evan was sitting on the sofa, his head hung back with eyes closed, and his legs placed on top of the fragile glass table in front of him. Vermilya had come earlier that night to tell him that the talk with Yusaku went as planned and he was helping them out. Of course, Evan didn't need the help of the Cyberse Duelist, he had already found out a way to track down his enemies and had reduced the possible hideous to only three abandoned buildings in the city. Built in the blind spots of Den City's security system, they were the perfect places for shadows like them to hide.

So, why hasn't he gone there and gotten rid of them? Because he needed conflict, he needed to show to the rest of the city that Overseer was needed for security and order to reign in the city. An important lesson he was taught long, long time ago was that the face of evil was always the face of total need. He needed an enemy to fight, at least until the Knights of Hanoi showed up again from their hiding spot and tried to eliminate the Ignis again.

The only problem Evan was faced with at the moment was how slowly everything was going on. LINK VRAINS 2 would enter public beta testing in a few weeks and there has been no sight of the other Ignis in the network yet. SOL Technology hasn't recovered enough yet to start a hunt for Playmaker and the Knights of Hanoi would need time to organize themselves before showing up, so the earlier Ignis activity began to appear, the earlier would the next stage of the plan commence.

Firera wasn't cooperating either, a part of her still appear to have a spark of hope left, even after she learned that Roxy wouldn't save her.

"You're in deep thoughts." Avice walked over to her brother, placing a cup of hot coffee on the table. "Anything alarming?"

"No, not at all." Evan shook his head. "Everything is just so… delayed. If I don't give the other pieces a push, we are going to lose momentum and our chance. I'm just wondering for ways to kick the hornet nest."

"Sometimes I wonder if you'll even be able to tame the beast once you unleash it." Avice sighed.

"Your fear, Avice, is irrational." Evan chuckled, finding the girl's worries to be funny. "The question is not, will they cause chaos, but how to force them into causing it. And perhaps, cutting the snake's head would be good enough to cause the body to counterattack. Don't you agree, my apprentice?"

The figure that Evan was talking to, did not respond. They stood next to the door and simply nodded meekly, a light blue hoodie with a yellow hood covering their identity, even though they were within the secure ground of their home.

"I'll give them time to finish Titan, make them think that they are on equal footing with me, before crushing their leadership." Evan stood up and walked up to his apprentice, a deck of cards in his hand. "This one is for you to use, we can't have you running around with a Gear deck, but you will find that the deck I've prepared for you works similarly to the one you've been trained to use."

* * *

 **So, this is another short chapter. This is part 2 out of 3 of the "In-Between" Chapters and this one takes place 2-3 weeks before Season 2, basically meaning that the final part will take place a few days before Season 2 starts.**

 **But now that the timeline of these chapters is explained let's go over the chapter itself. First are the "Gear Hunters", who were in most part inspired by the song "** **Godhunter** **" by Aviators.** **The group that was introduced this chapter will play the role of "heroes" during Season 2. They will be the main enemy of Evan's Destiny Gears - sharing an interesting backstory with said group.**

 **Second, a detail that probably only like 2-3 of you might have noticed, but the FullerCorp is named after** **Joseph Fuller, a name that was mentioned in an AU story as the Greyson's adoptive parent. The only real importance about this detail is that it confirms that the Evan Greyson of Destiny Gear's timeline is adopted.**

 **Now, I want to thank** Twiphase **,** Yagami Kari Hikari **and** blizzardblaze174 **for following and favoriting this story. Also, thanks to** catyscitty **for favoriting.**

 **I must admit, when I first started this story, I was doing it just for fun and didn't care that much about the quality, but now that I've got so many readers, I'm trying to put as much as I can in giving you good quality content.**

 **Now to the reviews!**

Twelfth Night101 **: Wouldn't the two "fan" negate each other, turning it into just fiction?**

Insertname **: Takuma's foolish idea was Evan's thinking, but I want to clarify, the part that Evan found foolish wasn't the idea of "** **Uniting the world, bringing all of humanity together in his wannabe paradise** **" itself, but that Takuma thought the rest of the Destiny Gears would sit back and let him turn them into his slaves, since "** **the power one dreamed to obtain, can reach only as far as the other's dreams" so the moment Takuma tried to take away every else's dreams by turning them into slaves, he became a fool thinking he could defeat the other Destiny Gears on his own.**

 **I won't comment on Evan's anger, because where would be the surprise in that? As for him lying... I always view Evan as the type that uses dirty and cruel methods sparingly. In fact, I have always thought that in an AU where Evan was able to build his own empire, he wouldn't turn into a tyrant and would always search for balance between good and evil. A big part in the forming of Evan's character was Machiavelli's Conception of Rulership, so I think that googling that would give you a BIG idea about Evan's character.**

Guest **: My idea there was to show how Roxy, the most human character in my story, was just a robot with flesh, able to be controlled with a simple phase. But I guess someone else already had that idea before me.**

 **And that's it. Thanks to you all for reviewing, following and favoriting, and thanks to everyone else for reading this. Until next time!**


	44. In-between Ch3

"So that's the lead that Playmaker was able to get for two weeks worth of researching?"

Evan leaned back in the driver seat of his car, scrolling through the data Kusanagi sent to them. His 'apprentice' was sitting next to him, looking at all of the data with an expression that Evan couldn't see from the hood covering her face. Despite how much Evan bashed Yusaku's dueling skills, he had to admit that when it came to hacking, he and Kusanagi made for an unstoppable team. In fact, they were so good that it was almost a waste to get rid of them.

Those criminals were predictable. Even though Evan didn't encounter any of them during the raids on the buildings that he expected them to use a hideout, they still left a trail. It wasn't anything big, in fact, the trace they left behind would have gone unnoticed if it was someone else. It was the floor of the building. A few years ago, most people used wooden planks for their floors – good material, but it was easy to damage when dragging something heavy across it. That was how he knew that he was on their tracks; two lines, left by some heavy object that has been dragged out of the building shortly before Evan came looking for the criminals.

It was a very close call, five minutes earlier and he might have caught them. But though he missed them a week ago, now, thanks to Yusaku, he got a chance to catch them again.

The leads that Yusaku found weren't solid, most of them were just from anonymous posts on online forums and data from a few small companies in the city that specialized in real estate trade, but Evan was entitled to believe the information due to how cunning these kids' plan must have been. Using a warehouse located next to one of the warehouses they raided and stole from as a base. No one, not even Evan would have thought about searching for them at such an obvious place, at least until it was too late.

"Avice, do you copy me?" Evan lowered his phone and turned toward the small screen next to the steering wheel.

"Loud and clear." Avice nodded. "I've looked through the data that Yusaku sent you, you're going to go after them, aren't you?"

"They will understand the message only if I'm the one to crush their leader," Evan said. "We will be enough to deal with the situation. If they are still at the warehouse, I'll send you a signal. Your duty will be to contact Den City's police department and tell them to get to the docks. Is that clear?"

"I won't even try to argue the soundness of your plan." Avice sighed. She wouldn't even have to tell her brother to be careful since he was Evan Greyson, so of course, he would have prepared for any traps.

Evan turned off the screen and leaned back into his seat. He looked out of his window, there were dark clouds in the sky, without a doubt, it was going to start raining soon. How long has it been since he last went to the docks? It has been nearly three months, he remembered, but to him, it felt like it was yesterday that he dueled Roxy. The way he swiftly destroyed her hope of victory every single turn before stepping back to let her build herself back up, that flame of pure anger and hatred that he saw in her eyes when she realized that he's been using her as a puppet the entire time. He remembered all of it.

And now he was going back there, along with his apprentice. Speaking off, Evan looked at the girl sitting next to him. There was no visible reaction from hearing where they were heading towards, she was just holding one hand over her Duel Disk, protectively. Evan's apprentice looked up toward her teacher and nodded. It was a silent confirmation – they were ready to go.

"Try to make it look believable." Evan just looked away, coldness returning to his voice. "We want them to think that we're actually hunting them down. An animal would retaliate once you push it against a wall, and we need them to make a bad public name for themselves to ensure that they won't grow into a real threat."

His apprentice responded with a silent nod once more, trying to hold her voice down, as if she was scared that someone was listening on their conversation and would learn her identity if she spoke.

"It's an 'ok' then." Evan sighed. He was starting to doubt how good of an idea bringing her along was, but he couldn't just tell her to go home now.

* * *

"Is everything complete?" A middle-aged man asked.

A girl dressed in a simple white shirt and aqua blue shorts turned from her position and nodded. She had short dark blue hair held by a pink heart-shaped hair chip and emotionless grey eyes.

The man had short blonde hair with three small red locks of hair hanging from his forehead. He was wearing a dirty black leather jacket over a dark grey sweater with worn-off jeans and military boots. Black leather gloves were almost constantly on his hands, a way to make sure that he wasn't going to leave any fingerprints behind.

Currently, the two of them were located in a warehouse. Two wooden tables and several chairs were already placed inside with a computer and some strange disk-like device sitting on each table. This was the Gear Hunter's current base of operation. It was a risky place, located so close to all of FullerCorp's warehouse that they broke into, but there was no better place for them to hide at. Even now, they have driven in only the bare minimum of gear that they needed for the start of their plan. Even though they were able to avoid Evan's visit to their previous base thanks to a third-party's warning, right now almost everyone was too scared to show up, leaving only the three of them to get the job done.

"Conan!"

The man turned toward the front door. A boy wearing a black raincoat, with a hood large enough to cover up his face and identity irrupted in, panic apparent in his voice.

"He's coming here!" the boy shouted. "That bastard found this hideout as well!"

"Damn it!" Conan cursed. "Is he alone?"

"I think there was someone else with him, but they were inside a car, so I couldn't see clearly." The hooded boy answered. "What should we do?"

"We can't win this battle." Conan bit his lip, knowing the type of strength Evan and the other Destiny Gears had. "Ricky, you and Dakota take the Titan somewhere safe, while I buy you some time to escape. Understood?"

"Yeah." The hooded boy/Ricky, nodded as did the girl, whose name was Dakota.

The two teens began to collect the equipment. Conan placed his Duel Disk and looked back at the metal door. Victory at the moment was impossible; the enemy was too strong. He closed his eyes, accepting, within his mind, that this was probably going to be his final stand. His mind focused, the fear was pushed to the back. Conan finally walked up to the metal door and pulled a lever, unlocking it, before opening it just enough for his body to slip through and step outside.

Rain pattered against the ground and the windows of the red car that was parked right in front of the warehouse with its lights on. Conan covered his face, his old eyes needing a moment to get used to the bright light that shone upon his face. The old man blinked as lightning streaked across the black sky, outlining the figures of the two duelists standing before him. Conan narrowed his tired eyes and lowered his arms, placing the left one in front of his chest.

"Evan Greyson," Conan called one of the shadows. "We meet, at last."

"I'm not here for corny commentary," the shadow placed a hand on his hips. "I came to duel, win, see you get arrested for stealing, then go home and have a hot chocolate with my family."

"So, you don't even care about the name of the man that stole your equipment? Or the reason behind it?" Conan asked.

"If I needed to ask to get answers, I wouldn't be where I stand now." The shadow turned toward his partner in crime. "Go around and ambush the others as they try to escape."

Conan frowned. Evan knew that this was a distraction, but as long as he wasn't the one who was going, then maybe the others could get away. The older man watched from the corner of his eyes as the smaller shadow disappeared in the rain to follow Evan's orders, leaving the two older duelists to face each other.

"Would you believe me if I say that I didn't want it to come to this? Hunting down small-time criminals like you?" Evan asked.

"Your actions are pointing toward the contrary," Conan stated.

"Yeah, they do." Evan sighed, rising his Duel Disk. "Then, let's get it over with."

"Duel!"

 **『** **Conan LP: 4000, Hand: 5 (VS) Evan LP: 4000, Hand: 5** **』**

"Since you're the senior here, I'll let you take the first turn," Evan said.

"You're planning to use an OTK, don't you?" Conan narrowed his eyes. "But I know that your ChronoGear deck is capable of doing FTKs consistently… You want to enjoy it, don't you?"

"Yeah, I want to enjoy beating you slowly," Evan smirked. "It's good that you're understanding the position that you're in."

"Then I don't have a choice but to start first." Conan frowned. "I begin by playing _Beat, Bladesman Fur Hire (Lv.3, 1200)_ , then I use its effect to Special Summon _Helmer, Helmsman Fur Hire (Lv.3, DEF: 2000)_! Now I activate Beat's effect since another Fur Hire was Special Summoned I can add Seal, Strategist Fur Hire from my deck to the hand, then by using Helmer's effect, I Special Summon Seal!"

Evan frowned. A deck made from monsters that could Special Summon each other out and gain additional effect when they do so? Conan's usage of such a deck was most telling about the type of duelist he was, an amateur who most likely hasn't dueled before, so he picked up the easiest deck to use. But no matter how easy to pilot a deck was, if one hasn't mastered its potential, then they didn't represent any danger.

"I activate Helmer's second effect to discard Wiz, Sage Fur Hire and draw a new card from my deck!" Conan glanced at the card he drew and double-checked with the ones already in his hand. "I activate Seal's effect to Special Summon _Sagitta, Maverick Fur Hire (Lv.5, DEF: 2400)_! And since she was Special Summon, you take five hundred points of damage for every Fur Hire monster with a different name on my field, except for Sagitta!"

The humanoid bird monster aimed her rifle and fired at Evan, hitting the young man in the shoulder, knocking him back.

 **『** **Evan LP: 4000 - 1500** → **2500** **』**

"Seal's effect lets me return Wiz, Sage Fur Hire back to my hand, since another Fur Hire was Special Summoned," Conan explained, picking the holographic card. "Appear, the circuit of mercenaries! The summoning conditions are 3 monsters with different Types! I set Seal, Helmer and Beat in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Link Three! _Folgo, Justice Fur Hire (ATK: 2400, Link-3)_!"

"Folgo's effect activates! When it's Link Summoned, I Special Summon a Fur Hire with a different type from the ones used as materials, from my deck! I Special Summon _Philo, Messenger Fur Hire (Lv.1, DEF: 0)_! And now, Philo's own effect lets me Special Summon _Wiz, Sage Fur Hire (Lv.8, DEF: 2800)_ from my hand!"

"Let me guess since it's level is above four, it must have an effect that activates upon Special Summon, right?" Evan noted, starting to see a theme in these cards.

"Exactly." Conan nodded. "When Wiz is Special Summoned, she increases my Life Points by five hundred for every Fur Hire with a different name from each other and from Wiz. But before that happens, Philo's second effect activates! Since a Fur Hire was Special Summoned while Philo is on the field, I can Special Summon _Seal, Strategist Fur Hire (Lv.4, DEF: 1000)_!"

The Level 4 monster appeared before Conan, after which Wiz raised her wand and bright light washed over Conan, increasing his Life Points.

 **『** **Conan LP: 4000 + 2000** → **6000** **』**

"I set a card and end my turn, Greyson," Conan said. "Let's see what you'll be able to do on your next turn! Wiz's second effect will negate any Spell or Trap that you activate through the discarding of a card, and Sagitta protects all of my other Fur Hire monsters from being targeted by card effects!"

(Conan: 1)

"Heh," Evan chuckled. He placed a hand on his hips and raised his head proudly, crimson eyes burning like flames as he looked at Conan. "Listen to yourself, old man. You're talking as if you aren't just a distraction. Fine! I'll show you what I'm capable of even without the ChronoGear deck! My turn, draw!"

 **『** **Turn 2 [Evan] LP: 2500 Hand: 6** **』**

"I discard Vision HERO Minimum Ray to Special Summon _Vision HERO Faris (ATK: 5, ATK: 1600)_!" A pink humanoid monster with large claws appeared before Evan. "Since Faris was Special Summoned, I can place Vision HERO Increase from my deck in the Spell/Trap Zone as a Continuous Trap!"

The shadow of another humanoid monster appeared behind Faris; its dark presence bringing forth a mist that surrounded Evan.

"Normal Summon _Elemental HERO Solid Soldier (Lv.4, ATK: 1300)_ , then activate its effect to Special Summon _Vision HERO Vyon (Lv.4, ATK: 1000)_! And when Vyon is summoned, I can send Elemental HERO Shadow Mist from my Deck to the Graveyard." A shadow humanoid appeared on the field and turned around, firing a beam at Evan's Duel Disk, pulling a card out of it. The Duelist took it and showed it to his opponent, a vicious grin covering his features.

"By banishing Shadow Mist from my Graveyard, I can activate Vyon's second effect and add _Polymerization_ from my deck to the hand." A card jumped out of Evan's Deck and he took it.

"Even though this isn't your deck, you still…" Conan was stuck in disbelief. Evan was going through his moves so smoothly, not even once having any doubt in the cards or effect that he was playing.

"Not my deck?" Evan raised an eyebrow. "Oh, you poor old man, you came up with the idea of trying to destroy my business after VRAINS was destroyed, weren't you?"

"You took the lives of thousands of people and got to walk away unharmed!" Conan shouted back. "Did you think that no one would notice your involvement? That no one would notice how you weren't there when the bomb went off? Most of them didn't, but I did! I saw that you weren't there!"

"I see…" Evan sighed, this kind of discussions were so bland and tasteless, but he was doing it to amuse the old man before destroying him. "Tell me, which one of your relatives was harmed by Hanoi's Tower?"

"You really think that I came after you because your actions harmed me?" Conan asked. "I didn't lose anyone, I was fortunate to have my grandchildren be asleep when that massacre happened. I'm not doing this for personal revenge, but for retribution! I'm doing this for those parents who lost their children because of you!"

"I really can't see why you're doing this old man, I seriously can't." Evan shook his head in disappointment. "No one close to you was harmed, you could have just closed your eyes and moved on, and instead you're trying to play the hero, hunting down a villain that doesn't exist."

"It's called sympathy," Conan stated. "If you don't understand it, then you most likely don't have it."

"You've got no idea how right you are." Evan sighed, raising his hand. "Enough of this charted! Appear, the circuit of dark heroes! Summoning conditions are two HERO monsters! I set Faris and Vyon in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Xtra HERO Wonder Driver (ATK: 1900, Link-2)_!"

A human in blue robes wearing a golden staff appeared in the free Extra Monster Zone, crossing its arms as it floated beside Evan.

"Next, I activate _Polymerization_!" Evan declared, slamming the card in his Duel Disk.

"I activate the effect of Wiz, Sage Fur Hire!" Conan shouted. "By discarding Dyna, Hero Fur Hire, I negate and destroy your Spell's activation!"

The WATER monster pointed her wand at Evan and the holographic manifestation of Polymerization froze before bursting into bits, leaving no traces behind itself.

"Now, you can no longer use Polymerization to Fusion Summon," Conan stated.

"Too bad, your destiny is already sealed, old man," Evan smirked. "I activate _Vision Release_! This Spell Card allows me to Special Summon _Vision HERO Increaser (LV.3, ATK: 900)_ from the Spell and Trap Zone, then his own effect activates, Special Summoning _Vision HERO Gravito (Lv.4, ATK: 500)_ whose effect activates upon being summoned, adding the banished Elemental HERO Shadow Mist back to my hand!"

"So what?" Conan asked.

"So I win, old man," Evan stated, gesturing toward the field. "Gravito was summoned next to Wonder Driver's Link Marker, which means that Wonder Driver's effect can be activated, adding Polymerization back to my hand!"

"Appear again, the circuit of dark heroes!" Evan shouted, summoning a square above himself. "Summoning conditions are at least two HERO monsters! I set the Link Two, Xtra HERO Wonder Driver and Elemental HERO Solid Soldier in the Link Markers! Link Summon! The dark avenger – _Xtra HERO Dread Decimator (ATK: 2500, Link-3)_!"

A large and muscular human in a black and red suit appeared from the square, thrusting forward his left arm, which was a large crimson needle instead of a normal human arm.

"Dread Decimator's effect increases the attack points of all HERO monsters it points to, as well as itself, by a hundred points for every HERO monster that rests in my Graveyard. There are five right now, so that's five hundred extra attack points!"

 **Xtra HERO Dread Decimator, ATK: 2500 + 500** → **3000**

 **Vision HERO Gravito, ATK: 500 + 500** → **1000**

 **Vision HERO Increaser, ATK: 900 + 500** → **1400**

"And now, I activate Polymerization once more to fuse together Gravito and Increaser from my field with Shadow Mist from my hand!" three black flames burst behind Evan and shot into the sky, turning into a whirlwind.

"Out of the cards, three tortured hearts shall come together and awaken the ancient titan! Hear their call, the hero that serves justice always in tripled proportions! Fusion Summon! _Vision HERO Trinity (Lv.8, ATK: 2500)_!"

A large human covered in bulky crimson armor appeared out of the blazing black flames and stepped forward, placing his arms on his waist as he looked forward.

"Due to having three more HERO monsters in the Graveyard, Dread Decimator gains three hundred attack points, while Trinity's attack power becomes double its original attack power until the end of the turn in which it was Fusion Summoned!" Evan threw his arms upward and two black flames burst around his monsters.

 **Xtra HERO Dread Decimator, ATK: 3000 + 300** → **3300**

 **Vision HERO Trinity, ATK: 2500*2** → **5000**

"Let's battle!" Evan shouted. "Dread Decimator, attack Philo, Messenger Fur Hire, and now, Dread Decimator's effect! When it battles a defense position monster, you take the piercing damage!"

"But Philo's defense is zero!" Conan cried, the dark monster piercing through his little bird, destroying it while also causing a powerful shockwave to knock the old man back.

 **『** **Conan LP: 6000 - 3300** → **2700** **』**

"Aw, what's up?" Evan chuckled. "Why didn't you activate your set card? Or maybe, it's because Training Fur Hire can't save your right now!"

"How do you know my set card?" Conan growled.

"It was obvious, old man, just look at yourself. You wasted your entire hand in the first turn, used no engines, no nothing that's outside the archetype. It was obvious since you set the card that it would be an archetype exclusive card, and the only ones that Fur Hire has are Mayhem Fur Hire and Training Fur Hire."

"You…" Conan stared at the young man in disbelief. He read Conan's deck completely by just seeing how he played out his first turn. Defeating someone that was on this level through dueling would be impossible…

"Now it's Trinity's turn! Destroy Folgo, Justice Fur Hire!" the crimson hero's chest and shoulder plates opened and three crimson beams shot out of them, piercing through the furry, cutting its body into pieces, while the shockwave that ensued threw Conan against the door of the warehouse.

 **『** **Conan LP: 2700 - 2600** → **100** **』**

"Do you know how I realized that you've been following me for only a few months?" Evan asked. "It's because you think that my own dueling skills are limited to the ChronoGear deck. The ChronoGear is nothing more than a golden sword, it's meant to look fancy and flashy, to place fear in my enemies by making them realize that the deck is overpowered beyond belief! I don't need fake cards to be powerful."

Evan paused. He looked at the remaining two cards in his hand.

"Out of the thousands of cards there are, not a single one is useless – the only situation, and that's where the difference between you and me is the biggest. A good duelist recognizes the potential plans lied before him and creates a situation that benefits him, but a great duelist turns any situation into victory. Let me show you. I activate _De-Fusion_ by returning Vision HERO Trinity back to the Extra Deck, its fusion materials return to my field!"

Trinity jumped back and its body burst, the red armor that covered the hero disappearing to leave three smaller dark heroes that took his place. As they landed behind Dread Decimator, its ability increased their attack points.

 **Xtra HERO Dread Decimator, ATK: 3300 - 300** → **3000**

 **Vision HERO Gravito, ATK: 500 + 500** → **1000**

 **Vision HERO Increaser, ATK: 900 + 500** → **1400**

 **Elemental HERO Shadow Mist, ATK: 1000 + 500** → **1500**

"Shadow Mist's effect! Since she was Special Summoned, I can add _Mask Change_ from my Deck to the hand!" The woman dressed in black turned and raised her arm toward Evan's Duel Disk, summoning a dark aura that pulled the Spell Card out of the deck. "Now, I release Increaser to summon a new breed of hero!"

Increaser jumped, the armor that covered his body disappearing and getting replaced by black armor plates.

" _Heroes never rest! When one mask has become obsolete, a new symbol of dark justice will enter the scene! Transformation Summon! Masked HERO Anki (Lv.8, ATK: 2800)!_ "

The black armor pieces all flew in place, turning the shadow into a new symbol of justice.

"Due to another HERO reaching the Graveyard, the effect of Dread Decimator increases its own and all other heroes attack power once more!" Evan raised a finger to point at the sky.

 **Xtra HERO Dread Decimator, ATK: 3000 + 100** → **3100**

 **Vision HERO Gravito, ATK: 1000 + 100** → **1100**

 **Elemental HERO Shadow Mist, ATK: 1500 + 100** → **1600**

 **Masked HERO Anki, ATK: 2800 + 600** → **3400**

"Anki can attack directly by halving the damage it does." Evan sighed. "It's over, old man."

Anki looked back at its owner for a moment before nodding, the two of them reaching a silent agreement that was, usually, unheard of. The dark hero swung forward and slammed its fist against Conan's face, knocking the older duelist out cold.

 **『** **Conan LP: 100 - 1700** → **0** **』**

 **『** **Winner: Evan** **』**

The lights of the Duel Disks faded. The titans that accomplished each of the duelists burned away into data that was absorbed back into the cards that were their eternal prisons. It was over, in a single turn no less. The only sounds that remained were Evan's own footsteps as he stepped toward his fallen enemy. If he was at his prime he would have carded the man and then tear the card apart summoned one of his largest monsters and had it tear the man limb by limb. But he was no longer in his prime, and he could no longer embrace death either. He was a ghost of the night, walking in the daylight.

"You accused me of not having sympathy old man," Evan knelt down next to the unconscious man. "But you're wrong. The thing I don't have is a heart. But don't worry. Once I have achieved my goals in this world, that ancient black rock beating inside my chest will finally go silent."

One could say that human life was just a play with many genres. Sometimes it was a comedy, another time it was a tragedy. And if the first act in the story was the birth of the protagonist with the last one being his death, then the curtains of Evan's story were about to close down. He was at his last act, waiting to sign up for a sequel before starting the final scene.

Police sirens sounded and flashed in the distance. Evan stood up, placing the black hood over his head, over his face, he walked into the dark, disappearing.

* * *

"Did we take everything?"

Dakota placed a computer screen in the trunk of the black car and looked back at Ricky as he asked her a question. She raised her hands and made several symbols, giving the boy a positive answer.

Ricky nodded and opened the door on the side of the driver. "Good then, we'll get out of here and then call the-"

The boy stopped. A shadow, around a head shorter than him and Dakota, was standing in front of the car with a hood concealing her appearance, and the pink blade of a Duel Disk pocking from underneath the cloak. As her friend stopped, Dakota realized what he was about to do and placed a hand on his shoulder to try and stop him.

"Drive." Was all Ricky said; he placed his hand over Dakota's and gently moved it off his shoulder. "Just drive, I'll find you later."

Dakota looked down. She nodded and stepped into the car instead. The shadow stepped silently to the side, letting the car drive off before moving back to their original position, facing against Ricky.

"So, you want to hunt us one at a time?" Ricky asked.

The shadow remained unresponding, its silence causing an unnerving feeling to raise inside Ricky. The shadow's faceless appearance, its silent approach, and the rain were giving her the chills.

"You're not a talky one, are you?" Ricky asked. "Fine then! I don't like wasting time talking either, so let's just do it! Duel!"

 **『** **Ricky LP: 4000, Hand: 5 (VS) Unknown LP: 4000, Hand: 5** **』**

"I'm going to take the first turn!" Ricky declared. "I Normal Summon _Infinitrack Anchor Drill (Lv.4, ATK: 1800)_ and activate its effect to Special Summon _Infinitrack Trencher (Lv.5, DEF: 2400)_ from my hand in Defense Position!"

Two large machines, one blue and green, the other green and purple appeared behind Ricky.

"I activate _Machine Duplication_ to Special Summon two more copies of Trencher from my Deck!" Ricky said, materializing two more green and purple machines next to the ones that were already on his field. "Appear now, the circuit that builds the future! Summoning condition is one Non-Link Infinitrack monster! I set Infinitrack Anchor Drill in the Link Marker! Link Summon! _Infinitrack Goliath (ATK: 1000, Link-1)_!"

The shadow took a cautious step back as the giant blue and yellow robot appeared in front of the other large machines that Ricky had summoned previously.

"Next, using the two Level Five, Infinitrack Trencher, I build the Overlay network!" Ricky threw his arm upward as four green chains shot out of it and a square appeared behind him. The two monsters turned into data that flew into the square as Ricky began to chant.

" _The titans of industry, raise from your deep slumber and bring forth the legends of the metal world! Xyz Summon! The titan that divides the oceans! Infinitrack River Stormer (RANK: 5, ATK: 2500)!"_

The loud roar of an engine echoed through the storm as a large black and red machine with three canons attached to its front appeared on Ricky's field.

"I activate River Stormer's effect!" Ricky shouted. "I use one of its Xyz Materials to send Infinitrack Harvester from my Deck to the Graveyard! Next, I activate the effect of Infinitrack Crab Crane from my hand! I release Infinitrack Goliath to Special Summon Crab Crane from my hand!"

The blue giant exploded and its remains were grabbed by a large black and green crane that swung them and threw them into a graveyard portal.

"Goliath might have left the field, but it's not gone!" Ricky continued. "Goliath's effect activates! Since it left the field, I can attach it to River Stormer as an Xyz Material, which, in turn, gives River Stormer an additional effect of being protected from destruction by card effects. But that's not the end of it either! I banish Infinitrack Trencher from my Graveyard to Special Summon _Infinitrack Harvester (Lv.2, DEF: 2100)_ , whose Effect allows me to add Infinitrack Drag Shovel to my hand, and then I activate the effect of Crab Crane to banish Infinitrack Anchor Drill and add _Outrigger Extension_ from my Deck to the hand!"

The shadow watched on, as their opponent continued his turn. They already had one Xyz Monster with protection and enough monsters to summon a second one, but were they going to stop there? The shadow wasn't sure how Ricky was going to play this first turn.

"I activate Harvester's effect! Once per turn, I target another Machine monster on my field, in this case, Infinitrack Trencher, and make the Levels of my two monsters equal to their combined levels!"

 **Infinitrack Harvester, Lv. 2 + 5** → **7**

 **Infinitrack Trencher, Lv.5 + 2** → **7**

"Next, using the Level Seven, Infinitrack Trencher, and Infinitrack Harvester, I build the Overlay network!" A green square appeared behind Ricky and the two monsters turned into data.

" _The titans of industry, raise from your deep slumber and bring forth the legends of the metal world! Xyz Summon! The titan that levels the kingdom of gods with the ground! Infinitrack Mountain Smasher (RANK: 7, ATK: 2100)!"_

A giant yellow and blue bulldozer appeared in Ricky's Extra Monster Zone.

"Finally, I activate the Continuous Spell, _Outrigger Extension_! While this card is on my field, you can't target XYZ monsters I have with card effects. Additionally, once per turn, I can Rank-Up one of my Infinitrack monsters! Mountain Smasher, it's time for you to evolve!"

A new square circuit appeared behind Ricky, its chains, made from that, connected to Mountain Smasher and green data flowed into the machine, evolving it, changing it into something new.

" _The titans of industry, raise from your deep slumber and bring forth the legends of the metal world! Rank-Up Xyz Chance! The titan that tore mother Gaia in half! Infinitrack Earth Slicer (RANK: 9, ATK: 3100)!"_

A brown and black metal titan rose in place of the already gigantic machine. Its engine roared so loud that the shadow it was facing had to cover their ears out of pain.

"With this, I end my turn," Ricky stated. "Your move."

"Your dueling is Beatdown oriented." The shadow noted. "The cards your use focus mostly on protection from card effects, but it's foolish of you to think that these kinds of attack numbers can't be easily surpassed. My turn, draw!"

 **『** **Turn 2 [Unknown] LP: 4000 Hand: 6** **』**

"I discard White Moray from my hand to Special Summon _White Stingray (Lv.4, ATK: 1400)_!" a white stingray monster appeared on the shadow's field. "Since a monster with less than fifteen hundred attack points has been summoned onto my field, I can activate _Reckless Summon_ to summon two more copies of it from my deck, while you get the chance to summon two more Crab Crane from yours."

"You're giving me free monsters?" Ricky raised an eyebrow. "Fine then, come forth, _Infinitrack Crab Crane (Lv.5, ATK: 2100)_!"

Two copies of both the green crane and the white stingray appeared on their respective duelist's field.

"Appear, the circuit of life!" The shadow shouted, summoning a square in the rain above her. "Summoning conditions are two WATER monsters! I set two White Stingray in the Link Markers! Link Summon! _Mistar Boy (ATK: 1400, Link-2)_!"

A red seastar with an eye and mustache appeared on the shadow's field, dressed in a stylish top hat.

"While Mistar Boy is on the field, all WATER monsters I control gain five hundred extra attack points." the shadow said.

 **Mistar Boy, ATK: 1400 + 500** → **1900**

 **White Stingray, ATK: 1400 + 500** → **1900**

"I Normal Summon the Tuner monster, _Royal Swamp Eel (Lv.4, ATK: 1700 + 500_ → _2200)_!" A large white fish appeared next to the stingray. "Now, I tune the Level Four White Stingray to the Level Four Royal Swamp Eel!"

A bolt of green lightning fell from the sky to the shadow's field and the two monsters turned into identically sized rings made of water with pieces of ice shaped like the number '4' floating next to each ring. The rings overlaid with each other, creating a tunnel of ice with a beam of blue light shooting out of it as the shadow began to chant.

" _Great whale slumbering in the abyss, awaken in the deep between life and death! Synchro Summons! Come forth! White Aura Whale (Lv.8, ATK: 2800 + 500_ → _3300)!"_

"So, you are a Synchro user, huh?" Ricky asked, watching as the shadow's monster, a large white whale, appeared on their field.

"White Aura Whale's effect activates!" The shadow cried. "When this card is Synchro Summoned, I destroy all Attack Position monsters on your field!"

"What?" Ricky's eyes bulged. The whale roared, firing a stream of water toward the boy's monsters, cutting them down, Crab Crane, Earth Slicer, all of them disappeared except for… "River Stormer's effect! While Infinitrack Goliath is attached to it, it can't be destroyed by your cards' effects!"

"It's already over!" the shadow shouted. "White Aura Whale attack River Stormer!"

Charging another attack inside its body, the Synchro unleashed another beam of water that washed the final Xyz Monster away, leaving a clear field.

 **『** **Ricky LP: 4000 - 800** → **3200** **』**

"Damn it!" Ricky growled.

"I'm ending this duel now." The shadow took another card from their hand and slid it into their Duel Disk's Graveyard. "I discard _Mermail Abyssnereia_ to activate her effect. I destroy White Aura Whale and give all of its attack power to Mistar Boy."

"No…" Ricky gritted his teeth, knowing what was going to happen.

The white whale's body turned into dust that flew around the Link Monster, changing its color from red to white.

 **Mistar Boy, ATK: 1900 + 2800** → **4700**

"Mistar Boy, finish this!" the shadow pointed at Ricky. The now white star grinned in agreement and flew forward, the water around the area all flying toward it, turning into a spear in the center of which was the Link Monster. Ricky bit his lip and closed his eyes as the attack connected.

 **『** **Ricky LP: 3200 - 4700** → **0** **』**

 **『** **Winner: Unknown** **』**

The boy collapsed on the ground, defeated. He took deep breaths, one of his hands placed against his stomach, which was bleeding from the attack. He didn't know how, he didn't know why, but this shadow's monster was able to cause real damage outside of LINK VRAINS. Ricky looked up and bit his lip; the shadow was coming toward him. He couldn't even see what was hiding underneath that hood, didn't know if the thing underneath was really a human, or something else.

Then, he saw something that caused his eyes to widen. One of the large cranes that were used to move the metal containers had moved above the shadow, holding one of those containers above them. The shadow, immediately noticing the danger, rolled out of the way as the contained was dropped where they once stood, creating a barrier between Ricky and the creature.

That was his only chance!

Winching in pain, Ricky slowly stood back up and turned around, walking away as fast as the pain running through his body allowed him. The trail of blood began to quickly fade behind him, as the rain washed it away. He didn't even glance back, not when he left the docks, nor when he ran through the city toward the abandoned alley where Dakota's car was waiting for him. He never looked back for the shadow, and the shadow never looked out to find him.

* * *

Evan looked at the sea, the large waves slamming into the docks and dispersing into nothingness. Again, and again, in a vain attempt to drown the world. Why was all of this so easy for him, when even the endless sea couldn't achieve that goal? Was he standing above nature? Maybe he was since he was capable of wearing this current body, along with all those other ones…

He was starting to forget at times, which life was this one. He had to look around hard, remind himself of all the differences between this and the other ones. In his place, a normal human would be worried about his sanity, but Evan had long discarded that, along with all the other things that made him human. He was no longer a human, but he also wasn't something above human, actually, he was something lesser, a creature that knows only how to crawl in the darkness, an animal unable to doing anything more than the role nature has appointed him.

"You're back," Evan said, sensing the presence of his apprentice slowly moving closer. "I hope you're not too angry about that container."

"I understand that the boy had to escape." The shadow replied. "But aren't you worried that if we let them go, with their leader now in jail, the chaos they are going to cause later on could affect LINK VRAINS' rating?"

"I'm hoping that this causes the authorities to close down LINK VRAINS for good," Evan told her. "I'm only rebuilding it because it must act as the stage of a very important battle. After that purpose is fulfilled, I'll close it down immediately."

"Yeah…You forgot to tell me that before." The shadow sighed.

"I didn't." Evan didn't forget to tell her, he chose not to.

"The rain is beautiful, isn't it?" the shadow asked. They dropped their hood, messy blue and amber locks of hair covered their head as the rain began to fall on them.

"You'll catch a cold." Evan glanced back at his apprentice. "Let's go home, I'll make you a hot chocolate, and then we can sit down on the sofa and watch some anime together, ok?"

"Is that a promise?" Roxy asked, grinning.

Evan just chuckled, running a hand through the younger girl's wet hair. The two of them looked at each other's eyes and smiled before turning to leave. One hand around smaller shoulders, the two shadows disappeared back into the rains, not as a mentor and apprentice, but as father and daughter.

* * *

 **And that's the last "In-between" Chapter. At least until the end of Season 2. This chapter takes place 1-2 days before Season 2's first episode, and with the reveal, I guess we all know who's going to take center stage during the next chapter, don't we?**

 **As per usual, Evan showed how OP he is even when he's not using his ChronoGear deck, so yeah, the Gear Hunters were rekt pretty easily, BUT this was only their first appearance, so they still aren't as experienced or skilled enough to take on the type of duelists that the Destiny Gears is made of. Now, I could talk about the small details all day, but nothing of what I'm going to say is important, so...**

 **Oh, right! Since this season, I plan to have Evan use different DARK decks to rekt his opponent's if you have suggestions, please leave them in reviews or PMs. The ones that I do have plans for him to use right now are Destiny HERO, Phantom Knights, Predaplants and Ruin and Demise (Even though it's 50% LIGHT). A deck that I definitely won't use however are all other DARK-based decks from Arc-V, because, well, I just don't feel like it. Also, Red-Eyes, I won't touch that one because of its legacy (and because Nighthshroud is done with it.)**

 **Now, a quick thanks to** Jalen890 **for following this story.**

 **Now onto the reviews, or review:**

Insertname **: I'll only talk about Queen. The problem I've got right now is that I don't know how to make her important yet. I hope that I give her a more important role in the future, but overall, I'm trying not to mess too much with the canon characters, and when the canon has chosen that Queen should be useless... Yeah, I'm not sure if I'll be able to do anything more with her.**

 **Anyway, that's it. Thanks for reading this chapter, and I hope to see you all next time!**

 **Diabolic Tracer out!**


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